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Mastercard Merchant Advice CodesMastercard 21
Payment Cancellation
Hard Decline
Permanent failures that should not be retried
Do Not Retry
Retry will not succeed
Description
The cardholder has cancelled this payment. This transaction cannot be reprocessed.
Recommended Action
Do not retry. The cardholder has explicitly cancelled this payment. Request a new authorization if needed.
Common Causes
- Cardholder cancelled the transaction with their issuer
- Dispute or chargeback initiated
- Cardholder revoked authorization for recurring payment
Recovery Tips
- Contact the customer to confirm cancellation intent
- If the subscription should continue, request re-authorization
- Update your records to reflect the cancellation
Quick Reference
Code
21
Category
Hard Decline
Retryable
No
Source
Mastercard
Related Decline Codes
03Non-Retryable
Do Not Try Again
The transaction should not be retried. The account may be closed, suspected of fraud, or the cardholder has cancelled the recurring agreement.
40Non-Retryable
Non-Reloadable Prepaid Card
The issuer has identified this card as a consumer non-reloadable prepaid card. The remaining balance may be insufficient and cannot be replenished.
41Non-Retryable
Single-Use Virtual Card
The issuer has identified this card as a consumer single-use virtual card number that has already been used.
42Non-Retryable
Sanction Score Exceeds Threshold
The Sanctions Scoring Service identified that this payment exceeded the applicable sanction threshold. Do not retry.
Mastercard 21 recovery
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Slicker handles codes like 21 by combining decline reason, issuer behavior, BIN data, and timing signals to choose the next best recovery action.
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