Mastercard BRAM (Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation) Program

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The Mastercard BRAM program - short for Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation is a global compliance framework designed to protect the Mastercard brand and payments ecosystem from illegal or brand-damaging merchant activity.

It places direct accountability on acquiring banks and their agents to ensure merchants do not engage in prohibited or high-risk transactions.

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Under BRAM, Mastercard defines a list of forbidden or tightly controlled merchant activities, including:

• The sale of illegal drugs or unlicensed pharmaceuticals
  
• Child exploitation materials
  
• Counterfeit or IP-infringing goods
  
• Unlicensed online gambling
  
• Other content considered high brand-risk or legally restricted

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If Mastercard detects that a merchant under an acquirer’s portfolio is involved in such activity, it can issue enforcement actions including significant monetary fines (often six figures per violation) and compliance mandates. In some cases, the merchant may be required to be terminated, and the acquirer may have to report them to the MATCH list (Mastercard Alert to Control High-risk Merchants).

To remain compliant with BRAM, acquirers, PayFacs, and ISOs must:

• Accurately classify merchants using the correct MCC (Merchant Category Code)
  
• Perform enhanced due diligence on high-risk verticals
  
• Implement ongoing monitoring, including website and transaction scanning
  
• Respond quickly to BRAM violation notices from Mastercard
  
• Take corrective actions, including merchant termination where necessary

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BRAM has been a major driver behind the rise of merchant monitoring solutions, pushing the industry to adopt proactive tools for content scanning, transaction analysis, and early risk detection. For payment providers, failing to enforce BRAM compliance can lead to escalating penalties, reputational harm, and even loss of acquiring privileges.

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In summary, the BRAM program is Mastercard’s enforcement mechanism to ensure that acquirers take ownership of the risks posed by their merchants—prioritizing both legal compliance and brand protection.