Mastercard Reason Code 4807: Warning Bulletin File

What Mastercard reason code 4807 means

4807 is a legacy authorization code. Mastercard publishes an Electronic Warning Bulletin, a list of card numbers that issuers have flagged as lost, stolen, counterfeit or otherwise not to be honored. A 4807 says you accepted one of those cards without checking with the issuer, typically because the sale was below your floor limit and processed offline.

Mastercard has since folded 4807 into the umbrella code 4808 Authorization-Related Chargeback. If your processor still prints 4807, respond as you would to a 4808: the question is whether a valid authorization existed.

Does 4807 affect ecommerce merchants?

Rarely. Card-not-present transactions are authorized online in real time, and an issuer’s approval overrides the bulletin. When the card is restricted, the issuer simply declines. A 4807 on an online order usually means something unusual happened, such as a capture without authorization or an offline stand-in during a gateway outage.

Where 4807 does show up is in environments that still accept cards offline:

• Transit gates and toll systems that approve low-value taps without going online
• In-flight and other connectivity-limited sales
• Older terminals configured with floor limits
• Merchants that keyed in sales during a processor outage and settled them later

Common causes

• Floor-limit sales on a card that was added to the bulletin before the transaction date
• Offline batches uploaded after a connectivity outage
• Staff forcing a sale through after a decline or “call issuer” response
• Terminal configuration that skips online authorization below a threshold

Evidence that wins a 4807 dispute

1. Online authorization record: approval code, date and amount for the transaction. This alone usually resolves the case.
2. Transaction date vs bulletin date: for offline sales, evidence that the card was not on the bulletin on the date of the sale.
3. Amount vs floor limit: proof the sale was within the floor limit that applied, if your processing relied on one.
4. Terminal or gateway logs showing how the transaction was processed (online, offline, stand-in).

Your acquirer can usually pull the authorization history directly, so ask them for it before writing anything.

How to prevent 4807 chargebacks

• Authorize every transaction online wherever connectivity allows; floor limits of zero are the norm for card-not-present.
• Never force-post a sale after a decline or a referral response.
• After an outage, authorize stored transactions before settling them rather than clearing them blind.
• Keep terminal software current so it checks the latest restricted-card data when operating offline.

Should you fight or accept?

Fight if you have an online approval. That’s a complete answer, and the case is very winnable.

Accept if the sale went through offline with no approval and the card was already restricted. The rules put that risk on the merchant who skipped authorization. Treat it as a signal to review your offline processing settings, and compare with 4812 Account Number Not on File, the other legacy authorization code now handled under 4808.