If a payment with your Bringin card is being declined or won't go through, it's usually down to one of a few common causes. Work through the checks below in order — most issues are solved within the first two steps.
1. Make sure your card is activated
Physical cards must be activated before first use. Open the card menu in the app and activate your card there. To finish activation, complete your first payment using chip and PIN, or make a balance check or withdrawal at an ATM. Contactless and online payments may be declined until this first chip-and-PIN or ATM step is done.
Virtual cards work straight away — no activation needed.
2. Check the linked balance and available funds
Each card is linked to one balance, and that balance needs enough funds to cover the payment.
Confirm your card is linked to the balance you want to pay from.
Confirm that balance actually has funds available.
To change the linked balance: tap on the card, then tap the arrow icon in the top-right corner of the black card box.
Understanding your three balances
You'll see three balances in the Bringin app. It's important to know which ones can be used for card payments:
Balance | What it is | Can it be linked to the card? |
BTC balance | Your self-custodial Bitcoin wallet | No |
EUR balance | Your Bringin vIBAN (euro account) | Yes |
Card balance | A Bitcoin balance dedicated to the card | Yes — but it must be topped up with BTC before you can pay from it |
Tip: If your card is linked to the Card balance, remember it needs to be topped up with BTC first. An empty Card balance will cause payments to fail even if you have Bitcoin in your main BTC wallet.
3. Trying to pay with Apple Pay?
Apple Pay is not supported directly with the Bringin card. To use it, you'll need to add your card through the Curve app first.
Full instructions here: How to use your debit card with Google Pay / Apple Pay
4. Paying online or contactless?
Both online and contactless payments can be turned on or off in your card settings. Open the card settings in the app and check that:
Online payments are enabled — if switched off, payments on websites and apps will be declined.
Contactless payments are enabled — if switched off, tap-to-pay in stores will be declined.
5. Still not working?
If you've worked through the steps above and your payment is still failing, we're happy to help. Reach out to us at [email protected] and include:
The card involved (e.g. the last 4 digits)
The balance it's linked to
What you were trying to do and any error message you saw
We'll get you sorted as quickly as we can.