Rule name | Description | Time window | Trigger threshold |
Blocked Country | Declines transactions in blocked countries: Syria, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela | Immediate | N/A |
High Risk MCC | Declines transactions with high‑risk merchant category codes. | Immediate | N/A |
High Risk E‑commerce | Declines transactions with flagged online merchants. | Immediate | N/A |
E‑commerce Rapid Transaction | Prevents e‑commerce bursts; more than two transactions within five minutes trigger a decline. | 5 min | 2 transactions |
Card‑present Rapid Transaction | Prevents rapid in‑person swipes; more than two card‑present transactions within five minutes trigger a decline. | 5 min | 2 transactions |
Card‑not‑present Daily Velocity | Declines if over eleven card‑not‑present transactions occur within 24 hours. | 24 h | 11 transactions |
AFD Limit | Declines fuel transactions over $175 USD. | Immediate | $175 USD |
AFD Velocity | Declines if two or more fuel transactions occur within three days. | 3 days | 2 transactions |
Gaming Limit | Declines single video game/digital goods transactions above $600 USD. | Immediate | $600 USD |
Gaming Velocity | Declines if over five gaming transactions occur within two days. | 2 days | 5 transactions |
Ad Services Limit | Declines a single advertising services transaction above $10,000 USD. | Immediate | $10,000 USD |
Ad Services Velocity | Declines if more than forty advertising services transactions occur within two days. | 2 days | 40 transactions |
CVV Security | Blocks after four incorrect CVV attempts within 24 hours. | 24 h | 4 transactions |
ATM Withdrawal Limit (only for physical cards) | Blocks a single ATM withdrawal over $250 USD. | Immediate | $250 USD |
ATM Withdrawal Velocity | Declines if more than three ATM withdrawals occur within 24 hours. | 24 h | 3 transactions |
Merchant categories blocked by default
Kolo restricts certain merchant categories through their MCC (merchant category code). Transactions from these categories are automatically declined. Examples of blocked categories include:
Explosives (2892) and Small Arms & Weapons (3484)
Wire transfers and money orders (4829)
Drug stores and proprietary drugs (5122)
Antique shops and pawn shops (5932–5933)
Direct marketing services (5960–5969)
Stamp and coin stores (5972) and Cigar stores (5993)
Quasi‑cash and financial institution cash disbursements (6010–6051)
Securities brokers and dealers (6211)
Remote stored‑value or money transfer services (6530–6534)
Video games, dating/escort services and gambling (7272–7802)
Massage parlours (7397)
Debt collection agencies, race organisations and gambling/lottery services (7322, 7848, 7995)
Political or religious organizations (8651–8661)
Bail and bond payments (9223) and intra‑government purchases (9410/9700‑9702)
These categories are blocked to reduce the risk of fraudulent or regulated transactions.
Merchants blocked by default
Kolo also maintains a list of individual merchants whose transactions may be declined. Examples include:
OnlyFans, eToro, Skrill and Neteller
Badoo and Wish.com
Chegg and PUBG Mobile
Google Games and Experian
Papilon, CoinDeck and Deriv
FarmSwaps and Roobet
MoonPay and CEX.IO
Wise, OpenPay and PayFast
WePay and Fortnite
Magic of Egypt and Caliente
Boohoo and SSENSE.com
Zalando and End Clothing
Blue Tomato and Dunelm
Morqavi and SimpliSafe
PDF Filler and Resume Builder
Cengage Learning and Yandex
Shahid and ZaloPay
Huawei Services and Adventure Academy
Classic Reproduction
What To Do If Declined
Check your card balance — Make sure you have enough funds
Check card status — Ensure your card is activated and not locked
Review limits — You may have hit a daily or monthly limit
Check merchant — The merchant may be in a restricted category
Wait and retry — If you hit velocity limits, wait a few minutes before trying again
Contact support — If none of the above apply, reach out to us.
We're here to help! 💚