Structured decline reasons for onboarding applications

When an onboarding application is declined, a decision now tells you why. Every declined decision returns a decline-reasons array, and each reason includes a stable code, a short title you can display, and a description of what went wrong and what to do next.

What's new

• Structured reasons on every decline - each entry in decline-reasons has a code, a title and a description

• Actionable next steps - each reason explains what to do next, whether that's correcting the data, waiting for an external record to update, or accepting that resubmitting won't change the outcome

• Faster resubmissions - when a customer fixes the issue and resubmits, we recognise it against the previous decline. Where the reason has been resolved, verification can progress without a repeat manual review

Where you'll find it

Decline reasons come back wherever a decision appears in the API, and on the decision-created webhook, so they fit into your existing flow.

For example

A failed CRA identity check returns: "The applicant's identity could not be matched against the records we check. Check the applicant's name, date of birth and address, correct any errors and resubmit."

For more information, see the guide.

Why we’ve added this

Customers were regularly asking for more information about application declines and how to handle them. This created operational effort for both customers and Griffin. With consistent, actionable detail in the decline response, you can understand any decline without contacting support, and your customers don't need to raise requests to find out why.

Please note that for some declines, such as an application that falls outside our risk appetite, we can only give a general reason with no further explanation.

Does this work in the sandbox?

Yes

Will this affect existing integrations?

Right now, no action is required to keep your current integration working. Decline reasons are returned on declined decisions wherever a decision already appears. If you'd like to show the new messaging to your customers, you’ll need to update your integration.

See guide for more information.

Thanks for reading!

 Read our docs

 Follow us on LinkedIn