Merchant advice codes
Navigating merchant advice codes for improved transaction outcomes and business insight
Merchant Advice Codes (MACs) are introduced by Mastercard to clearly communicate to merchants the reason for declining transactions, and the course of action that merchants can take. These codes provide insights into why a payment failed and recommendations on whether and when it can be retried.
Mastercard set the MAC values and may expand this list as part of their ongoing efforts to enhance payment system efficiency.
Please note that the availability of the MAC code depends on the policies of both the card issuer and the acquirer. It is important to understand that all banks do not yet universally support this feature.
These codes are available to merchants, potentially without prior notice, to guarantee prompt implementation.
| Value | Description | Possible decline reasons | Recommendation summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | New account information available | Change in customer's account information, such as a new expiry date. | Update card information. isRetry : true |
| 02 | Cannot approve at this time, try again later | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try again the payment after 72 hours. isRetry : true |
| 03 | Do not try again | Account closed, suspected fraud, or customer cancelled the recurring agreement. | Do not retry this payment. It may be necessary to contact the customer directly. isRetry : false |
| 04 | Token not supported | Technical issues with the payment. | Contact the Solidgate support team. isRetry : true |
| 21 | Stop recurring payment | Customer cancelled the recurring agreement. | Do not retry this payment as retries can be subject to penalty fees by Mastercard. isRetry : false |
| 24 | Retry after 1 hour | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 1 hour. isRetry : true |
| 25 | Retry after 24 hours | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 24 hours. isRetry : true |
| 26 | Retry after 2 days | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 2 days. isRetry : true |
| 27 | Retry after 4 days | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 4 days. isRetry : true |
| 28 | Retry after 6 days | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 6 days. isRetry : true |
| 29 | Retry after 8 days | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 8 days. isRetry : true |
| 30 | Retry after 10 days | Credit limit issues or insufficient funds. | Try this payment after 10 days. isRetry : true |
| 40 | Consumer non-reloadable prepaid card | Issuer recognizes a consumer non-reloadable prepaid card was used. | No action required. isRetry : true |
| 41 | Consumer single-use virtual card | Issuer recognized a consumer single-use virtual card was used. | No action required. isRetry : true |
| 42 | Score exceeds applicable threshold value | Mastercard refused this transaction due to a sanctions' match. | No action required. isRetry : true |
| 43 | Consumer multi-use virtual card | Transaction was carried out with a consumer multi-use virtual card number. | No action required. isRetry : true |
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