About Account Updaters

Account updaters are services provided by Marqeta through the card networks to automatically update the primary account number (PAN) of a card when it is issued, reissued, updated, or closed. Account updaters allow merchants to use updated cardholder account information to support card-on-file transactions without interruption. Examples of such card-on-file transactions include recurring payments, subscription services, e-commerce merchants, and preferred customer programs. Account updaters are supported for all card types: credit, debit and prepaid.

How do account updaters work?

Marqeta queries cards for the following account update criteria:

New account: When a new PAN is issued.
Updated card: There are two card update criteria for account updaters:
- When a card is updated with a new PAN: this commonly occurs for lost or stolen cards, or to address fraud.
- When a card is reissued with the same PAN: this commonly occurs when a card is expired or damaged. A new card is issued with the same PAN but a new expiration date.
Account closure: When an existing PAN is terminated.

When any of these criteria are met, Marqeta sends the updated information to the card network to be updated. Participating merchants can use the updated account information to prevent unnecessary declines or other friction in the cardholder experience.

Supported account updaters

Marqeta supports account updaters for the following card networks:

Visa: For the Visa network, Marqeta supports the Visa Account Updater (VAU).
Mastercard: For the Mastercard network, Marqeta supports the Automatic Billing Updater (ABU).
Pulse: For the Pulse network, Marqeta supports the Account Updater Service (AUS).

Enablement and implementation

The account updaters services are not enabled by default. To enable account updaters for your cards, contact your Marqeta representative.

Visa Account Updater

The Visa Account Updater (VAU) for the Visa network is enabled for Bank Identification Number (BIN) ranges, and supports a BIN of any length. If you are a Managed by Marqeta (MxM) customer, you do not need to provide any additional information to Marqeta. If you are a Powered by Marqeta (PxM) customer, you must provide the relevant BIN to Marqeta to enable the account updater service. Account updates are triggered for two events:

Every time a reissued card is activated.
Every time a card is terminated.

Reason codes

VAU sends the following reason codes:

Reason code	Meaning	Trigger / Card action
`A` - Reissue, new PAN	The card was reissued with a new PAN, CVV2, and expiration date. Visa supplies the old and new PAN so the merchant can map one to the other and continue billing without interruption.	A card is created with `new_pan_from_card_token` (or `reissue_pan_from_card_token` plus `generate_new_pan`) and then activated.
`E` - Reissue, same PAN	The card was reissued with the same PAN, new CVV2, and expiration date.	A card is created with `reissue_pan_from_card_token` alone and then activated.
`C` - Closed or expired	The card/account was terminated or the card expired with no replacement issued.	A card transitions to `TERMINATED` without a reissue, or a card’s expiration date passes without a reissue.

Automatic Billing Updater

The Automatic Billing Updater (ABU) for the Mastercard network is enabled for Bank Identification Number (BIN) ranges. If you are a Managed by Marqeta (MxM) customer, you do not need to provide any additional information to Marqeta. If you are a Powered by Marqeta (PxM) customer, you must provide the relevant BIN to enable account updaters. You must also have your issuing bank provide Mastercard ABU customer form 806 directly to Mastercard. Account updates are triggered for two events:

Every time a new or reissued card is activated.
Every time a card is terminated.

Reason codes

ABU sends the following reason codes:

Reason code	Meaning	Trigger / Card action
`R` - Reissue, new PAN	The card was replaced with a new PAN, CVV2, and expiration date. Mastercard supplies the old and new PAN so the merchant can map one to the other and continue billing without interruption.	A card is created with `new_pan_from_card_token` (or with `reissue_pan_from_card_token` plus `generate_new_pan`) and then activated.
`E` - Reissue, same PAN	The card was replaced with the same PAN but a new CVV2 and expiration date.	A card is created with `reissue_pan_from_card_token` alone and then activated.
`C` - Closed	The card/account was terminated or the card expired with no replacement.	A card transitions to `TERMINATED` without a reissue, or a card’s expiration date passes without a reissue.
`N` - New account	A brand-new card is issued and activated with no prior card to link back to.	A new card (not a reissue of any kind) is created and activated.

Pulse Account Updater Service

The Account Updater Service (AUS) for the Pulse network is handled by Marqeta. If you are a Managed by Marqeta (MxM) customer or a Powered by Marqeta (PxM) customer, you do not need to provide any additional information to Marqeta. No action is required on your part to enable or maintain the account updater service for the Pulse network.

Reason codes

AUS sends the following reason codes:

Reason code	Meaning	Trigger / Card action
`A` - Reissue, new PAN	The card was reissued with a new PAN, CVV2, and expiration date. Visa supplies the old and new PAN so the merchant can map one to the other and continue billing without interruption.	A card is created with `new_pan_from_card_token` (or `reissue_pan_from_card_token` plus `generate_new_pan`) and then activated.
`E` - Reissue, same PAN	The card was reissued with the same PAN, new CVV2, and expiration date.	A card is created with `reissue_pan_from_card_token` alone and then activated.
`C` - Closed or expired	The card/account was terminated or the card expired with no replacement issued.	A card transitions to `TERMINATED` without a reissue, or a card’s expiration date passes without a reissue.

Card-on-file transactions for lost or stolen cards

When a card on file is reported lost or stolen, you can either reissue the card with a new PAN or close the account and create a new card. Both options are valid, with different tradeoffs as listed below:

	Reissue with new PAN	Closure then new account
Cardholder experience	Seamless recurring billing and card-on-file merchants continue working with no cardholder action needed.	Cardholder must proactively re-enter card details with every merchant that had the old card on file. Any card-on-file transactions attempted on the old card are declined.
Fraud/security posture	Lower friction, but propagates the new PAN to every merchant relationship the old, compromised card was associated with.	Higher friction, but nothing links the new PAN to the old one from the network’s perspective.

Recommended approach:

Default to reissue with new PAN (reason codes R/A) for lost cards to protect the cardholder’s legitimate billing relationships.
Monitor post-reissue card-on-file activity on cards reissued for “lost” status, specifically watching for new merchant enrollments or transaction patterns that don’t match the cardholder’s known behavior in the period immediately after reissue.
If a case shows a pattern consistent with fraud (for example, new, unfamiliar merchants billing the account shortly after reissue, or the cardholder disputes charges tied to the new PAN), treat it as a signal to fall back to closure (C) then create a new account (N, if applicable) for that account going forward.

​How do account updaters work?

​Supported account updaters

​Enablement and implementation

​Visa Account Updater

​Reason codes

​Automatic Billing Updater

​Reason codes

​Pulse Account Updater Service

​Reason codes

​Card-on-file transactions for lost or stolen cards

How do account updaters work?

Supported account updaters

Enablement and implementation

Visa Account Updater

Reason codes

Automatic Billing Updater

Reason codes

Pulse Account Updater Service

Reason codes

Card-on-file transactions for lost or stolen cards