Reference guide
Mastercard MATCH list: who lists, who removes.
What Mastercard's own rules say about MATCH listings, reason codes and removal.
- MATCH is Mastercard's database of merchants, and their owners, terminated by acquirers for listed reasons.
- Listings stay five years, then purge automatically.
- Mastercard removes listings added in error, or code 12 listings after PCI DSS compliance.
The database
What the Mastercard MATCH list is
- The name
- Mastercard Alert To Control High-risk Merchants. The current system is MATCH Pro.
- What it holds
- Acquirer-reported details of terminated merchants, with up to five principal owners each.
- Mandatory for acquirers
- Mastercard acquirers must add qualifying terminations and check MATCH Pro before signing merchants.
- Mastercard can list
- Mastercard may list a merchant for illegal or brand-damaging transactions.
- Acquirer's decision
- Mastercard's rules leave onboarding a listed merchant to the acquirer's own risk review.
- Each acquirer decides
- An inquiring acquirer decides whether more investigation or other risk measures are needed.
Getting listed
When an acquirer must add a merchant
- The trigger
- Either side ends the relationship while a listed reason code condition exists.
- Five calendar days
- The acquirer adds the record within five calendar days of the earliest trigger.
- Earliest trigger
- A decision to terminate, a termination notice, or awareness of a qualifying issue.
- Effective date irrelevant
- The five days run from the decision, not the termination's effective date.
- Not a collection tool
- Acquirers may not use or threaten MATCH Pro over minor discretionary matters.
- Accurate data
- Records must match the merchant's application at onboarding; the acquirer answers for accuracy.
Reason codes
MATCH reason codes, current edition
From Mastercard's 4 August 2026 manual. Older lists show codes no longer used.
| Code | Reason | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Account Data Compromise | Account data accessed without authorization, then used for fraud |
| 03 | Transaction Laundering | Transactions submitted outside the merchant agreement |
| 04 | Excessive Chargebacks | Three-month chargebacks above 1.5% of sales; at least USD 5,000 |
| 05 | Excessive Fraud | Three months: fraud-to-sales 8%+, 10+ frauds, USD 5,000+ |
| 06 | Coercion | Transactions made under threat of harm or unlawful taking |
| 08 | Questionable Merchant Audit Program | Identified as a Questionable Merchant under QMAP criteria |
| 09 | Liquidation/Insolvency | Unable, or likely unable, to meet financial obligations |
| 10 | Violation of Standards | Broke card acceptance Standards, including transaction data accuracy |
| 12 | PCI Data Security Standard Noncompliance | Failed PCI DSS requirements |
| 13 | Illegal Transactions | Engaged in illegal transactions |
| 14 | Identity Theft | Merchant or owner identity unlawfully assumed to sign up |
How it searches
What MATCH Pro compares
- Five years back
- Inquiries search records reported during the past five years.
- Business details
- Name, DBA, phone, tax ID, street address and website, matched exactly.
- Owner details
- Owner name, phone, SSN or national ID, address, driver's license, birth date, email.
- Phonetic matches
- Sound-alikes and typos, such as Easy and EZ, or Rogers and Rokers.
- Retroactive alerts
- A listing added up to 365 days after an inquiry can still alert that acquirer.
- Automatic purge
- Merchant records are purged from MATCH Pro after five years.
Finding out
How to know if you are listed
- Ask the acquirer
- Acquirers must answer questions about a MATCH listing within seven calendar days.
- Who listed, and why
- The acquirer must give the merchant the listing acquirer's ICA and the reason code.
- Acquirers check first
- Acquirers must query MATCH Pro before signing a merchant or enabling acceptance.
- Stripe's policy
- Stripe says it does not disclose MATCH database information to its users.
Match list removal
How removal actually works
Removal runs through the listing acquirer and the reasons Mastercard names.
| Path | Who acts | What Mastercard's rules say |
|---|---|---|
| Removal request | Merchant, to the acquirer | Acquirer must respond within 30 calendar days |
| Added in error | The acquirer that added it | Mastercard may remove it when that acquirer reports the error |
| Code 12, now PCI DSS compliant | Acquirer, or the merchant if the acquirer will not | Needs attestation and a forensic examiner's validation letter |
| Inaccurate data | The acquirer | Uncorrected errors expose the acquirer to noncompliance assessments |
| No removal | Nobody | The record purges automatically after five years |
- What a request includes
- Merchant name and address, principal owner's first and last name, and website URL.
- No lawyer required
- Mastercard says a merchant need not engage legal counsel to request removal.
Related terms
TMF, VMSS and what processors do
- TMF
- Stripe's docs call MATCH and Visa's VMSS terminated merchant files.
- VMSS
- Stripe describes the Visa Merchant Screening Service as Visa's database of terminated merchants.
- Processor practice
- Stripe says a MATCH listing generally disqualifies a merchant from processing with Stripe.
- Acquirer record keeping
- Acquirers keep MATCH Pro records at least two years after the agreement ends.
Questions
What people ask about MATCH.
- What is the MATCH list for Mastercard?
- Mastercard's MATCH Pro database of merchants and owners that acquirers terminated for listed reasons.
- How do you know if you're on the match list?
- Ask your acquirer. It must give the listing acquirer's ICA and the reason code.
- How do I get off the match list?
- Contact the listing acquirer. Mastercard removes listings added in error, or cured code 12.
- How long does a merchant stay on the MATCH list?
- Five years, then the record is purged automatically from MATCH Pro.
- What is the TMF list?
- Terminated merchant files: Stripe's term for Mastercard's MATCH and Visa's VMSS.
- Can a merchant on the MATCH list get a new account?
- Only if an acquirer decides to after its own review. Stripe says a listing generally disqualifies.
Sources
Where every fact comes from.
Primary sources only. Rules change, so check the date above.
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