How SAFE reporting works
An issuer that confirms a transaction as fraud reports it with a fraud type code. The database sits in the Fraud Center application on Mastercard Connect, the scheme's portal for its customers, and Mastercard reads it by merchant and by acquirer.
The older name is still in use. Mastercard's Chargeback Guide of 13 December 2018 said that all fraudulent transactions must be reported to SAFE, and the edition of 13 May 2025 keeps the message text IMPROPER SAFE REPORTING for a fraud chargeback that fails the rule.
How SAFE connects to chargebacks
In the Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition, of 13 May 2025, an acquirer may answer a fraud chargeback with a second presentment when the transaction was not reported to the Fraud and Loss Database on or before the chargeback date. Mastercard treats the rule as met when the report is dated within three days of the chargeback.
Acquirers can report too. The Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, of 4 August 2026 recommend that an acquirer report transactions it deems fraudulent as suspected fraud.
Why SAFE matters to a merchant or a payment provider
A SAFE report moves no money and may never become a chargeback, but it feeds Mastercard's view of fraud at each merchant and acquirer. Merchants do not see the database: acquirers and fraud notification services pass the reports on.
A report is a confirmed fraud label. Merchants use it to block the card, cancel linked orders, refund before a dispute arrives, and train fraud rules.
SAFE, TC40 or MATCH?
- TC40
- Visa's fraud report, filed by the issuer in the same circumstances. A merchant that takes both schemes is measured on both.
- Chargeback
- Takes the money back from the merchant. A fraud report records the fraud and moves nothing.
- MATCH list
- Mastercard's database of terminated merchants. SAFE holds transactions, not merchants.
Where SAFE shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- Card issuingVirtual and physical cards, wallets and controls, on the issuer processor you choose.
- Analytics & monitoringProduct analytics, attribution, engagement and crash reports, on a tracking plan you control.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Mastercard, Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition, 13 May 2025
- Mastercard, Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, 4 August 2026: section 6.2.2.11
- Mastercard, Chargeback Guide, 13 December 2018
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.