How to fix Cash App's "payment canceled for your protection"

Few things are more frustrating when shopping than finding out a transaction isn’t going through properly. And as smooth as Cash App is meant to be, it’s entirely possible to run into a dreaded “payment declined for your protection” error. So what does that mean, exactly? And is there anything you can do to resolve it?

Why does Cash App say “Payment declined for your protection”?

Quite simply, it means the algorithms and/or people at Cash App have flagged a transaction as potentially fraudulent. There are variety of nuanced reasons why this might happen, but ultimately it’s going to fall under one of three categories:

• You’re dealing with a vendor or user who isn’t considered reputable. That could mean they’ve had transaction issues of their own, or they’ve failed to deliver when it comes to products, services, or refunds.
• The transaction is suspicious in the context of your own history with Cash. You may be sending or receiving an unusual number of payments, or dealing with a vendor or user somewhere far removed for your home — for a hypothetical example, you’re shopping in the United States, but the vendor is an online store in Pakistan.
• Your linked debit or credit card is in someone else’s name.

How to fix “Payment failed for your protection” in Cash App

There’s no direct method of fixing the error that we know of. These tips may help:

• If you’ve been sending or receiving a lot of payments recently, try waiting a few hours before trying again, or even a day or more.
• If you’re shopping, doublecheck the vendor’s location and customer reviews. You may need to shop elsewhere. If there’s no choice, try another payment method.
• Make sure your payment info belongs to you and is fully accurate.
• Doublecheck the phone number and/or $Cashtag of the other person. It could be that Cash thinks you’re dealing with someone you didn’t mean to.
• You may need to use Cash app more often to build up a consistent transaction history.