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What is the MATCH list?
The MATCH list is Mastercard’s worldwide database that keeps track of merchants who have lost their payment processing accounts for what they see as high-risk reasons. Once your business ends up on this list, most payment processors just won’t work with you anymore – it works as a shared blacklist that banks and processors will always check before they approve any new merchant accounts.
This can become a problem for your business because too many chargebacks will land you on the MATCH list faster than almost anything else. When customers dispute charges and you keep losing those disputes over and over again, your processor pays attention. They’ll eventually close your account and report you to the MATCH database if the chargeback problem doesn’t get resolved.
The results are pretty extreme and they will last for a full 5 years. During that entire time period, you just can’t get a standard merchant account anywhere in the system. Your business name, your personal name and even your business address will all get flagged throughout their database. Payment processors will view you as far too risky to work with, regardless of your latest situation.
Some businesses will attempt to work around this problem with third-party processors or they’ll set up offshore accounts instead. The problem is that these alternatives will always charge much higher fees and have plenty of problems that will cause more issues.
The most frustrating part about this whole system is that you might not even know that you’re on the list until you actually apply for a new account somewhere. Your old processor doesn’t have to tell you when they add your information to MATCH. You’ll only discover the problem when every new application gets denied without any explanation from the businesses.
How It Works
When a payment processor terminates your merchant account for violations they don’t close your file and move on. They report you to something called the MATCH list and it’s just a shared database that tracks problem merchants. Your business name, tax ID and your personal facts as the owner get added to this database. The processor also has to include an obvious reason code that spells out why they decided to shut down your account.
You won’t get a heads up when they add you to the list. No letter in the mail or email notification – nothing at all. Most business owners only find out they’re on MATCH when they apply for a new merchant account elsewhere and get rejected without much of an explanation.
Every time you apply for payment processing with a new provider they run your information through the MATCH database to screen you. They’ll check your business name, tax ID number and all your personal facts against every entry. If any of it matches something that’s already in the database, warning bells start going off. Even though Mastercard manages the system, all the big card networks use it to screen would-be merchants.
Once they see that you’re on the list, your application can go one of two ways. Most legitimate processors will just deny the application outright after they find the flag. Some processors that manage riskier accounts might still be willing to work with you. But they’ll make you pay for that privilege. Expect higher processing fees and longer holds on your funds because they know full well what a gamble they take when they approve you.
This review process happens behind the scenes so by the time that a sales representative contacts you about your application status they already know if you’re approved or denied. They’ve seen the flag and made their call based on what they found.
How it Affects Chargeback Prevention
High-risk processors become the only option once a business lands on the list and these outfits know they have merchants at a disadvantage. They charge double or triple the normal rates basically because they can. That comfortable 2% processing fee might jump to 6% overnight, with no alternatives available.
The math can become tough very fast. A chargeback that used to cost $100 will now cost $300. These fees pile up fast alongside existing disputes and lost revenue and it explains why lots of merchants panic after hearing about the MATCH list.
The threat alone changes how their businesses run day to day. Merchants usually spend thousands of dollars on prevention tools and watching services just to stay off the list. They hire consultants and buy expensive software because once their name ends up there, the costs become extremely high – it costs far less to stay away from the problem altogether than to live with the consequences for 5 full years.
And yes, 5 full years. Once a business lands on the MATCH list, perfect behavior won’t remove the listing early. A company could fix each and every issue and have 0 chargebacks for years. But the listing stays right where it is. The card businesses don’t care about improvements or new policies. The clock starts ticking the day a business gets added and it doesn’t stop until 5 full years have passed.
Example Scenarios
Black Friday arrives and suddenly orders come in 3 times faster than normal. The business owner can’t keep up with all the customer service emails and chargebacks start to build up. Some customers never received their tracking numbers and just assumed that their orders got lost in the mail. Others wanted to return the items but couldn’t reach anyone for help. In January the chargeback ratio hits 1.5% and their payment processor drops them completely. Now they’re stuck on the MATCH list for excessive chargebacks.
This happens quite a bit. A meal-delivery subscription service gets hit with a different version of the same mess. Customers forget that they signed up for the service and dispute the charges instead of canceling their subscription. The business owner sees the first few chargebacks roll in but figures it’s just part of doing business online. What they don’t know is how their processor tracks each dispute. 3 months later they’re over the threshold and looking for a new processor. That can become very tough once you’re already on the MATCH list.
The worst part is how fast everything can get worse once this happens. Once you’re on that list, standard processors won’t even think about working with you. Specialty processors might take you on as a client. But they’ll charge you 3 times the normal fees. Some businesses have to shut down completely because they just can’t afford to process payments anymore. That 5-year wait to get off the list might as well be forever since your entire business needs credit card processing to survive.
Requirements and Timeframes
The MATCH list might not be permanent. But it will stay with your business for quite a while. Once your company is added you’re stuck there for a full 5 years. The countdown starts on the day that your merchant account gets closed – not the day you first find out about it.
Most business owners have no idea that their company has been placed on the MATCH list until they try to open a new merchant account with another processor. 9 times out of 10 you’ll only find out after your business has been on the list for months or years.
Payment processors follow strict laws about which merchants get added to the MATCH list. The biggest factor to watch is your chargeback ratio. If more than 1% of your transactions become chargebacks, your account will probably land on that list pretty fast. I see this limit catch merchants all the time because some processors call it 100 basis points. But these 2 terms mean the same thing.
Most processors will watch your account for a few months to see if the high chargeback rate is a long-term problem or just a short-term spike. But once the call is made to close your account, your entry on the MATCH list happens right away. Sadly there’s no grace period or official way to challenge it that can delay or stop it.
Even after your 5 years on the MATCH list are up, the payment processors can still see your previous chargeback data for a few years after that. A lot of them will use these old records to flag merchants that they think could cause problems again later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a MATCH list entry last?
Most merchants usually stay on the MATCH list for a full 5 years.
That timeline can be hard to know. The clock actually starts on the day that your processor first shut down your account - not the day you learned about the listing. So finding out you're on the list now when your account was closed 3 years ago means you only have 2 years left to wait.
This timeline never changes and there's no way around it. You can't buy your way off the list or negotiate for early removal with anyone. Even paying off every debt and fixing whatever caused the problem won't change anything - the listing will stay right where it is. It doesn't matter if you've turned your entire business around since then - the record remains until the 5 years run out.
Some violations will keep you on the list for more than 5 years. The card networks can stretch your listing past the standard timeline when the case involved fraud or money laundering. These longer listings don't happen very frequently. But they happen when the original violation was especially extreme or when it involved large amounts of money.
The 5-year standard covers almost every reason code, so the timeline is steady across different types of violations. Landing there because of excessive chargebacks or a data breach or some processing problems means you're almost surely looking at the same basic wait. The only true exception happens in some legal situations where the authorities need a longer watch period to finish their investigations.
Can I appeal a MATCH list placement?
No, not directly anyway. You won't get any warning if you land on the MATCH list. Most merchants find out the hard way when they try to apply for a new payment processor and get denied. Your old processor doesn't have to tell you that they reported you either. They can just close your account and add you to the list without saying a single word about it.
This could leave you in the dark for months without even realizing that you're on there. Everything seems completely normal until you need to switch processors or open a new merchant account somewhere else. Then all the rejection letters start rolling in one after another. When your processor ends your relationship with them, ask them if they plan to add you to the MATCH list. At least you'll know what's coming next.
Already being on the list means you can't appeal directly - sorry. They don't have any official process for merchants to challenge their status on there. Your only option is to work with the bank that reported you in the first place. If there's a factual error in what they reported about your business, you might actually have a shot at fixing it. Maybe they have your business name wrong or have somehow mixed up your records with another merchant altogether.
The tough truth is this though - if you did break their policies or rack up a lot of chargebacks, you're probably not coming off that list anytime soon. Banks won't change their mind just because you promise that everything will be different next time. You can't pay your way off the list or switch processors to escape it either.
What happens if I'm on the MATCH list?
These effects can spread to other parts of your business network. Personal guarantors and any related businesses that you have will also struggle if they need approval for processing services, so you end up with a chain reaction that hits multiple businesses at once. That 5-year time period is the big issue here - we're not talking about a short-term hiccup that gets cleared up in a few months. Even after those 5 years are finally up, that listing on your record can still cause you problems when you apply for processing services later on.