Transaction Error: Charge attempt cannot be fulfilled

If you are getting a 'Charge attempt cannot be fulfilled' error, it means that Paystack's Regulator is blocking that transaction.

Regulator is a charge restriction placed on cards whose transactions have failed consecutively. It’s our way of promoting a fair use policy around how our customers are charged.

Once a card fails ten consecutive transaction attempts on Paystack, the card will be regulated and can only be charged once every twenty-four hours until there's a successful transaction.

If a Paystack business tries to charge a card that has been regulated, the error message below will be returned:

{
  "status": false,
  "message": "Charge cannot be fulfilled until {time} minutes"
  "data": {
    "retry_by": "2020-05-01 5:00:00"
  }
}

However, if a regulated card is charged successfully, the regulation on the card is reset. This means, if nine failed transaction attempts are carried out on a card and the tenth one is successful, then it will be reset.

For example, if Business A carries out ten failed attempts on a card and Business B wants to charge the card, then Business B has a chance to try the card once. If the charge attempt from Business B works then the regulation is reset. But if the charge attempt fails, then the card won’t be charged again until another twenty-four hours.

Regulator works only for recurring card transactions. It doesn't affect first-time transactions on Paystack.