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SmartRetry - Payment Recovery Platform

Mastercard

  • Cards

Mastercard is a global card payment network that enables merchants to accept Mastercard-branded card payments through their PSP and acquirer

Struggling with your approval ratio for this payment provider?

contact SmartRetry team →
Published
Last updated
2 min
Mastercard
Mastercard payment phone

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Mastercard Company Overview

Foundation
1966
Stock ID
NYSE:MA
Company Type
public
Employees
24,000+
Location
USAUSA
Channel
OnlineIn person
For developers
Status pageStack Overflow

Features

Global acceptance

Widely supported for ecommerce and in-store payments via most major acquirers and PSPs.

Authorization outcomes

Provides standardized authorization messaging that merchants see as approvals, soft declines, or hard declines via their PSP/acquirer.

Approval rate and decline monitoring

Merchants can track authorization success and card declines by reason codes and issuer response patterns through their PSP reporting.

Security and fraud controls

Supports network security programs and data protection standards used across the payments ecosystem.

Customer authentication support

Works with EMV 3-D Secure programs through issuers and PSPs to help manage SCA requirements and reduce friction where applicable.

Disputes and chargebacks

Uses network dispute rules, timeframes, and reason codes that structure chargeback representment and pre-dispute processes.

Reliability and routing consistency

Operates a large-scale network used for high-volume payment processing, with performance depending on the end-to-end PSP and acquirer setup.

Tip from SmartRetry For better Mastercard approval rates, segment declines by response/reason code and issuer, then test retrial rules (timing, soft-decline retries) and adjust AVS/CVC settings with your acquirer.

Currencies

Processing currenciesUSD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, CNY, INR, BRL, MXN, SGD, HKD, NZD, CHF

Available in

Available countries
  • Global

FAQ

Mastercard is a card payment network. You still need a PSP/gateway and an acquiring bank (or a PSP with acquiring) to process Mastercard transactions.
Merchants typically enable Mastercard acceptance through their PSP and acquirer, then add Mastercard as a supported card brand in checkout and POS settings.
Declines usually come from the card issuer (e.g., insufficient funds, suspected fraud, expired card, incorrect CVC/AVS, or velocity limits). Your PSP reports the issuer response and any network decline details available.
Review declines by issuer and reason, confirm clean customer data (billing address, CVC), tune fraud rules to avoid over-blocking, and use 3DS for markets or segments where authentication is expected.
Yes. Mastercard supports EMV 3-D Secure via issuer and PSP implementations, commonly used to meet SCA needs and manage fraud risk on ecommerce transactions.
Chargebacks follow network rules and reason codes, with defined timelines for responding. Your PSP/acquirer manages submissions, evidence formatting, and representment steps.
Yes, Mastercard is a global network. Actual acceptance depends on your acquirer, PSP coverage, and any business or regional restrictions they apply.

Statuses

Statuses — All
CodeDescriptionLevelFrequencyResolution
ECI Codes
00

Authentication failed or not attempted (e.g. card not enrolled, technical issue)

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01

Authentication was attempted but not completed (e.g. timeout, user abandon)

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02

Authentication successful (liability shift applies)

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04

Data share only, not authenticated, improves approval rate (EMV 3DS only)

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06

Acquirer exemption applied (EMV 3DS only)

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07

Recurring payment: liability shift for initial, but not subsequent transactions

---
Issuer Response Codes
10

Partial Approval

---
12

Invalid transaction

---
13

Invalid amount

---
14

Invalid card number

---
15

Invalid issuer

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30

Format error

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41

Lost card

---
43

Stolen card

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51

Insufficient funds/over credit limit

---
54

Expired card

---
55

Invalid PIN

---
57

Transaction not permitted to issuer/cardholder

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58

Transaction not permitted to acquirer/terminal

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61

Exceeds withdrawal amount limit

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62

Restricted card

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63

Security violation

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65

Exceeds withdrawal count limit

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70

Contact Card Issuer

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71

PIN Not Changed

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75

Allowable number of PIN tries exceeded

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76

Invalid/nonexistent —To Account— specified

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77

Invalid/nonexistent —From Account— specified

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78

Invalid/nonexistent account specified (general)

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79

Life cycle (Mastercard use only)

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80

System not available

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81

Domestic Debit Transaction Not Allowed (Regional use only)

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82

Policy (Mastercard use only)

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83

Fraud/Security (Mastercard use only)

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84

Invalid Authorization Life Cycle

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85

Not declined

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86

PIN Validation not possible

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87

Purchase Amount Only, No Cash Back Allowed

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88

Cryptographic failure

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89

Unacceptable PIN—Transaction Declined—Retry

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90

Cutoff is in progress

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91

Authorization System or issuer system inoperative

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92

Unable to route transaction

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94

Duplication transaction detected

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96

System error

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00

Approved or completed successfully

---
01

Refer to card issuer

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03

Invalid merchant

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04

Capture card

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05

Do not honor

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08

Honor with ID

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1Z

Authorization System or issuer system inoperative

---
3DS Transaction Status Reason
10

Stolen card

---
11

Suspected fraud

---
12

Transaction not permitted to cardholder

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13

Cardholder not enrolled in service

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14

Transaction timed out at the ACS

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15

Low confidence

---
16

Medium confidence

---
17

High confidence

---
18

Very high confidence

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19

Exceeds ACS maximum challenges

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20

Non-payment transaction not supported

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21

3RI transaction not supported

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22

ACS technical issue

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23

Decoupled authentication required by ACS but not requested by 3DS requestor

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24

3DS requestor decoupled max expiry time exceeded

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25

Decoupled Authentication was provided insufficient time to authenticate cardholder. ACS will not make attempt

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26

Authentication attempted but not performed by the cardholder

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27

Preferred authentication method not supported

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01

Card authentication failed

---
02

Unknown device

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03

Unsupported device

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04

Exceeds authentication frequency limit

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05

Expired card

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06

Invalid card number

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07

Invalid transaction

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08

No card record

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09

Security failure

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80

Returned on all Data Only authentications

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81

Challenge exemption accepted

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82

Challenge Mandate requested but could not be performed

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83

System Error response from ACS

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84

Internal error while generating CAVV

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3DS Transaction Status
Y

Authentication / Account Verification Successful

---
N

Not Authenticated / Account Not Verified; Transaction denied

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U

Authentication / Account Verification Could Not Be Performed (technical or other problem)

---
A

Attempts Processing Performed; not authenticated/verified, but proof of attempted authentication is provided

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C

Challenge Required; additional authentication required (CReq/CRes flow)

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D

Decoupled authentication confirmed

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R

Authentication / Account Verification Rejected; issuer requests authorization not be attempted

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I

Informational only; 3DS Requestor challenge preference acknowledged

---
CAVV Result Codes
0

Authentication failed. No liability shift; merchant is not protected.

---
1

Authentication attempted. Liability shift applies.

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2

Authentication successful. Liability shift applies; merchant protected from all chargebacks.

---

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Why Issuer Decline Codes Are Inconsistent and How to Build Smarter Payment Recovery

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Why Issuer Decline Codes Are Inconsistent and How to Build Smarter Payment Recovery

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Why Payment Routing Changes Trigger Approval Rate Drops and How to Recover

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Why Payment Routing Changes Trigger Approval Rate Drops and How to Recover

This article explains why issuer trust breaks during payment routing changes and how operators can restore performance with gradual traffic shifts, cleaner auth data, and smarter decline recovery to protect revenue.

When Issuers Build Around Customer Money Flows, Authorization Performance Improves

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When Issuers Build Around Customer Money Flows, Authorization Performance Improves

This article explains how issuers use deposit timing, recurring behavior, and better signals to approve more payments. For operators, the payoff is fewer false declines, smarter retries, and stronger recurring revenue retention.

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How to Avoid Payment Declines at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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