Why can I no longer accept Visa gift cards?

[rileysrayray]

So I get paid with Visa gift cards quite often. And up until last week I never had an issue doing so. But for some reason gift card transactions keep getting denied. I’ve called Square support and they tell me it’s a problem on the gift cards end. Then I called the gift card and they told me that Square isn’t excepting the payment. So now I don’t know what to do because both companies are pointing the finger at the other. Has anyone else experienced this issue or know how to fix it? 

[TheRealChipA]

@rileysrayray I occasionally have problems with these cards.  After a couple of calls to VISA or MC by the customers, they were all told that some(?) gift cards require PINs and if their customers can’t enter the PIN, which we can’t do through Square, that they will always reject the transaction.  That even occasionally happens with customers who have debit cards that REQUIRE PINs and don’t allow transactions to be processed as credit-like transactions.  So far, that has been consistent, at least.  If a PIN is required by the card issuing company, it will most likely be rejected by them.  There’s no way to fix that.

I can’t be certain that is the problem you are experiencing, but I’m just adding my experience.

[TheRealChipA]

Also this thread might give you other clues. The common theme seems to be to remember that approval decisions  always come from the card issuing bank, not Square. Square is just the messenger.