The Mastercard MATCH list, also known as the Member Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants, is a database maintained by Mastercard. It contains information about merchants and their principal owners who have had their merchant accounts terminated for various reasons, primarily due to risk factors such as excessive chargebacks, fraud, and non-compliance with regulations.
Merchants can be added to the MATCH list for numerous reasons, including:
- Account Data Compromise: Unauthorized access to account information.
- Excessive Chargebacks: Surpassing established chargeback thresholds.
- Fraud Conviction: Involvement in criminal fraud activities.
- Bankruptcy/Insolvency: Financial instability.
- Non-compliance with PCI-DSS: Failure to adhere to data security standards.
- Illegal Transactions: Involvement in unlawful activities.
When a merchant is added to the MATCH list, it becomes challenging for them to open new merchant accounts as acquirers and payment processors use this list to assess the risk of doing business with them. Being on the list typically means that the merchant is considered high-risk, and they may only find processing services through high-risk processors that charge higher fees and have stricter terms.
Merchants remain on the MATCH list for five years unless they can prove their inclusion was a mistake. To avoid being placed on the list, it is crucial for merchants to maintain low chargeback ratios, comply with data security standards, and avoid any fraudulent activities (Host Merchant Services) (Chargeback Gurus) (Infinicept) (MATCH List FAQs).