Recommendation codes

Last updated: October 1, 2025

Recommendation Codes provide additional information on how and when you should retry a transaction.

The following table shows the Checkout.com recommendation codes you might receive in a response. These codes apply to Visa and Mastercard.

Information

You can simulate recommendation code outcomes to test your integration.

Recommendation code Recommendation summary Possible decline reason

01

Updated or additional information required

One of:

expired card
updated information available
authentication may improve likelihood of an approval

02

Try again later

One of:

over credit limit
insufficient funds
credit risk decline
issuer velocity rule decline
blocked card

03

Do not try again

One of:

account closed
suspected fraud
recurring agreement canceled

Mastercard uses Merchant Advice Codes (MACs) to provide additional information about a transaction. For example, a MAC will inform you if the transaction was performed using one of the following payment card types:

A consumer non-reloadable prepaid card
A consumer single-use virtual card

For declined transactions, the MAC will typically contain the following information:

Whether the payment can be retried
If the payment can be retried, how long you should wait before doing so

The MAC is returned in the processing.partner_merchant_advice_code field included in the response:


1{
2  "processing": {
3    "recommendation_code": "02",
4    "partner_merchant_advice_code": "24"
5  }
6}

Merchant advice code	Recommendation summary	Possible decline reasons
`01`	Updated or additional information required	One of: expired card updated information available authentication may improve likelihood of an approval
`02`	Try again later	One of: over credit limit insufficient funds credit risk decline issuer velocity rule decline blocked card
`03`	Do not try again	One of: account closed suspected fraud recurring agreement canceled
`04`	Updated or additional information required	Token requirements not fulfilled for this token type
`21`	Do not try again	Payment cancellation
`24`	Retry after one hour	Insufficient funds
`25`	Retry after 24 hours
`26`	Retry after two days
`27`	Retry after four days
`28`	Retry after six days
`29`	Retry after eight days
`30`	Retry after 10 days
`40`	Non-reloadable prepaid card	The issuer recognized the payment card as a consumer non-reloadable prepaid card
`41`	Single-use virtual card number	The issuer recognized the payment card as a consumer single-use virtual card
`42`	Sanction score exceeds applicable threshold value	The Sanctions Scoring Service identified that the transaction exceeded the applicable threshold

Recommendation codes

Information

Partner merchant advice codes

Mastercard merchant advice codes