MATCH (Mastercard)
Mastercard's register of merchants whose card acceptance has been terminated, checked by every other acquirer before signing someone new.
The acronym stands for Member Alert to Control High-risk Merchants, though the older name, Terminated Merchant File, is more honest about what it is. When an acquirer cuts off a merchant for certain reasons, such as excessive chargebacks, fraud, PCI DSS violations or money laundering, the business and its principals go on the list. The next acquirer to receive an application searches the register and sees the flag. Entries stay for five years.
For anyone listed, that effectively ends card acceptance for the duration, since few acquirers will take the risk. It is also why the register is contentious: small businesses have landed on it after a wave of friendly fraud they didn't cause, and there is no court of appeal, only the acquirer that put them there.