solcard flipped to restricted overnight with $1,200 on it and no explanation

Woke up to SolCard showing restricted where it normally says active, with $1,200 of USDC on it.

Nothing obvious happened. Last spend was a hotel on Tuesday, went through first time. No top up since the 2nd. No support ticket open, nothing in the app except the word restricted and no link to anything.

I am on the no-KYC tier, so I have paid the 5% on every top up for eight months for the privilege of having nobody to call. Anyone had restricted specifically, as opposed to declined?

where was the hotel

Ha. It was abroad, yes. Does that do it?

which country

Not one I would have thought was on any list. I will not name it here but it is not exotic.

Restricted is a different state to declined on this product and it is almost always geography.

They do not operate in the US and there is a long restricted list behind that which they do not publish in full. A single authorisation from an acquirer in a listed country will flip the card to restricted rather than simply bouncing the charge, because the concern is where you are, not what you bought. That is also why nothing looks wrong with the transaction itself — it went through, and then the card changed state afterwards.

The fix, such as it is: completing the verified tier usually clears it, because the restriction is on an unverified card operating outside where they will serve one. It also drops your top up from 5% to 0%, which is the actual reason to do it and the reason people resent doing it.

If you will not verify, the $1,200 is not gone but I have not seen an unverified card come out of restricted on its own.

So the no-KYC tier is a trial and the 5% is the fee for staying in it. That is a subscription, not a tier.

Mine has been fine all year, topped up Monday, no issues!

Were you in a hotel.

Have you actually seen a verified-tier card come out of restricted, or is that inference?

Seen it twice, both within about seventy two hours of verification completing. Two is not a pattern but it is not inference either.

Resolved, and hana_v called it exactly.

I held out for a week, then gave in and did the verification on the 21st. Card came back to active on the 24th, three days almost to the hour. Balance was correct, $1,200 to the cent, nothing skimmed.

Top up is 0% now, which after eight months of paying five is a slightly bitter thing to type. Whether the identity trade was worth it is a different thread and I do not want to have it - but if you are sitting on a restricted unverified card wondering whether to wait it out, in my one case waiting did nothing and verifying took three days.