Risk
MATCH List (TMF)
A card-network database of terminated merchants. Being listed makes new accounts harder — but not impossible — to obtain.
The MATCH list (Member Alert to Control High-risk merchants), historically called the Terminated Merchant File, is a database acquiring banks check to see whether a merchant was previously terminated and why.
Being on MATCH is not an automatic denial. Specialist underwriters review the reason for the listing and can still place many previously terminated merchants with a bank whose risk appetite fits.