Problem with payment option

To resolve this problem, try the following solutions:

Solution 1: Check the status of Xbox LIVE

During scheduled system maintenance or unforeseen Xbox LIVE issues, some Xbox LIVE features may not be available. To determine Xbox LIVE, see Service status.

Solution 2: Test the Xbox LIVE connection:

To test your connection to Xbox LIVE, follow these steps:

Go to Settings and then System.

Select Network Settings.

Select Wired Network or the name of your wireless network, if you are prompted to do so.

Select Test Xbox LIVE Connection.

Solution 3: Check your billing address

Make sure that the billing address for your Xbox LIVE account matches the billing address used by your credit card company. Also make sure that your Xbox LIVE account payment information, including capitalisation, matches the information that is used by
your credit card company.

To change the billing address for your Xbox LIVE account, see Change your Xbox LIVE account information.

Solution 4: Contact your bank or financial institution

The Xbox LIVE purchase might have failed for any of these reasons:

The credit card has not been activated.

The credit card was declined due to insufficient funds.

The credit card is not authorised for online purchases or automatic billing.

The credit card company is blocking the transaction.

Contact your credit card company or bank and make sure that the card that you’re using was activated, that it has available funds, and that the transaction is not being blocked for some reason.

Solution 5: Try your purchase again later

The Xbox LIVE purchase might be blocked for any of these reasons:

Too many recent purchase attempts were declined.

The Xbox LIVE account or the payment option is being used from a suspicious location.

The payment option you provided may have a violation for non-payment that’s preventing it from being used for new purchases.

Wait and try the transaction again in 24 to 48 hours. If lots of purchase failures occur, this can prevent transactions from being processed until no purchase attempts have been made for a while (usually 24 to 48 hours).

Solution 6: Use a pre-paid Microsoft Points or membership card if available

As an alternative to using a credit or bank card, you can purchase a pre-paid Microsoft Points card from a retailer and use it to make purchases. Note that not all purchases support Microsoft Points or pre-paid options. Before purchasing Microsoft Points
or a pre-paid card, make sure that purchase option is available for the item you want to purchase.

Solution 7: Confirm that you are using an approved payment method

You can use Visa, MasterCard or American Express cards in Windows Phone Marketplace as long as they allow international purchases. Even if your card displays a Visa or MasterCard logo, it is possible that it's not approved by your bank or issuing financial
institution for international purchases.

Note Pre-paid cards, debit cards and gift cards (even those with a Visa or MasterCard logo) do not qualify as international cards and are not currently accepted by Windows Phone Marketplace.

If your credit card is an approved form of payment, try the next solution.

Solution 8: Check the card number, expiry date, card security code and name on the card

Retype the credit card number without any spaces, commas or other non-numeric characters. Verify that the expiry date, card security code and name that you entered are correct and match what is shown on the card.

If you have a paypal account set up then adding that should work as a good work around.

Are you trying over the xbox? It might be worth doing it on the website. If the problem consist please check your billing info to double check its not out of date and just re-add it.

Which promotion are you trying?

You can take a look at this page for more info on changing your payment options.

support.xbox.com/.../add-edit-xbox-live-payment-option

If that page doesn't help you might have to call Xbox Support at 1 (800) 4MY-XBOX.