MATCH reason codes run from 1 to 14 with no code 6, giving thirteen codes in use. The code attached to a listing matters more than the listing itself, because it tells the next underwriter what kind of problem they are looking at, and the codes range from placeable to effectively final.

The full list of MATCH reason codes

Mastercard’s own names, in order:

  • 1 Account Data Compromise. Card data was exposed, taken or used without authorisation.
  • 2 Common Point of Purchase. Cards used at the business were subsequently used fraudulently elsewhere, pointing at this merchant as the shared origin.
  • 3 Laundering. The merchant processed transactions that did not arise from its own business.
  • 4 Excessive Chargebacks. Chargebacks in a single calendar month exceeded 1% of Mastercard sales transactions and totalled 5,000 US dollars or more.
  • 5 Excessive Fraud. Fraud-to-sales dollar ratio of 8% or more in a calendar month, with 10 or more fraudulent transactions totalling 5,000 US dollars or more.
  • 7 Fraud Conviction. A principal was convicted of criminal fraud.
  • 8 Mastercard Questionable Merchant Audit Program. The merchant was determined questionable under that programme.
  • 9 Bankruptcy, Liquidation, Insolvency. The merchant is unlikely to be able to discharge its financial obligations.
  • 10 Violation of Standards. Breach of one or more Mastercard rules.
  • 11 Merchant Collusion. The merchant participated in fraud with others.
  • 12 PCI DSS Non-Compliance. The merchant failed to comply with the card data security standards.
  • 13 Illegal Transactions. The merchant processed transactions that were illegal.
  • 14 Identity Theft. The merchant identity was assumed by another party without authority.

Why there is no code 6

There simply is not one in the published table. The numbering runs 1 to 5, then 7 to 14, and Mastercard’s documentation does not assign a meaning to 6. It is a gap in the sequence rather than a hidden category or a code reserved for something unspeakable, which is the theory that circulates on forums.

The practical point is that if you have been told you are listed under code 6, somebody has made an error. Ask for the code again in writing, because everything downstream depends on getting it right.

How the codes group in practice

Three tiers, roughly, and an underwriter reads them in exactly this order.

Volume and control problems: codes 4, 5, 12, and often 10. These describe a business that grew too fast, sold something dispute-prone, let a compliance validation lapse, or broke a rule. They are placeable, they are common, and they carry a story an underwriter can assess. Code 12 is the only one of the whole thirteen with a removal path short of the five-year purge, covered in MATCH code 12 and how it clears.

Security and pattern problems: codes 1, 2, 14. These describe compromise. Code 14 in particular can mean the merchant was the victim rather than the cause, since it covers identity assumed without authority, and a file that demonstrates that reads very differently.

Alleged criminal conduct: codes 3, 7, 8, 11, 13. Laundering, fraud conviction, collusion, illegal transactions. No honest processor will tell you these are straightforward, and any that does is selling you something. Code 9, bankruptcy, sits slightly apart: it is not criminal, but it speaks to ability to pay, which underwriters weigh heavily.

Two businesses both listed for five years can be in entirely different positions. A code 4 listing from a fast-growing subscription business, with three clean years since, is an ordinary file that a dedicated acquirer will underwrite on the merits. A code 3 listing is not.

That is why the first question to ask the acquirer that terminated you is which code was applied, in writing. How to get that answer is in how to check the MATCH list, and what a listed application looks like is in MATCH list credit card processing.

What every code has in common

Whatever the code, the same structural rules apply. The acquirer that placed the listing must add it within one business day of termination. The record holds the business details and the principal owner’s name, address, phone and tax ID. Mastercard does not assess whether the listing is accurate, so a factual dispute goes to the acquirer that placed it and nowhere else. And every record is purged automatically after five years.

Visa runs a parallel system, the Visa Merchant Screening Service, with its own codes and its own thresholds, and an acquirer may check both. The complete reference, including the Visa thresholds, is on our MATCH list reference page. Where to go from a listing is in getting a merchant account after a MATCH listing.

Frequently asked questions

Can a business be listed under more than one code? A listing carries a reason code, and separate terminations by different acquirers can produce separate entries. Ask about each one individually.

Does the code ever get changed after the fact? The acquirer that placed the listing is the only party that can amend or remove it, and only in the narrow circumstances Mastercard allows.

Which code is the most common? Code 4, excessive chargebacks, appears more often than any other in ordinary commercial practice, because it has a numeric trigger that a growing business can cross without anything improper happening.

Is code 10, violation of standards, serious? It depends entirely on which standard. It is a broad category covering everything from a technical breach to something much worse, so the underlying facts matter more than the code label here than anywhere else on the table.

Sources: Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures Merchant Edition (SPME manual), and Stripe’s published documentation at docs.stripe.com/disputes/match.