Reason code · Mastercard
Mastercard 4842: late presentment
4842 is a retired Mastercard code for sales processed too late after the purchase. It doesn’t appear in the current Chargeback Guide. Late sales are now charged back under 4808 as an expired approval, which the bank can file within 90 days.
What 4842 means
4842 is an old Mastercard code for Late Presentment. “Presentment” is the moment you send a sale through to get paid. Late presentment means you sent it too long after the purchase.
The code is gone from Mastercard’s current Chargeback Guide, and Stripe lists it as deprecated. Late sales haven’t stopped being a problem, though. They’re now charged back under 4808 Authorization-related Chargeback, as an expired chargeback protection period: the approval ran out before you processed the sale.
What the customer told their bank
Usually nothing. Late processing shows up in the bank’s own records, so no complaint is needed. Sometimes it surfaces because the customer spots an old charge weeks later and asks about it.
Time limit
Under the 4808 rules, the bank has 90 calendar days from the transaction for most transactions. If your notice still says 4842, go by the dates printed on it. Your response is due on the date your processor sets.
What proof matters
The approval date, the date you processed the sale, and what kind of approval it was. If the sale went through inside the protection window, that’s your answer.
How long you actually have
In most countries the windows are short:
- Final authorization: 7 calendar days from approval.
- Preauthorization: 30 calendar days from approval.
- Sales with no online approval, such as offline chip sales: processed within 7 days of the transaction.
The approval date starts the clock, not the day you meant to charge. Day 8 on a final authorization is already too late. The windows also differ in a few countries, so check with your processor if you sell abroad.
The common mistake
Holding sales in a batch, or running a deposit or a treatment plan days or weeks after approval. Close your batches daily. If a sale has to wait, get a new approval for the full amount before you process it.
Dispute Daddy builds this for you
Dispute Daddy lines up the approval and processing dates from your records and builds the response for you to approve and submit. See how the method works.
