Merchant Advice Code (MAC)

Overview

Merchant Advice Codes (MACs) help merchants identify specific payment products during authorization.

These codes indicate when a payment card is:

• A Consumer Non-Reloadable Prepaid Card
• A Consumer Single-Use Virtual Card Number (VCN)

Some payment products, such as non-reloadable prepaid cards and single-use virtual card numbers, are not intended for recurring or subscription payments. Using these products for future payments often leads to failed attempts, service interruptions, lost revenue, and unnecessary authorization activity.

Merchant Advice Codes give merchants clearer signals so they can manage recurring payment issues earlier and more effectively. The goal is to improve payment approval performance, reduce unnecessary transaction attempts, and create a better experience for consumers making online purchases.

Without this information, a merchant may not realize a payment instrument will likely fail future purchases. This often causes:

• Repeated authorization attempts.
• Higher decline rates.
• Increased operational costs.
• Subscription interruptions.
• Poor customer experiences.

The Advice Codes provide an early indicator that the payment method may not be suitable for future recurring transactions.

Business Benefits

Better Subscription Management: Merchants can identify customers using payment methods that may not support future recurring payments and encourage them to add an alternative card before service is interrupted.

Improved Customer Experience: Customers receive proactive communication instead of discovering a problem only after a payment fails.

Reduced Revenue Loss: By replacing temporary payment methods with long-term payment sources, merchants can reduce failed renewals and subscription churn.

Higher Authorization Efficiency: Fewer unnecessary payment retries can lead to improved authorization performance.

When the host recognizes one of these products, it can return the appropriate advice code in the authorization response. Advice Codes indicate why transactions were declined and what merchants can do. They explain why a payment failed, if it can be retried, and sometimes suggest when to retry.

For more references you can access Merchant Advice Code on Developers Mastercard

Example Business Scenario

A customer signs up for a video streaming service using a single-use virtual card number.

1. The initial payment is approved.
2. The Bank identifies the card as a single-use virtual card.
3. Merchant Advice Code 41 is returned.
4. The merchant recognizes that future recurring charges may fail.
5. The merchant prompts the customer to add a permanent payment method.
6. Future subscription renewals continue successfully.

This proactive approach helps avoid service interruptions and improves customer retention.

By providing early insight into payment methods that are not intended for ongoing use, the new Merchant Advice Codes help merchants protect recurring revenue, improve customer satisfaction, and increase overall payment efficiency.

Who its works?

Once Merchant Advice Codes are enabled for your MID, eligible Mastercard transactions can include a MAC in the authorization response. To understand where this information appears in the API response, review the Moneris API Create Payment Responses section.

The MAC value is provided to help merchants understand the issuer’s guidance for the transaction. It should be used for internal decisioning and reporting only, and should not be printed on customer receipts or shown directly to customers.

For a complete list of response codes and their meanings, refer to the Advice Code document: Merchant Advice Codes.