Fix: Epic Games Transaction Declined For Your Protection

“Looks like something went wrong. For your protection, this transaction has been declined. Please try another card or other payment methods.” appears when a payment attempt on the Epic Games Store or Epic Launcher fails to pass the security or authorization checks.

The decline can come from Epic’s verification system or directly from your bank or card provider. When either side detects unusual, unverifiable, or mismatched activity, the payment is automatically blocked to reduce possible fraud.

This message commonly appears during purchases such as buying V Bucks, purchasing a new title, or renewing a subscription.

Common causes include:

• Incorrect or outdated payment details such as an expired card, invalid card number, or wrong CVV.
• Bank side security restrictions that flag the payment as risky or unusual due to merchant category or region.
• Account and billing region mismatches between your Epic profile and your card details.
• Temporary risk flags triggered by rapid repeated attempts.
• Insufficient funds can contribute to a decline, although it usually creates a different notification instead of this protection warning.

1. Use Another Payment Card (If Applicable)

Your current card may be expired, blocked, restricted for online use, or under review by your bank’s fraud system. Even though low balance is not the usual cause behind this specific warning, switching to another card helps when your bank silently rejects the transaction.

Ensure the alternate card supports online or international usage based on your region.

2. Purchase Through the Epic Games Store Website

The Epic Games Launcher can fail due to local cache issues or a session sync problem. The browser version uses the same payment backend at Epic but avoids launcher specific glitches and often succeeds.

1. Go to Epic Games Store.
2. Sign in to your account.
   
3. Add the game to your cart.
4. Select your preferred payment method.
   
5. Click Checkout.

3. Link Your Card to PayPal (If Applicable)

Some banks mark direct gaming platform transactions as risky. PayPal acts as a trusted layer, and banks usually treat PayPal based authorizations as safer, reducing automatic declines. The charge does not always convert into a domestic transaction, but the trust factor helps.

1. Open PayPal.
   
2. Log in.
   
3. Enter the verification code.
   
4. Go to Pay and Get Paid then Banks and Cards.
   
5. Select Link a Card.
   
6. Enter card details.
   
7. Verify using OTP.
   
8. Try your purchase again through the Epic Games Store.

4. Enable International or Online Usage for the Card

Epic often routes payments through international gateways. If your card’s international or online purchase setting is disabled, your bank blocks the attempt automatically. Enabling these options allows the transaction to complete.

1. Open your bank’s mobile application.
2. Go to card management.
3. Look for International usage, Online Transactions, or E commerce options.
4. Enable the required settings.

5. Redeem the Game Using a Game Key (Workaround)

If the issue continues and you cannot complete the purchase at all, you can buy a game key from a trusted seller when the specific title supports key based activation. Not every game on Epic supports external keys.

1. Open the Epic Games Launcher.
   
2. Select your profile and click Redeem Code.
   
3. Enter the product key.
   

If you do not want to use a game key or still cannot complete the purchase, contact your bank. They can see the exact reason for the decline and unblock the transaction immediately.