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.
Mastercard
Mastercard Issuer Response Code 43: Stolen Card
hard declinefraud decline
Last updated: September 25, 2026
About 43 - "Stolen card"
Key details
- 43
- Issuer Response Codes
- 43
- Stolen card
hard declinefraud decline
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.
Classification & retryability
hardfraudRetryable: no
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 customer
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.
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Author
Kyle Regacho
Find me on LinkedinFocused on payment recovery, decline codes, and authorization optimization at SmartRetry. Helps payment teams turn failed transactions into recovered revenue
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