MATCH code 4 is the excessive chargebacks reason code, and unlike most of the table it has a published numeric trigger. Mastercard’s threshold is chargebacks in a single calendar month exceeding 1% of Mastercard sales transactions that month, and those chargebacks totalling 5,000 US dollars or more. Both halves must be true in the same month.
What triggers MATCH code 4
Two conditions, one month, and both required. The ratio condition is that Mastercard chargebacks in a single calendar month exceeded 1% of Mastercard sales transactions in that same month. The dollar condition is that those chargebacks totalled 5,000 US dollars or more.
Miss either one and the threshold is not met. A business with a 4% chargeback ratio on very small volume can sit under the dollar figure. A business with a large absolute chargeback total on very high volume can sit under the ratio. The code applies where both lines are crossed together, which is why two businesses with the same headline problem can end up in completely different places.
Ratio by count, amount by dollars
The detail that trips people up is that the two halves are measured differently. The 1% test compares chargebacks to sales transactions, a count against a count. The 5,000 dollar test is an amount.
That mismatch means average ticket size changes your exposure. A business selling a high-value item crosses the dollar line on very few disputes, so the ratio becomes the binding constraint. A business selling something cheap needs a lot of disputes to reach 5,000 dollars, so the dollar total is what protects it. Neither is safer overall, they simply fail in different ways.
It counts Mastercard activity only
Code 4 looks at Mastercard-card chargebacks against Mastercard-card sales. Visa volume, Amex volume and Discover volume are not in the calculation at all.
This matters in two directions. A business whose disputes cluster on one brand can breach on that brand while its blended, all-brand ratio looks comfortable, and the blended number is usually the one on the monthly statement people actually read. In the other direction, Visa runs its own screening system with its own thresholds, so staying clear of code 4 is not the same as being clear across the board.
A calendar month, not a rolling window
The month is a calendar month. Not a rolling thirty days, not your statement cycle if that cycle straddles a month boundary, not a quarterly average.
The practical consequence is that a single bad fortnight can be the whole problem if it sits inside one calendar month, while the same fortnight split across the end of one month and the start of the next may breach neither. Monitoring on a rolling basis is good operational practice, but the test that decides a listing is run on the calendar, so it is worth watching both.
How code 4 reads to a new underwriter
Better than most codes on the table, and this is the part worth holding on to. Code 4 describes volume, product and dispute handling rather than alleged wrongdoing, and underwriters know it. It appears on files from businesses that scaled faster than their support could follow, that changed a billing descriptor and confused their own customers, or that sell in a category where disputes are simply common.
The rest of the table is not read the same way. Codes covering laundering, merchant collusion or a fraud conviction describe alleged criminal conduct and they close doors that stay shut. The complete list with Mastercard’s own definitions is on our MATCH list reference page, and what to do next is in getting a merchant account after a MATCH listing.
What actually reduces the risk
The ratio has a denominator, and the fastest lever most businesses have is the numerator: fewer disputes rather than more sales. That means the recognisable billing descriptor, the refund honoured before the customer reaches for their bank, the delivery estimate you can actually meet, and fraud filters tuned to your real order pattern. Practical detail is in how to lower your chargeback ratio.
Watch the per-brand number, not just the blended one, and watch it against the calendar month. A business that tracks its Mastercard ratio separately and reconciles it monthly will see a breach coming with weeks to spare. One that reads a single blended figure on a statement cycle usually finds out afterwards. The wider picture of what ends an account is in what gets a merchant account terminated.
Frequently asked questions
Does hitting the threshold automatically mean a listing? The threshold is what makes a terminated merchant eligible for code 4. The termination decision itself sits with the acquirer, and where an acquirer does terminate on those grounds it is required to add the listing within one business day.
Does one bad month wipe out a good year? The test is run on a single calendar month, so yes, one month can be enough on its own. Sustained history matters greatly to the next underwriter, but it does not change whether the threshold was met.
Are refunds counted as chargebacks? No. A refund is a merchant-initiated return of funds. A chargeback is a dispute raised through the cardholder’s issuer, and only the latter counts here.
Where can I read the rule myself? Mastercard publishes it in the Security Rules and Procedures Merchant Edition, and Stripe’s public documentation reproduces the same definitions.
Sources: Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures Merchant Edition (SPME manual), and Stripe’s published documentation at docs.stripe.com/disputes/match.