This article refers to the Forma Card issued for employer-sponsored benefits. For more information about why your Pre-tax Forma Card was declined, refer to this article: Why was my Pre-tax Forma Card transaction declined?
Overview:
When you use your Forma Card, authorization is done at the point of sale. These are some of the most common reasons why a transaction might have been declined:
The attempted purchase was made at an unverified merchant
If a merchant sells a wide variety of products, Forma may be unable to verify the eligibility of the purchase at point of sale. Examples of these merchants include:
- Amazon
- Costco
- Walmart
- REI
- Target
For certain merchants and vendors we’ll ask you to upload a receipt for us to review the individual items. You will get a text and email notification, and can upload your receipt via the Forma app or online. We typically review within 24-48 hours.
If you don’t upload a receipt after 90 days, your Forma Card will be temporarily locked, but as soon as you upload your receipt your card will be unlocked.
If you’ve purchased an item that’s ineligible, you’ll need to connect a personal credit or debit card to Forma so we can charge you the ineligible amount.
The attempted purchase was ineligible
If a purchase is ineligible, the Forma Card transaction will be declined at the point of sale.
If you believe the product or service should be eligible under your company’s policy, please reach out to Forma Support at support@joinforma.com.
You don’t have enough in your Forma benefit to cover a purchase
The Forma Card works like a debit card where you need to have sufficient funds for a transaction to be approved.
If you link a personal debit or credit card to Forma, we can use that as a backup payment method to cover large purchases, so you’ll first use all of your available benefit balance, then pay the rest out-of-pocket.
To add a personal debit or credit card:
- Log in to your Forma account, select “View or edit profile” from the menu in the top right corner
- Select “Linked accounts” then “Add a backup credit card”
- Finally, turn on the setting for “Charge credit card the amount that exceeds benefit balance”
Note: If your balance is $0, using your Forma Card will result in the entire transaction being declined and your personal credit card will not be used as a backup.
A transaction was declined because of a data entry error
Confirm the following information:
- Your billing address under “Card settings” on your Forma account matches what you entered when making the transaction
- The card number, expiration date, and CVV are entered correctly