What lands a merchant on MATCH
MATCH classifies terminations into about a dozen reason codes. The most common ones for peptide merchants:
- Code 04 — Excessive chargebacks (over 1% of transactions, sustained)
- Code 07 — Fraud conviction
- Code 09 — Bankruptcy / liquidation
- Code 11 — Violation of Mastercard standards (this is the catch-all for category violations — selling peptides without LegitScript, RUO products with human-use claims, comparative GLP-1 claims, etc.)
The reason code matters more than the listing itself. Code 11 with documented remediation is workable. Code 07 generally is not.
The downstream cost of a MATCH listing
A MATCH-listed merchant cannot re-apply to most U.S. processors without specialist underwriting in the loop. Some "MATCH-OK" processors advertise willingness to board MATCH merchants but typically do so by routing the volume offshore, raising rates to 8%+, and holding 15% reserves for 180 days. Working capital is choked just as the merchant is trying to recover.
The other downside: being processed alongside merchants who shouldn't be. Acquirer portfolios accumulate risk in clusters. A merchant whose processor's other clients are predominantly grey-market operators inherits the acquirer's overall risk posture.
How PeptideRails handles MATCH
We can board MATCH-listed merchants with two requirements: documentation of the cause of the original termination, and a LegitScript certification path (if not already certified). We're stricter than the "MATCH-OK" specialists because the merchants in our portfolio are the ones whose presence keeps the acquirer comfortable. Every MATCH-recovery board we accept is one we can defend in writing.
If you're on MATCH and unsure why, the first step is to pull your file from the acquirer who terminated you. We can help with that as part of underwriting.