Mastercard's late-presentment code, triggered when the merchant settled the transaction too long after the original authorization.
Mastercard 4842 is a processing-error chargeback, not a consumer dispute. The cardholder may have no complaint about the merchandise; the issuer is asserting that the transaction posted too long after the merchant obtained authorization. Like other authorization-cluster codes, it can be charged back regardless of whether the underlying purchase was legitimate.
How the dispute actually arrives
The notification arrives from the acquirer naming 4842 and identifying the gap between authorization and settlement. The merchant has 45 days to respond. 4842 sits in the same family as Mastercard 4808 and the Visa equivalent Visa 12.1 (Late Presentment). Mastercard's presentment window depends on the transaction type, but for most card-not-present commerce it is seven calendar days from authorization unless the merchant operates under a delayed-delivery exception.
What the issuer is looking for
The issuer wants the authorization timestamp and the settlement timestamp side by side. If the gap exceeds the rulebook limit, the merchant must show one of two things: that the transaction qualified for a delayed-delivery exception under Mastercard's rules, or that the cardholder had agreed at the point of sale to a longer fulfilment window.
E-commerce merchants who ship inventory they hold typically have no defence against a clean 4842 if the gap is real. Merchants who pre-order, custom-manufacture, or operate hospitality and rental businesses may qualify for the exception if the original authorization disclosed the delay.
Common scenarios merchants see
A pre-order or back-order authorized at checkout and settled weeks later when the goods shipped. If the checkout page disclosed the expected fulfilment date and the cardholder agreed to it, the merchant has a defence. If the checkout was silent on timing, 4842 will usually stand.
A hospitality charge that posted long after the cardholder departed, because final incidentals took time to reconcile. Mastercard's lodging rules carve out specific tolerance here; the case turns on whether the merchant operated within them.
A processor or acquirer outage that delayed the settlement batch. Acquirer-side records demonstrating the cause of the delay can shift the dispute, but the merchant has to obtain them quickly. Acquirers do not typically volunteer outage logs after the fact.
What this code is not
4842 is not a fraud claim, an authorization-failure claim, or a quality complaint. If the underlying authorization itself was defective, the dispute will arrive as a 4808. If the cardholder is contesting the purchase rather than the timing, it will arrive under a different code. Treating 4842 as if it were any of these is the most common loss pattern.
Where this fits in our service
Mastercard 4842 rebuttal letters are short, factual, and turn on two timestamps. We draft them when the gap is defensible and tell the merchant honestly when it is not. If you have just received one, you can start with a free first letter.
Official source: Mastercard rules. Last reviewed 2026-05-14.