Learn the domain· 9 min read

Reason codes

Every chargeback ships with a reason code — a short scheme-issued tag (10.4, 4853, F24) that tells the merchant what the issuer is claiming. Different codes have different evidence requirements and different odds of winning. Getting the code right shapes the entire defence strategy.

Last reviewed against primary sources on 2026-05-14.

Four universal categories

Despite four different schemes, every reason code falls into one of four functional categories. Visa Claims Resolution made this explicit in 2018; the other schemes operate in the same shape, even when they use different vocabulary:

Fraud

The cardholder claims they did not authorize the transaction (true fraud or friendly fraud). Visa prefix 10.x, Mastercard fraud codes, Amex F-codes.

Authorization

The transaction was processed without a valid auth, after a decline, or outside the auth window. Visa prefix 11.x, Mastercard 4808/4812, Amex A-codes.

Processing errors

Wrong amount, wrong currency, duplicate charge, missing imprint. Visa prefix 12.x, Mastercard 48xx series, Amex P-codes.

Consumer disputes

Goods not received, defective merchandise, refund not processed, recurring billing after cancel. Visa prefix 13.x, Mastercard 4853 (now consolidated), Amex C-codes.

Visa — 10.x, 11.x, 12.x, 13.x

Visa's post-VCR codes use a two-segment format: <category>.<sub-code>. The first number is the category (10 fraud, 11 auth, 12 processing, 13 consumer); the second narrows the exact claim. The codes below are the ones merchants encounter most:

Code	Category · Name	What the issuer is claiming
`10.1`	Fraud · EMV Liability Shift Counterfeit	Counterfeit card used at a non-EMV terminal.
`10.2`	Fraud · EMV Liability Shift Lost/Stolen	Lost/stolen chip card used at a non-EMV terminal.
`10.3`	Fraud · Card-Present Other	In-person fraud that doesn’t fit 10.1 / 10.2.
`10.4`	Fraud · Card-Absent Environment	The dominant ecommerce fraud code. CE 3.0 applies here.
`10.5`	Fraud · Visa Fraud Monitoring Program	Issued because the merchant is on the VFMP watchlist; not a per-transaction claim.
`11.1`	Authorization · Card Recovery Bulletin	Merchant ignored a Code-10 / hot-card listing.
`11.2`	Authorization · Declined Authorization	Transaction processed despite an explicit decline.
`11.3`	Authorization · No Authorization	No auth obtained at all (e.g. force-posted offline).
`12.1`	Processing · Late Presentment	Sale settled outside the allowed window after auth.
`12.2`	Processing · Incorrect Transaction Code	Debit posted as credit, or vice versa.
`12.3`	Processing · Incorrect Currency	Settlement in a currency other than the one authorized.
`12.4`	Processing · Incorrect Account Number	Card number mis-keyed.
`12.5`	Processing · Incorrect Amount	Settled for more than the authorized amount.
`12.6`	Processing · Duplicate Processing / Paid by Other Means	Same charge twice; or cardholder paid by other means after.
`12.7`	Processing · Invalid Data	Mandatory authorization fields were missing.
`13.1`	Consumer · Merchandise / Services Not Received	Goods never arrived; service never rendered.
`13.2`	Consumer · Cancelled Recurring	Subscription billed after cancellation.
`13.3`	Consumer · Not as Described / Defective	Item materially different from listing or non-functional.
`13.4`	Consumer · Counterfeit Merchandise	Cardholder received counterfeit goods.
`13.5`	Consumer · Misrepresentation	Sale terms materially misrepresented at point of purchase.
`13.6`	Consumer · Credit Not Processed	Merchant agreed to refund but didn’t process it.
`13.7`	Consumer · Cancelled / Returned	Returned merchandise not credited.
`13.8`	Consumer · Original Credit Not Accepted	Refund credit refused / unaccepted.
`13.9`	Consumer · Non-Receipt of Cash / Load	ATM / prepaid load failure.

Mastercard — 4xxx series

Mastercard's codes use four-digit identifiers in the 4800s (chargeback) and 4900s (presentment). Mastercard has been consolidating its consumer-dispute codes into a smaller, broader set — 4853 now covers most of what used to be split across multiple codes:

Code	Category · Name	What the issuer is claiming
`4837`	Fraud · No Cardholder Authorization	Cardholder denies authorizing the transaction (CNP equivalent of 4863).
`4840`	Fraud · Fraudulent Processing of Transactions	Multiple instances of same fraud pattern at the merchant.
`4849`	Fraud · Questionable Merchant Activity	Listed in the Questionable Merchant Audit Program.
`4863`	Fraud · Cardholder Does Not Recognize	CNP — cardholder doesn’t recognize the charge but doesn’t affirmatively claim fraud.
`4870`	Fraud · EMV Liability Shift Counterfeit	Counterfeit card used at non-chip terminal.
`4871`	Fraud · EMV Liability Shift Lost/Stolen/NRI	Lost / stolen / not-received-issuance card used.
`4807`	Authorization · Warning Bulletin File	Merchant ignored an issuer warning bulletin.
`4808`	Authorization · Authorization-Related	Authorization missing, expired, declined, etc.
`4812`	Authorization · Account Number Not on File	Card number does not exist.
`4831`	Processing · Disputed Amount	Settled for an amount different from what cardholder agreed.
`4834`	Processing · Duplicate Processing / Point of Interaction	Same charge billed twice.
`4842`	Processing · Late Presentment	Sale settled outside the allowed window.
`4846`	Processing · Currency Errors	Wrong currency settled.
`4850`	Processing · Installment / Bill-Payment Issue	Installment-billing or bill-pay error.
`4853`	Consumer Disputes (consolidated)	Goods not received, defective, refund not credited, cancelled subscription billed — Mastercard rolled multiple legacy codes into this one.
`4855`	Consumer · Goods or Services Not Provided	Legacy; being folded into 4853.
`4860`	Consumer · Credit Not Processed	Refund agreed but not processed.

American Express — F, C, A, P + chargeback programs

Amex uses single-letter category prefixes: F (fraud), C (cardmember dispute), A (authorization), P (processing error), plus FR2 / FR4for cases routed through Amex's automatic chargeback programs. As both issuer and (often) acquirer for its own cards, Amex moves faster than Visa / MC — the merchant typically has 20 days to respond, not 30.

Code	Category · Name	What the issuer is claiming
`F10`	Missing Imprint	Card-present transaction without an imprint of the card.
`F14`	Missing Signature	Card-present transaction without a signature.
`F24`	No Cardmember Authorization	Cardmember claims they did not authorize.
`F29`	Card Not Present	CNP transaction the cardmember denies.
`F30`	EMV Counterfeit	Counterfeit chip card at non-EMV terminal.
`F31`	EMV Lost/Stolen/Non-Received	L/S/NRI chip card at non-EMV terminal.
`A01`	Charge Amount Exceeds Authorization	Settled for more than authorized.
`A02`	No Valid Authorization	Auth was declined or expired.
`A08`	Authorization Approval Expired	Used an auth past its validity window.
`C02`	Credit Not Processed	Merchant agreed to refund but did not process.
`C04`	Goods / Services Returned or Refused	Cardmember refused or returned the goods.
`C05`	Goods / Services Cancelled	Cardmember cancelled.
`C08`	Goods / Services Not Received	Goods never arrived.
`C18`	No Show or CARDeposit Cancelled	Hospitality / no-show dispute.
`C31`	Goods / Services Not as Described	Item materially different from description.
`P01`	Unassigned Card Number	Card number not attached to a valid account.
`P03`	Credit Processed as Charge	Refund processed in the wrong direction.
`P22`	Non-matching Account Number	Account-number mismatch between auth and submission.
`FR2`	Fraud Full Recourse Program	Amex auto-routes flagged transactions into this program.
`FR4`	Immediate Chargeback Program	Enrolled merchants get every non-fraud chargeback this way; no representment.

Discover — same shape, different numbers

Discover's reason codes (e.g. UA01 No Authorization, RG Non-Receipt of Goods, RM Cardholder Disputes Quality of Goods) map cleanly to the same four functional categories. Discover is a three-party network in the US (acts as its own acquirer for its cards), which compresses some of the lifecycle but doesn't change the merchant-facing decision tree.

How processors normalise this

A merchant rarely sees raw scheme codes — the processor (Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, etc.) maps every incoming code to its own normalised vocabulary. Stripe's set of dispute reasons (fraudulent, unrecognized, duplicate, subscription_canceled, product_not_received, product_unacceptable, etc.) collapses both Visa 10.4 and Mastercard 4863 into fraudulent, for instance.

That normalisation is convenient for dashboards but lossy for evidence work — the underlying scheme code drives the response requirements. When building tooling, always preserve the raw scheme code alongside whatever normalised category you display.

Sources

Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules (current public edition) — Authoritative source for the 10.x / 11.x / 12.x / 13.x reason-code structure and per-code claim definitions.
Mastercard Chargeback Guide (Merchant Edition, 13 May 2025) — Authoritative source for the 4xxx reason-code series and the consolidation of consumer-dispute codes into 4853.
American Express Chargeback Code Guide (Australia public edition) — Authoritative source for Amex F / C / A / P category prefixes and the FR2 / FR4 program codes.
Sift · Mastercard Reason Codes (operational reference) — Industry reference cross-mapping the older Mastercard codes into the consolidated 4853 set.
Chargebacks911 · Visa Reason Codes (operational reference) — Practitioner-side overview of each Visa code with examples of when the issuer applies it.