Payment Authentication Verification Failed

Question

We are trying to activate an office 365 subscription and its giving us a Payment Authentication Verification error.

We have entered the product key for the subscription and checked all the associated details.

Any thoughts on how to get the subscription activated so word, excel etc can be used?

Answer 1

Hi Richard,

Payment issues are typically handled by Microsoft Support.

Please try these steps. If they do not help, I would share the steps to contact an agent.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/troubleshoot-buying-issues-with-microsoft-store-ca603a8a-7123-3fa1-d1e8-4043f75f2f31

If you're having trouble buying something from the Microsoft Store, here are some steps to try:

• Check your credit card is up to date on the Payment options page.

Check you don't have any subscription payments overdue on the Services page.

Check your account is not temporarily suspended.

Check if your Xbox account is suspended.

Check that your computer's anti-virus is not blocking pop-ups or payment confirmation windows.

Alternatively, try our guided support troubleshooter to get things working again.

Start

I hope this information helps. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

Otherwise, please take a moment to rate the answer. Wishing you good luck!

Answer 2

The error PaymentAuthenticationVerificationFailed when redeeming or activating an Office 365 / Microsoft 365 for home product key is typically caused by a problem with the payment method or its verification on the Microsoft account being used.

Use these steps to get the subscription activated so Word, Excel, etc. can be used:

1. Confirm the subscription status
   • Go to the Microsoft account Subscriptions page: https://account.microsoft.com/services.
   • Sign in with the same Microsoft account used when trying to redeem/activate the product key.
   • Verify that the Microsoft 365 subscription associated with that key is present and not marked as cancelled, expired, or suspended.
2. Fix payment method issues
   • Go to the Payment options page: https://account.microsoft.com/billing/payments.
   • Check whether the payment method shows any error (expired card, declined, or verification required).
   • Update or change the payment method (for example, add a new card or correct billing details) and save the changes.
   • This step has resolved the PaymentAuthenticationVerificationFailed error for other users by changing or updating the payment method.
3. Retry product key redemption / activation
   • After fixing the payment method, sign out of the Microsoft account on the web and sign back in.
   • Redeem the product key again if it has not yet been successfully applied to the account.
   • Once the subscription shows as active on the Subscriptions page, open an Office app (Word, Excel), go to File > Account, and make sure it is signed in with the same Microsoft account. If needed, sign out and sign back in.
4. If Office apps still show subscription or activation warnings
   • Close all Office apps.
   • In an Office app, go to File > Account and use the option to update or refresh the license (for example, sign out and sign back in, or update license if shown).
   • Confirm again that the subscription is active on the Subscriptions page.

If the payment method is valid and the subscription still cannot be activated, contact Microsoft support from the account portal while signed in, as the error is tied to account-level billing/payment verification.

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References:

• Office error "Account Notice: We've run into a problem with your Microsoft 365 subscription"
• Trying to use an Office365 product key and "getting error PaymentAuthenticationVerificationFailed" - Microsoft Q&A