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Insights and Expertise

Mastercard Alert A risk tool

MATCH remains a risk tool, not a blacklist. Acquirers are
to Control High provided possible MATCH alerts. They must determine if
the MATCH is a false positive or a true MATCH and, if it
Risk Merchants is a true MATCH, whether to board the merchant.

Many acquirers, however, will not approve a MATCH
(MATCH) Pro merchant, regardless of the reason for the merchant's
MATCH designation. Consequently, with the limited
number of acquirers, MATCHed merchants pay a much
higher rate for processing, that is, if they are able to accept
card payments.

To assist merchants with disputing their MATCH
designation, the MATCH rules now require acquirers to
respond to merchant inquiries within 30 calendar days.
This is an essential and overdue rule, given that acquirers
previously had no obligation to respond to merchants'
MATCH dispute claims. This frustration was compounded
by the rise of payfacs, many of which routinely ignored
MATCH-related merchant inquiries.

The acquirer that added the merchant must now provide
the ICA number and the reason code to the merchant or
to another acquirer. Additionally, although not newly
introduced, it is worth reiterating that if the MATCH
conditions exist at the time the merchant closed, the
By Ken Musante acquirer must add the merchant to MATCH regardless
Napa Payments and Consulting of whether the closure was voluntarily requested by the
merchant.
redit bureaus have less relevance than they
did in the past. Buy now, pay later and peer The MATCH addition must take place within five calendar
to peer lending are not fully illustrated, medi- days of:
C cal collections are no longer shared, and rent • the acquirer's decision to terminate the merchant,
payments are not captured. Consequently, acquirers and • the merchant's request to terminate the relationship,
processors are more often relying on banking information or
and real-time transactional data, which is more timely for
their underwriting decisions. • the acquirer becoming aware of an issue that meets
a MATCH reason code.
MATCH continues to be a data point in assessing a
merchant's risk, but it, too, has changed to better assist Retroactive MATCHes continue and will persist for
underwriters. These changes are significant. Both 365 days from the inquiry date for merchants added
merchants and payment professionals need to be aware of by a subsequent acquirer. MATCHed merchants are
how MATCH has transformed to MATCH Pro and how to maintained for five years, and there are extremely limited
properly integrate those changes into their processes. reasons for removal once a merchant is added. Outside
of remediating PCI compliance, the typical and singular
The new name, MATCH Pro, will likely not stick; payment reason for MATCH removal is in the event the merchant
professionals will continue to call it MATCH. Mastercard was added in error.
renamed it to differentiate how these new rules will be
applied going forward and is also deprecating its legacy The MATCH reason codes are as follows:
APIs. • 01 Account data compromise

Regardless, adherence to the MATCH rules remains • 03 Transaction laundering
mandatory. Acquirers must inquire into MATCH before • 04 Excessive chargebacks
approving a merchant, and, if the conditions exist at • 05 Excessive fraud
the time of termination, the merchant must be added to
MATCH. • 06 Coercion

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