Mastercard Payment Decline Code
Mastercard Decline Code 46: Closed Account
Category Card or Account StatusRetry Guidance Hard Decline (Editorial Classification)By Payment Defender Editorial TeamUpdated July 17, 2026Last reviewed July 17, 2026
What Mastercard Decline Code 46 Means
Mastercard decline code 46 (Closed Account) indicates that the account associated with the card has been closed. It is returned during authorization to tell the merchant the payment could not be approved as submitted.
Where the Response May Come From
Mastercard code 46 (Closed Account) is returned by the card issuer during authorization and signals that the underlying account has been closed. Issuers rarely disclose the precise internal cause, so treat it as a directional signal rather than a full explanation.
Common Reasons for This Response
Common causes include an account the cardholder or issuer closed, or a card replaced by a newer account number. The exact trigger depends on the issuer, the account, and how the transaction was submitted, so the same code can appear in several different situations.
Should the Merchant Retry the Payment?
Because the underlying account has been closed, resubmitting the same details is unlikely to clear and repeated attempts may be discouraged under network retry rules; resolve the condition or use another payment method instead.
Recommended Merchant Action
Do not resubmit this transaction unchanged, since the underlying account has been closed; ask the customer for another card or payment method, and remove the closed account from any stored-credential schedule.
What to Tell the Customer
Let the customer know the payment did not go through because the underlying account has been closed, and suggest using a current, active card. Keep the wording neutral and avoid asserting issuer details you cannot confirm.
How to Reduce Similar Payment Failures
Segmenting how often the underlying account has been closed appears by issuer and BIN, refreshing stored cards with account-updater services to catch closures, and submitting clean, correctly formatted authorization data can reduce avoidable occurrences of this decline over time.
Important Limitations
Decline-code meanings vary by processor, gateway, and payment environment, and issuers do not always disclose the specific reason behind a response. The retry classification on this page is Payment Defender editorial guidance, not an official Mastercard rule. Merchants should confirm handling with their processor or gateway.
Related Decline Codes
Sources and Review Information
- PayPal (Braintree): Braintree Processor Response Codes
- Mastercard: Mastercard Rules and Merchant Support
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
Raw network-response codes are supplemental to the complete processor or gateway response. Meanings and recommended actions can vary by issuer, processor, gateway, card network, payment method, region, and merchant configuration.