Add or change a card

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Before you start

Open Billing payment methods. Enter card data only in the secure form.

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Step by step

1. Add the card and complete additional verification when requested.
2. Review currency and card information; a foreign card can be charged in USD.
3. Choose Charge this card when available.
4. Check registration or payment outcome before retrying.

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Which amount the plan line shows

The Plan line on this screen states the amount you are charged today, the same one the Billing rail shows. If your account has an agreed price, that is the one you see. When Mercado Pago charges you, the amount already includes tax and carries no + VAT note. If you later switch to a card, the switch summary quotes the current catalog price, which can differ.

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How to verify the result

The account identifies the chosen method. Saving a card and paying debt are distinct outcomes unless the flow confirms both. If you have cards saved but none chosen for the charge, Billing tells you, and you can choose one from Payment methods.

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If something goes wrong

• For a decline or incomplete 3DS check, read the reason and follow available recovery.
• If the form says a previous attempt left a card half-confirmed, don’t enter another card: our team is already reviewing it and writes to you when it’s resolved. The form doesn’t offer a retry, because it would fail again; if you need something sooner, use Talk to support.
• Do not share full numbers, security codes or form screenshots. MercadoPago interfaces and actions can differ.

Read as Markdown

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Reloading or resuming checkout

If Reload checkout appears, use that button before entering card details. The screen preserves the attempt while preparing secure fields. If you already confirmed a payment and its result is pending, continue checking that same attempt; do not enter another card to resolve a connection interruption. When an error includes a Code and Reference, keep both when asking for help. The code accompanies the message and the available action. Do not share the complete card number or its security code. If the bank declines the card — an invalid security code, insufficient funds, or a card that does not accept this charge — the decline closes that attempt and you can enter the details again right away, with the same card or a different one. There is no need to wait or leave checkout: a declined attempt does not block the next one. If you come back later, open checkout again from Billing and start over. This also applies to a decline from our payment provider, which the screen shows as Code: DECLINED_BY_PROVIDER. That decline does not come from your bank, so you do not need to call it. Try another card and, if it happens again, message us on WhatsApp. If the screen was waiting for the result after a reload, the decline is still recognized: when you open checkout again or select Check again, the card form comes back. If the result still shows as pending, wait for that attempt before entering another card. If you come back to Payment methods days after a decline, the form starts a new payment: it no longer reuses the one left from the earlier decline, which the bank could not process and which kept the screen on Validating…. If an attempt got no answer from the bank, we check that attempt when you add a card again: if the processor confirms there was no charge, we close it and you continue with the new card. If a charge is in progress, we ask you to wait and we review it ourselves, so you are not charged twice. If the bank does not confirm the validation when you add a card, the window says we are confirming it. Do not add the card again. If it is validated, it shows up in Payment methods. The window no longer promises an email: today we do not send one when that validation ends. The card marked as primary is the one your subscription uses. Adding a card without checking Use this card for future charges does not mark it as primary, even if it is the last card you added.

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One card, one clear view

When this improvement is enabled, adding the same card more than once shows it once. Its billing options are retained. The last four digits always appear in full, including leading zeros. If the default method is Unavailable, that is not confirmation it can be charged. When Use for billing appears, choose that action to select an available option and wait for confirmation. Grouping cards alone does not change your selection or charge you.

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Recognize a Gifty payment

The improvement being prepared identifies payment descriptions with Gifty while retaining the purpose: card verification, subscription or outstanding invoice. The merchant name remains visible to identify the account. Always review the amount and currency before confirming. This improvement does not change the name configured on the processor account or the shortened text a bank may show on a card statement.

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What happened to your card

When registering or charging fails, the screen shows the real reason for that operation instead of a generic notice: a declined card, a cardholder detail, a connection interruption or a result that is not confirmed yet. Every message includes a Code and a Reference: keep both. With those two values you do not need to describe what you saw. The Gifty team receives an internal notice for every attempt that does not end well, carrying the same code and reference, so quoting them is enough when you write to us. Never share the full card number or the security code: we do not need them. If the result is still unconfirmed, wait for that same attempt to resolve before adding another card.

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When you add a card, you choose whether it becomes the billing card

If you already have a card that you are charged on, the form to add another one shows the option Use this card for upcoming charges, checked by default. Below it, the form says which card you are charged on today.

• If you leave it checked, the new card becomes the billing card as soon as it is validated. While the change applies, the form says it is setting the card as your main card; it may take a few minutes.
• If you uncheck it, the card is saved as a backup and charges keep using your current card. The form confirms this with the last four digits of that card.
• If the card cannot be the billing card, for example a debit card when the processor only accepts credit, it is saved anyway and the form tells you why. Keep the Reference if you need help.

You can change the option until you tap Save card. Before, the final message always said that your next charges would use the new card, even when that was not true. If you have a balance with a payment in progress, for example a payment link you are paying in Mercado Pago, adding a card does not charge that balance. The form tells you that the payment in progress continues. This way you are not charged twice for the same amount. If you have an outstanding balance without a payment in progress, the form shows the amount and the option I authorize charging $X of outstanding balance to this card, unchecked. Adding a card does not charge anything by itself: the balance is charged only if you check that option. If you leave it unchecked, the card is saved and the balance stays outstanding; you can pay it from Billing. If the amount changes before you save, the form shows the new amount and asks you to review it.

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What happens when you choose “Use for billing”

Choosing the billing card applies right away. When you choose Use for billing, the card shows Applying… for as long as the action runs, and the screen tells you the result there and then.

• If it works, that card becomes the billing card and we tell you.
• If it does not, the reason stays written under the card, in words that say what to do.
• If the result takes longer to confirm, the card says we are confirming it with the processor. The screen checks again by itself and, when it is confirmed, tells you with the same Done message. If a minute passes without confirmation, reload. The change is still running; do not pick another card to force it.

Before, this action took up to 17 seconds to tell you how it ended, and before that it showed a notice promising the change “in a few minutes” and never told you anything.

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Which card can be the billing card

You can pick any of your cards for your subscription billing, credit or debit, with one condition: you must keep at least one credit card on file as backup. The card you are charged on may be debit or prepaid; the credit card is the one that cannot be missing. In some cases the payment processor accepts credit cards only. When that is so and we recognize a card as debit, we do not offer Use for billing: you see Credit cards only instead. If the processor does accept them but you have no credit card on file, the notice is a different one and says what to do: You need a backup credit card. If you still manage to choose it and the rejection arrives later, the reason appears under the card. There is one case apart: returning to a cancelled subscription. A credit card is the safe choice there. If you pick one you already had on file and it is debit, we say so before charging you. With a new card typed at checkout we cannot know it is debit until after the validation charge, so we do not stop you: what the processor does refuse before charging is a prepaid card. That mark appears from the first load of Payment methods: if we did not know a card’s type yet, we look it up before drawing the screen. That way you never touch an action that could not work.

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Cards you removed

If you remove a card, it no longer appears in Payment methods. It used to stay on the screen marked Unavailable, even though it could not be used anymore. There is one exception: if the same physical card was added more than once and one of those entries is still active, the card stays visible, because it can still be charged.

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When you do not see “Use for billing”

Changing the billing card is not available on every account. If it is not available on yours, Payment methods shows your cards without the Use for billing action and without the notices about which card can be the billing card. The button used to appear anyway and, when you tapped it, the screen asked you to try again in a bit, which was never going to work. It also does not appear on subscriptions that are not managed from the dashboard, such as those that come from an earlier billing system or a special agreement: there the change cannot be applied from Gifty, and the form to add a card does not offer to use it for upcoming charges. If you need to change your billing card, contact us.

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With the subscription cancelled

If your subscription is cancelled, Payment methods says so plainly: the Mercado Pago card shows Subscription cancelled and says you can come back whenever you want. It used to keep saying “Active subscription” after the cancellation was done, even when you had cancelled from Mercado Pago itself. While there is no live subscription we do not offer to move your billing method in either direction: changing the rail would have no effect. You cannot choose which card gets charged either, because there is nothing to charge. Your cards stay visible and you can add one — that is what settling an outstanding balance needs. The way back is within reach: Subscribe again, on the Mercado Pago card itself and also on the notice at the top of the screen. Both point at the same place. We no longer offer Manage in Mercado Pago there: with the subscription cancelled, there is nothing left to manage at Mercado Pago. If the subscription ended over an outstanding balance, the way back is not to subscribe again but to settle it: the card offers to add a card, which is what charges what is owed and signs you up again. If that flow is unavailable for your account, we offer to contact support instead. You will never see a button that leads nowhere.