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Mastercard

Mastercard Issuer Response Code 43: Stolen Card

hard decline

Last updated: October 8, 2026

Key details

Brand
Mastercard
Code
43
Response
43
Detailed Response
Stolen card
hard decline
This transaction is not retriable

Payments failing with code 43 are hard declines and typically cannot be recovered by retrying. SmartRetry still helps you avoid future hard declines with smarter routing and validation.

But many other declines in your payment flow may still be recoverable. SmartRetry identifies which failed transactions have recovery potential and applies the right strategy to recover them.

Find out what you can recover >

What it means

Mastercard issuer response code 43 indicates that the issuing bank declined the transaction because the cardholder has reported the card as stolen. This is a hard, unrecoverable decline, meaning the primary account number (PAN) is permanently blocked by the issuer. In some processing environments, such as Adyen, this is also mapped as a 'Pickup card' response, advising the merchant that the credential is fundamentally compromised.

Why does code 43 occur?

  • The cardholder reported their physical credit or debit card as stolen to their issuing bank.
  • A malicious actor attempted to checkout using compromised card credentials that the issuer has already invalidated.
  • The merchant attempted to process an automated recurring billing charge on a stored credential that was recently flagged as stolen.

How to solve 43?

Because the card is permanently blocked by the issuer, you cannot resolve this decline by altering the authorization payload or retrying the credential. Treat the transaction as a hard failure. Suspend any recurring billing schedules tied to this specific PAN and expiration date. To recover the revenue, prompt the customer to provide an alternative payment method or wait for them to update their account with replacement card details from their bank.

Solving as a merchant

Immediately stop any automated retry logic for the affected PAN and expiration date, as required by Mastercard's Transaction Processing Rules for card-not-present transactions. Mark the stored credential as invalid or revoked in your customer vault. If this transaction was flagged in a high-risk scenario, review the customer's purchase history and validate the shopper's authenticity.

Solving as a client

Contact the issuing bank for further details, confirm the issuance of a replacement card, and provide an entirely different payment method at checkout to complete the current transaction.

Tip from SmartRetry Ensure your billing logic immediately suppresses this token across all automated workflows to avoid network penalty fees for attempting charges on stolen credentials. Transition the customer directly into an interactive dunning flow that requires an entirely different payment method before any services resume.

See the full list of Mastercard's decline codes >Find code on Mastercard's website >

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Kyle Regacho

Author

Kyle Regacho
LinkedInFind me on Linkedin

Focused on payment recovery, decline codes, and authorization optimization at SmartRetry. Helps payment teams turn failed transactions into recovered revenue

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Decline codes tell you why. We fix it.

SmartRetry reads every decline reason and applies the right retry strategy for each one. Your recovery rate goes up without any changes to your payment provider.