How a merchant advice code works
A decline's response code says that the payment was refused and broadly why. The merchant advice code adds an instruction. Mastercard's developer documentation, read on 13 October 2026, lists these values among others:
- 01: new account information available
- 02: try again later
- 03: do not try again
- 24 to 30: retry after a set time, from one hour to ten days
- 40: consumer non-reloadable prepaid card
- 41: consumer single-use virtual card number
Codes that describe the card
Values 40 and 41 describe the card and not the decline. The Mastercard Rules of 2 June 2026 have issuers send them on card-not-present payments made with such cards, on approvals as well as declines. A merchant that reads them knows what kind of card it has been given before deciding whether to keep it on file.
Why merchant advice codes matter
A subscription or card-on-file business retries failed payments automatically. In the rule on resubmitting declined deferred authorisations, Mastercard's Transaction Processing Rules of 9 June 2026 state that a merchant must not proceed where the issuer used 03 or another value preventing a resubmission (2.7.1).
Retry logic that reads the code, schedules the next attempt by its advice and asks the customer for a new card when told to, recovers more payments with fewer attempts. Gateways and billing systems show the code next to the decline code for that purpose.
Merchant advice code or decline code?
- Decline code
- The response code that says a payment was refused and broadly why. Every scheme has one, and the merchant advice code is a second field, specific to Mastercard.
- Dunning
- The merchant's own process for recovering failed recurring payments. Advice codes are one of its inputs.
Where a merchant advice code shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- CheckoutA hosted checkout for cards, wallets, bank payments and crypto, routed to the best provider.
- Analytics & monitoringProduct analytics, attribution, engagement and crash reports, on a tracking plan you control.
- NotificationsEmail, SMS, push and in-app messages in your brand, through the providers you choose.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Mastercard Developers, Mastercard Send: decline details and merchant advice codes
- Mastercard Rules, 2 June 2026: Rules 6.6 and 6.9.10 (Mastercard)
- Mastercard Transaction Processing Rules, 9 June 2026: 2.7.1 (Mastercard)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.