Chargeback MATCH List | How it Works & How to Get Off
- May 1, 2025
Businesses that accept electronic payments face unique challenges, including cybersecurity, maintaining user data privacy, verifying customer identities before card purchases, and navigating regulatory complexities. One of the regulations merchants must adhere to is resolving customer disputes and refunds promptly to avoid chargebacks. Excessive chargebacks are often a sign of a larger problem and can lead to a MATCH placement. Merchants listed on MATCH are termed as high-risk, and acquiring banks are likely to decline their account applications.
Learn how the MATCH list works, its impacts on your business, and how our award-winning MATCH/TMF list lawyers can help you navigate the removal process if you qualify.
What Is the MATCH List?
The Member Alert To Control High Risk (MATCH) list is a database containing details of merchants or businesses whose accounts have been terminated by their payment processors due to various violations under the card brand rules.
When an acquiring bank receives new merchant account applications, it screens the applications using the MATCH list. The MATCH list helps the bank to understand the level of risk associated with working with that merchant. Banks and payment processors are likely to decline applications from merchants who are on the MATCH list. Practically speaking, the MATCH list is a black list, or prohibition list.
What Is a Chargeback?
A chargeback is when a cardholder disputes a credit card transaction/purchase as being fraudulent, or in some way the paid for goods or services were defective such that the cardholder is requesting the transaction (the “charge”) to be returned, charged back.
When a dispute arises and a customer requests a refund, they may contact you or their card processor. This refund, which comes either from your coffers or a processor that you later pay, is called a chargeback.
How Can Chargebacks Put You on the MATCH List?
Refunds are expected in online payments, but excessive chargebacks can indicate poor customer support, product issues, or fraud. Mastercard established the Excessive Chargeback Program for acquirers to monitor merchant chargebacks and place those with excessive numbers on MATCH.
The program has set thresholds for the total number of chargebacks and chargeback ratio to determine a merchant’s risk level. The formula for calculating the chargeback ratio is the number of monthly chargebacks divided by the sales count from the preceding month. The thresholds of note are:
- Excessive Chargeback Merchant (ECM): Merchants with 100-299 monthly chargebacks or a 1.50 – 2.99% chargeback ratio.
- High Excessive Chargeback Merchant (HECM): Merchants with above 300 monthly chargebacks or over a 3% ratio.
Other card providers also have their threshold numbers at which they consider a merchant high risk.
Summary: Excessive chargebacks indicate a larger underlying issue. Mastercard requires acquiring banks to add merchants who have surpassed a certain chargeback threshold to the MATCH list.
Reasons for Getting MATCH’D
Mastercard’s Security rules include a list of reason codes that can lead to a MATCH placement. Many merchants get MATCH’d due to excessive chargebacks or fraud.
Mastercard’s Excessive Chargebacks and Fraud Reason Codes
Reason Code 4 (Excessive Chargebacks) on Mastercard’s MATCH Reason Codes provides a threshold that acquiring banks use to determine whether to place a merchant on the MATCH list. You’re in violation of this code if your chargebacks from the last three months are above 1.5% of the current month’s sales and exceed $5,000. This rule also applies to American Express merchants, whose chargeback rate is 1% or above.
Excessive chargebacks may also indicate fraud, especially when cases involve the same set of customers. The Excessive Fraud Merchant (EFM) program enables acquirers to monitor cases of fraud and report merchants who surpass a specific limit. Further, Reason Code 5 (Excessive Fraud) penalizes merchants whose fraud-to-sales ratio and amount in fraudulent transactions involving excessive charges exceed a set threshold.
Other Reason Codes
Though many companies are put on the MATCH list based on excessive chargebacks and potential fraud, there are other reasons for being MATCH’d as well:
- Reason Code 1: Account Data Compromise: A merchant accesses unauthorized user data directly or indirectly, or discloses this data.
- Reason Code 2: Common Point of Purchase: Data stolen at the merchant’s location is involved in fraud with other merchants.
- Reason Code 3: Transaction Laundering: The merchant submits transactions belonging to unauthorized cards, or unauthorized entities.
- Reason Code 4: Excessive Chargebacks: The merchant’s chargebacks from the last three months are above 1.5% of the current month’s sales and exceed $5,000.
- Reason Code 5: Excessive Fraud: The merchant’s fraud-to-sales ratio and amount in fraudulent transactions involving excessive charges exceed the set threshold.
- Reason Code 6: Coercion: The merchant processes transactions that involve threats or coercion.
- Reason Code 7: Fraud Conviction: The principal owner(s) is convicted of criminal fraud.
- Reason Code 8: Mastercard Questionable Merchant Audit Program: The merchant is deemed questionable as per Mastercard’s Questionable Merchant Audit Program.
- Reason Code 9: Insolvency or Bankruptcy: The merchant can no longer fulfill its financial obligations and is declared insolvent.
- Reason Code 10: Violation of Standards: The merchant violates any of Mastercard’s standards, such as hiking cardholder charges.
- Reason Code 11: Merchant Collusion: The merchant colluded with other merchants in fraudulent activities.
- Reason Code 12: Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard Noncompliance: The merchant violated any of the PCI-DSS rules.
- Reason Code 13: Merchant Illegal Transactions: The merchant processes illegal transactions knowingly.
- Reason Code 14: Identity theft: The principal owner used a false identity to enter into the merchant agreement.
It can be challenging to know the precise reason you’re on the MATCH list. An attorney can speak with your past payment processor to identify the reason and advise you on the next best steps to protect your business.
Consequences of Being Placed on the MATCH List
Most payment processors and acquiring banks will not want to work with merchants on the MATCH list. This affects your ability to accept electronic payments, which ultimately hurts business revenue. It’s also likely to strain your relationships and trust with customers when they can’t make payments conveniently with a card. Your MATCH listing will remain in the database for five years unless you appeal for removal.
To avoid disrupting your business and continue accepting payments, you can attempt to create a new account with high-risk or offshore merchant processors. These companies have specialized in working with MATCH’D merchants, but are not obligated to accept your application.
High-risk processors also charge hefty fees and are likely to have longer-term contracts with unfavorable clauses, such as penalties for early termination. If your company is not well grounded, being on the MATCH list, losing the ability to process payments, and paying exorbitant fees for alternative solutions can easily put you out of business.
How to Get off the MATCH List
If you’ve been placed on the MATCH list, your first step should be to consult a MATCH list lawyer. A legal professional will help you understand the repercussions of your placement and plan the best course of action forward.
To request early removal from the MATCH list, your company will need an airtight proposal that seamlessly complies with electronic payment laws. This process can be too complex for even the most competent business owners to handle on their own. More importantly, there’s too much at stake after a MATCH placement. An attorney with MATCH removal expertise is best suited to protect your interests.
Here’s what a lawyer can do for you if you qualify for a MATCH list removal:
Identify the Reasons for Your MATCH Placement
A MATCH list lawyer will contact the entity that placed you on MATCH to address and scrutinize their reason for placing you on the list. While the processor is not obligated to provide this information, using a lawyer to handle the communication is more professional and likely to elicit a response.
If you were MATCH’d due to excessive chargebacks, an attorney will investigate the numbers to determine the magnitude of the issue and how best to address it.
Find Chargeback Management Services
One way to build a compelling MATCH removal request is to address the issues that are causing excessive chargebacks for your business. A payments lawyer can help you find expert chargeback management service providers to minimize your rates and get you back into good standing with payment processors and your customers.
Chargeback management service providers can do so by:
- Addressing customer issues before they escalate to chargebacks
- Investing in chargeback alert tools
- Employing fraud verification tools to catch potential unjustified refunds
- Creating policies that enhance customer communication and experience
Challenge Your MATCH Placement
If you believe you were MATCH’d in error, a Global Legal attorney will employ a tried and true process honed over nearly 20 years of expert payments experience to challenge your placement. We have won hundreds of similar cases against large and small payment processors and acquiring banks, including Stripe, Chase Bank, Intuit, Wells Fargo, Elavon, and American Express.
Our lawyers also specialize in the electronic payment industry, which means we understand the laws and regulations surrounding the MATCH list and how we can apply them to your advantage. Our MATCH removal letters carry significant weight within the industry due to our history and decades of success in such cases.
Speak With Global About Your MATCH Placement and Removal
A MATCH list placement can spell disaster for your business. The inability to process payments will negatively impact your reputation with customers and gradually tank your revenue. While there are alternative payment solutions, such as high-risk processors, their processing fees are often elevated and can be a substantial financial burden, especially to smaller or new businesses.
With over a decade of experience in the electronic payments industry, Global Legal has successfully helped numerous merchants appeal excessive chargebacks and get removed from the MATCH list. We review your case, speak with past and current payment processors, and handle all the legal back-and-forth so you can focus on running the business.
Schedule a consultation with an experienced MATCH list lawyer from Global Legal by calling (858) 465-5558 or filling out our online contact form to learn how we can help with MATCH removal.
Businesses that accept electronic payments face unique challenges, including cybersecurity, maintaining user data privacy, verifying customer identities before card purchases, and navigating regulatory complexities. One of the regulations merchants must adhere to is resolving customer disputes and refunds promptly to avoid chargebacks. Excessive chargebacks are often a sign of a larger problem and can lead to a MATCH placement. Merchants listed on MATCH are termed as high-risk, and acquiring banks are likely to decline their account applications.
Learn how the MATCH list works, its impacts on your business, and how our award-winning MATCH/TMF list lawyers can help you navigate the removal process if you qualify.
What Is the MATCH List?
The Member Alert To Control High Risk (MATCH) list is a database containing details of merchants or businesses whose accounts have been terminated by their payment processors due to various violations under the card brand rules.
When an acquiring bank receives new merchant account applications, it screens the applications using the MATCH list. The MATCH list helps the bank to understand the level of risk associated with working with that merchant. Banks and payment processors are likely to decline applications from merchants who are on the MATCH list. Practically speaking, the MATCH list is a black list, or prohibition list.
What Is a Chargeback?
A chargeback is when a cardholder disputes a credit card transaction/purchase as being fraudulent, or in some way the paid for goods or services were defective such that the cardholder is requesting the transaction (the “charge”) to be returned, charged back.
When a dispute arises and a customer requests a refund, they may contact you or their card processor. This refund, which comes either from your coffers or a processor that you later pay, is called a chargeback.
How Can Chargebacks Put You on the MATCH List?
Refunds are expected in online payments, but excessive chargebacks can indicate poor customer support, product issues, or fraud. Mastercard established the Excessive Chargeback Program for acquirers to monitor merchant chargebacks and place those with excessive numbers on MATCH.
The program has set thresholds for the total number of chargebacks and chargeback ratio to determine a merchant’s risk level. The formula for calculating the chargeback ratio is the number of monthly chargebacks divided by the sales count from the preceding month. The thresholds of note are:
- Excessive Chargeback Merchant (ECM): Merchants with 100-299 monthly chargebacks or a 1.50 – 2.99% chargeback ratio.
- High Excessive Chargeback Merchant (HECM): Merchants with above 300 monthly chargebacks or over a 3% ratio.
Other card providers also have their threshold numbers at which they consider a merchant high risk.
Summary: Excessive chargebacks indicate a larger underlying issue. Mastercard requires acquiring banks to add merchants who have surpassed a certain chargeback threshold to the MATCH list.
Reasons for Getting MATCH’D
Mastercard’s Security rules include a list of reason codes that can lead to a MATCH placement. Many merchants get MATCH’d due to excessive chargebacks or fraud.
Mastercard’s Excessive Chargebacks and Fraud Reason Codes
Reason Code 4 (Excessive Chargebacks) on Mastercard’s MATCH Reason Codes provides a threshold that acquiring banks use to determine whether to place a merchant on the MATCH list. You’re in violation of this code if your chargebacks from the last three months are above 1.5% of the current month’s sales and exceed $5,000. This rule also applies to American Express merchants, whose chargeback rate is 1% or above.
Excessive chargebacks may also indicate fraud, especially when cases involve the same set of customers. The Excessive Fraud Merchant (EFM) program enables acquirers to monitor cases of fraud and report merchants who surpass a specific limit. Further, Reason Code 5 (Excessive Fraud) penalizes merchants whose fraud-to-sales ratio and amount in fraudulent transactions involving excessive charges exceed a set threshold.
Other Reason Codes
Though many companies are put on the MATCH list based on excessive chargebacks and potential fraud, there are other reasons for being MATCH’d as well:
- Reason Code 1: Account Data Compromise: A merchant accesses unauthorized user data directly or indirectly, or discloses this data.
- Reason Code 2: Common Point of Purchase: Data stolen at the merchant’s location is involved in fraud with other merchants.
- Reason Code 3: Transaction Laundering: The merchant submits transactions belonging to unauthorized cards, or unauthorized entities.
- Reason Code 4: Excessive Chargebacks: The merchant’s chargebacks from the last three months are above 1.5% of the current month’s sales and exceed $5,000.
- Reason Code 5: Excessive Fraud: The merchant’s fraud-to-sales ratio and amount in fraudulent transactions involving excessive charges exceed the set threshold.
- Reason Code 6: Coercion: The merchant processes transactions that involve threats or coercion.
- Reason Code 7: Fraud Conviction: The principal owner(s) is convicted of criminal fraud.
- Reason Code 8: Mastercard Questionable Merchant Audit Program: The merchant is deemed questionable as per Mastercard’s Questionable Merchant Audit Program.
- Reason Code 9: Insolvency or Bankruptcy: The merchant can no longer fulfill its financial obligations and is declared insolvent.
- Reason Code 10: Violation of Standards: The merchant violates any of Mastercard’s standards, such as hiking cardholder charges.
- Reason Code 11: Merchant Collusion: The merchant colluded with other merchants in fraudulent activities.
- Reason Code 12: Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard Noncompliance: The merchant violated any of the PCI-DSS rules.
- Reason Code 13: Merchant Illegal Transactions: The merchant processes illegal transactions knowingly.
- Reason Code 14: Identity theft: The principal owner used a false identity to enter into the merchant agreement.
It can be challenging to know the precise reason you’re on the MATCH list. An attorney can speak with your past payment processor to identify the reason and advise you on the next best steps to protect your business.
Consequences of Being Placed on the MATCH List
Most payment processors and acquiring banks will not want to work with merchants on the MATCH list. This affects your ability to accept electronic payments, which ultimately hurts business revenue. It’s also likely to strain your relationships and trust with customers when they can’t make payments conveniently with a card. Your MATCH listing will remain in the database for five years unless you appeal for removal.
To avoid disrupting your business and continue accepting payments, you can attempt to create a new account with high-risk or offshore merchant processors. These companies have specialized in working with MATCH’D merchants, but are not obligated to accept your application.
High-risk processors also charge hefty fees and are likely to have longer-term contracts with unfavorable clauses, such as penalties for early termination. If your company is not well grounded, being on the MATCH list, losing the ability to process payments, and paying exorbitant fees for alternative solutions can easily put you out of business.
How to Get off the MATCH List
If you’ve been placed on the MATCH list, your first step should be to consult a MATCH list lawyer. A legal professional will help you understand the repercussions of your placement and plan the best course of action forward.
To request early removal from the MATCH list, your company will need an airtight proposal that seamlessly complies with electronic payment laws. This process can be too complex for even the most competent business owners to handle on their own. More importantly, there’s too much at stake after a MATCH placement. An attorney with MATCH removal expertise is best suited to protect your interests.
Here’s what a lawyer can do for you if you qualify for a MATCH list removal:
Identify the Reasons for Your MATCH Placement
A MATCH list lawyer will contact the entity that placed you on MATCH to address and scrutinize their reason for placing you on the list. While the processor is not obligated to provide this information, using a lawyer to handle the communication is more professional and likely to elicit a response.
If you were MATCH’d due to excessive chargebacks, an attorney will investigate the numbers to determine the magnitude of the issue and how best to address it.
Find Chargeback Management Services
One way to build a compelling MATCH removal request is to address the issues that are causing excessive chargebacks for your business. A payments lawyer can help you find expert chargeback management service providers to minimize your rates and get you back into good standing with payment processors and your customers.
Chargeback management service providers can do so by:
- Addressing customer issues before they escalate to chargebacks
- Investing in chargeback alert tools
- Employing fraud verification tools to catch potential unjustified refunds
- Creating policies that enhance customer communication and experience
Challenge Your MATCH Placement
If you believe you were MATCH’d in error, a Global Legal attorney will employ a tried and true process honed over nearly 20 years of expert payments experience to challenge your placement. We have won hundreds of similar cases against large and small payment processors and acquiring banks, including Stripe, Chase Bank, Intuit, Wells Fargo, Elavon, and American Express.
Our lawyers also specialize in the electronic payment industry, which means we understand the laws and regulations surrounding the MATCH list and how we can apply them to your advantage. Our MATCH removal letters carry significant weight within the industry due to our history and decades of success in such cases.
Speak With Global About Your MATCH Placement and Removal
A MATCH list placement can spell disaster for your business. The inability to process payments will negatively impact your reputation with customers and gradually tank your revenue. While there are alternative payment solutions, such as high-risk processors, their processing fees are often elevated and can be a substantial financial burden, especially to smaller or new businesses.
With over a decade of experience in the electronic payments industry, Global Legal has successfully helped numerous merchants appeal excessive chargebacks and get removed from the MATCH list. We review your case, speak with past and current payment processors, and handle all the legal back-and-forth so you can focus on running the business.
Schedule a consultation with an experienced MATCH list lawyer from Global Legal by calling (858) 465-5558 or filling out our online contact form to learn how we can help with MATCH removal.
Chargeback MATCH List Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the commonly asked questions around chargebacks and MATCH list placement include:
Most merchants don’t realize they’re on the MATCH list until they apply for a new account and are denied. This is because the database is only available to acquiring banks and payment processors for the purpose of confirming a merchant’s risk level. If you suspect you’ve been MATCH’d, you can reach out to your current processor and request that they check your status.
A match listing lasts for five years, after which it’s automatically deleted. You can be removed from the MATCH list early under the following circumstances:
- The acquiring bank added your name by error, and your legal representative applies for your removal.
- You had been MATCH’d due to PCI-DSS violations, and you’ve since complied, with proof to show that you’re no longer in violation.
- You’ve succeeded in removing your violation, and your legal representative successfully negotiates your removal.
Acquiring banks and payment processors are likely to deny your new merchant account application if you’re on the MATCH list. Mastercard requires them to do so to encourage compliance and reduce cases of chargebacks that could be an indicator of an unsafe financial environment.
Luckily, there are high-risk and other processors that can sometimes approve you for a merchant account even when you’re on MATCH. However, this often comes with higher processing fees and more stringent contract terms. For many merchants however, MATCH list operates as a virtual complete prohibition to accepting credit card transactions for five years.
Yes, there are instances where you can get off the MATCH list earlier than the prescribed five years, such as:
- The acquiring bank added your name by mistake, and a lawyer submits an application for removal.
- You were MATCH’d for violating any of the PCI-DSS rules, but you’ve since started complying and have proof to show for it.
- A lawyer challenges your MATCH listing based on the evidence and negotiates for early removal.
Visa has its version of a MATCH list known as the Visa Merchant Screening Service (VMSS). Just like Mastercard’s MATCH, the VMSS allows acquiring banks to add terminated merchants and agents into the database. New processors can then screen merchant applications and decide whether to onboard them based on their risk level.
The best way to handle MATCH is to avoid getting on the list in the first place. You can do so by:
- Working with a payments law firm as outside general counsel to obtain regular advisement and guidance to stay in compliance and avoid many of the common events that can lead to MATCH list placement
- Investing in tools with alerts to ensure your chargebacks don’t surpass your acquirer’s threshold limit and land you on the MATCH list
- Offering regular employee training to stay updated and handle chargeback issues with ease
- Establishing a stringent user verification process to prevent fraud and identity theft
- Complying with the set standards and electronic payments regulations, including the PCI-DSS
- Avoiding any merchant activity that can be deemed as fraudulent
- Fixing operational problems, such as customer dispute resolution and product messaging, to reduce the number of chargebacks
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