Payment cannot be authorized

Hello. I am posting because I have had this issue for quite some time now.

I have been paying for Xbox Live Gold and DLCs for almost a year and a half now. I didn't have issues with payments until now. On april 8th I payed my march gold as the auto-renewal for april kicked in. After that, I have been trying to pay april's Gold
since the 12th, and I am getting an error that says something like:

"Your payment option cannot be authorized. Use a new or different way to pay.

If the problem persists, contact your bank."

Now, I don't get an error code when I also want to apply a few dollars from my Microsoft account towards the purchase, and when I only use my payment option, I do get one. If I look it up, I get these possibilities:

1. Issues with the credit card. - I do not use a credit card.

2. Incorrect billing address. - Seemed the the right thing to fix here.

3. Try again later / Wait 24 to 48 hours. - Already tried.

Now, a few details about my account:

- The accout is US.

- I connect from Costa Rica.

- I pay with Paypal.

- The debit card tied to my Paypal belongs to a Costa Rican bank.

- The Paypal account I used had an identical billing addres to the debit card. Obviously, a Costa RIcan address.

Things I've tried:

- Contacted my bank: Everything is fine with the debit card.

- Contacted Paypal: Awaiting answer.

- Created new US Paypal account with the same billing address my Microsoft account has: The problem persists.

- Added the same payment options again and attempted to get rid of the previous: I cannot change the payment option for my Gold subscription and cannot buy anything else with the new payment options.

Things I've tried to buy:

- Xbox LIVE Gold - 1 month

- Halo: Spartan ****

- Gears of War 3 Season pass - Unfortunately missed the sale.

And unfortunately, pre-paid cards are not a viable solution for me. Stores are a bit abusive here. For example, charging the equivalent for $40 in local currency for a $20 gift card.

Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.

:)

 

Payment method cannot be authorized

If you just purchased points earlier in the day with it, please try again within 48 hours and see if you are able to purchase points with this card again.

It's always recommended that you purchase whatever you'd like in terms of points in one transaction. This problem usually occurs (in a situation like yours) when you don't purchase things too often, it's sort of like a security precaution that credit card companies
put in place to keep your account safe.

If your still unable to purchase points after waiting 48 hours, and you've already gone through the solution steps noted
here then the only thing left would be to use prepaid cards which can be purchased online digitally
and delivered to you via e-mail or in most retail stores. The retailers that take part in the digital delivery codes are Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Gamestop, and Microsoft Store online. I know it's not a permanent fix, but it's something that will let you
purchase your points and use them on your account.

 

Payment method cannot be authorized

This is a well-documented (yet still unsolved) issue, so I'll keep it short. When attempting to purchase MS points either from my xbox or on xbox.com, I receive some variation of the error "Your selected payment method could not be authorized; please try
again later." To save time: YES, my card info is correct (just bought MS points earlier in the day with it); NO, my bank has not shut off my card for security reasons; and YES, I have done the ridiculous account verification/email code process through xbox.com
(twice now, actually...in fact, the last two times I wanted to buy MS points I've gone through this).

In summary, thanks for making it so difficult to give you my money.

 

As your account is set to the U.S. but you don't actually live in the U.S. & your account location does not match your billing/actual location that may be the problem.

As Costa Rica is not an Xbox Live supported country i'm not sure if there is anything you can do.

 

Are you sure? I got a few friends who have been on LIVE for nearly 5 years and they also live here. Also my account had been working properly for over a year, there surely has to be a solution for this.

 

It may be the problem.Just because it did work it doesn't mean that it wont develop problems later.

Normally i'd suggest phoning support for your region but as your country isn't a xbox live supported country that's not possible.

 

I received an answer from Paypal. The problem seems to be between them and my Bank.

I'll call their support and they can easily fix the issue.