[BUG] [Billing] Claude Max subscription fails with card_velocity_exceeded — card works on other Stripe merchants

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)

What's Wrong?

Attempting to subscribe to Claude Max plan ($200/month) on claude.ai fails with card_velocity_exceeded error, even though the same card works successfully on other Stripe-powered merchants.

Payment Details

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Payment Intent ID | pi_3Tj5VFBjIQrRQnux13q3GkS7 |
| Charge ID | ch_3Tj5VFBjIQrRQnux1NT1W7O3 |
| Payment Method ID | pm_1TiixQBjIQrRQnuxZruD8kk |
| Decline Code | card_velocity_exceeded |
| Card | Visa ending in 4974 (debit, issued in Indonesia) |
| Amount | $200.00 USD |
| Currency | USD |

Error Message from Stripe

Your card was declined for making repeated attempts too frequently or exceeding its amount limit.

Why This is NOT a Bank/Card Issue

1. The same card works on other Stripe merchants at the time of this report
2. A bank-side block would return do_not_honor or generic_decline — not card_velocity_exceeded
3. card_velocity_exceeded indicates a Stripe/merchant-level velocity limit has been hit for repeated attempts to the same merchant (Anthropic)
4. Anthropic support confirmed they cannot reset velocity limits and directed me to file a bug report

Root Cause (Suspected)

Stripe's velocity limiter has flagged this card + Anthropic merchant combination due to multiple failed payment attempts in a short period. This is a Stripe-level throttle, not a card issuer block.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Go to claude.ai/upgrade/max
2. Select Max plan ($200/month)
3. Use a Visa debit card (issued in Indonesia)
4. Click Subscribe
5. Payment fails with card_velocity_exceeded

Expected Behavior

Payment should succeed and Claude Max subscription should be activated.

Actual Behavior

Payment is declined with card_velocity_exceeded. Retrying does not help as the velocity limit remains active.

What I've Already Tried

• [x] Verified card works on other Stripe merchants ✅
• [x] Contacted Anthropic support (escalation not possible at tier-1)
• [x] Waited 24+ hours before retrying

Request

Please escalate to the billing/payments engineering team to:

1. Reset or clear the velocity limit for the Payment Intent above
2. Investigate if Anthropic's subscription flow is triggering excessive retry attempts automatically, causing velocity limits to be hit unintentionally

Environment

• Platform: claude.ai (web browser)
• OS: Windows / Chrome
• Not a Claude Code CLI issue — reporting here as it is the most monitored Anthropic repository

What Should Happen?

-

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

-

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

-

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_