If every single Clover transaction on your WooCommerce store is failing — including your own test card — the cards aren't the problem. A 100% decline rate is almost always one configuration fault. (If only some cards fail, that's normal bank declines — see our decline-codes guide instead.) Here's the diagnostic, ordered by how often each is the culprit.
1. Sandbox credentials running against live traffic
This is the number-one cause of total failure. If your plugin's environment is set to Sandbox (or you pasted Sandbox keys), every real card will fail because the request hits Clover's test environment. Confirm all of these are the PRODUCTION values: environment = Production, PAKMS key, App ID, and App Secret. Sandbox and production credentials are not interchangeable — one wrong value fails everything.
2. The Clover Developer app isn't approved for payments
New Clover apps must be explicitly approved to process payments on production. Until approval lands, charges fail with a generic gateway error that looks like a decline. Check your app's status in the Clover Developer Dashboard — if payment processing is pending, you cannot take live cards yet.
3. AVS / CVV set to reject
Address Verification System (AVS) compares the billing address the customer types against their bank's record. If the gateway is configured to reject on any AVS mismatch — or any CVV mismatch — then ordinary customer typos decline good cards, and a strict rule can decline nearly everyone. Relax AVS to ZIP-only (or off) and don't hard-reject on CVV unless you're in a genuinely high-fraud vertical.
4. Region / endpoint mismatch
Clover runs separate environments per region (NA, EU, LATAM). A merchant provisioned in one region whose plugin points at another region's API will see every charge fail. Set the plugin's region to match where the Clover merchant account actually lives.
5. Currency mismatch
A Clover merchant account is provisioned for a specific currency. If WooCommerce is set to a different currency (e.g. a USD account but a store set to CAD or EUR), transactions fail at the processor. Match WooCommerce → Settings → General → Currency to the merchant account's currency.
6. Expired or revoked OAuth token
If payments worked and then ALL of them started failing, the OAuth token likely expired or was revoked — or someone re-saved credentials and broke the PAKMS key. Reconnect through the plugin's OAuth flow and re-enter the production PAKMS key. See our OAuth error guide for the specific messages.
Fastest path to the answer
- Reproduce one failure with WooCommerce logging on (Status → Logs). Read the exact gateway error.
- Confirm Production environment + production PAKMS/App ID/Secret (rules out #1, the most common).
- Confirm the Developer app is approved for production payments (#2).
- Set AVS to ZIP-only/off and retry with a good card (#3).
- Confirm region and currency both match the merchant account (#4, #5).
- If it worked before, reconnect OAuth (#6).
Avoiding this entirely
Total-failure setups almost always come down to environment, region, or AVS. CloverWoo's setup flow makes the environment and region explicit, shows a clear connected/disconnected OAuth status, and supports NA/EU/LATAM so the endpoint matches your merchant account — so you don't ship a store that silently declines everyone. Payments, two-way sync, and auto-print in one plugin, $60/mo flat, 7-day refund.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Clover declining 100% of my WooCommerce orders?
A total failure rate is configuration, not the cards. The usual culprits, in order: sandbox credentials running in production, a Clover Developer app not yet approved for payments, AVS/CVV set to hard-reject, a region/endpoint mismatch, or a store currency that doesn't match the merchant account. Test with a known-good card after fixing each.
How do I know if it's a config issue or real bank declines?
Check the failure rate. 100% failing (including your own test card) is configuration. If only some cards fail with codes like 51, 61, or 05, those are bank declines tied to the customer or issuer — see the Clover decline codes guide.
Could AVS be declining good customers?
Yes — this is common. If the gateway rejects on any address-verification mismatch, ordinary typos in the billing address decline legitimate cards. Relax AVS to ZIP-only or off unless you're high-fraud, and don't hard-reject on CVV mismatch.
Payments worked yesterday and now everything fails — why?
If it was working and then everything stopped at once, the OAuth token likely expired or was revoked, or credentials were re-saved and broke the PAKMS key. Reconnect through the plugin's OAuth flow and re-enter the production PAKMS key.