What it is

The TLID is a globally unique identifier assigned by Mastercard at authorization time. It is 22 characters long, alphanumeric (A–Z, a–z), case-sensitive, and may contain - and _.

Examples: e7R9d3L2-Q9vS6pP1_WzEh Z0fE_2qV-3pWft4vHt7Ki6M

There are two variants with different roles:

• Lifecycle TLID: Links a transaction to its own lifecycle events (incremental authorizations, captures, reversals). PPRO manages this automatically.
• Economically-related TLID: Links a new transaction to a previously executed, economically related one (e.g., a CIT followed by a recurring MIT). This is the variant merchants interact with.

Context

Mastercard mandates (AN 7102, GLB 8390.2, and GLB 8701.4) require replacing legacy PAN-based trace identifiers with the TLID to create a standardized global transaction identification system (applies to acquirers). The goal is to improve deterministic transaction linking for disputes, recurring billing, and fraud detection.

Key enforcement milestones:

The TLID is a complement to — not a replacement for — the existing Network Transaction Identifier (NTI / initialSchemeAuthorizationReference). Both fields coexist and serve related but distinct purposes.

How it works

When a card payment on the Mastercard network is authorized, Mastercard generates the TLID and returns it to PPRO through the acquirer's authorization response. PPRO stores the TLID and exposes it on the payment charge response under authorizations[].transactionLinkReference

For subsequent MITs — such as recurring charges or deferred payments — merchants can include the TLID from the original CIT in the new charge request. PPRO passes it to the acquirer to prove the deterministic link between both transactions.

PPRO also manages the Lifecycle TLID transparently: it is extracted, stored, and re-injected on captures, reversals, and refunds automatically. No merchant action is required for lifecycle events.

Acquirer availability: TLID support depends on acquirer compliance with Mastercard's mandate. PPRO will enable the TLID automatically for each acquirer as it becomes compliant — no changes to your integration are required.

How it affects you

PPRO handles TLID storage and lifecycle management automatically. The only action required from merchants is:

1. Read and persist the TLID from the first CIT authorization response. (authorizations[].transactionLinkReference)
2. Send it back in subsequent MIT requests via initialTransactionLinkReference

Both fields are optional. Your existing integration continues to work without modification. Where acquirers do not yet return a TLID, the field will be absent from the response.

Approval rates: Mastercard has confirmed that the addition of the TLID field does not impact approval rates.

Receiving the TLID in a CIT response

When the acquirer returns a TLID on authorization, PPRO exposes it in the charge response. The field is present only when the acquirer is TLID-compliant; otherwise it is absent.

The TLID is returned under authorizations[].transactionLinkReference in the Payment Charge response.

{
  "id": "charge_01J...",
  "status": "AUTHORIZED",
	"authorizations": [
    {
      "id": "authz_gvqPhaP45sIxhSiCrS0JP",
      "amount": 11000,
      "status": "AUTHORIZED",
      "schemeAuthorizationReference": "MCROBHSRWPAJTXZUT",
			"transactionLinkReference": "e7R9d3L2-Q9vS6pP1_WzEh"
      "createdAt": "2026-07-01T21:31:27.825Z",
      "updatedAt": "2026-07-01T21:31:27.825Z"
    }
  ]
}

Persist authorizations[].transactionLinkReference from the last AUTHORIZED entry for use in future MIT requests.

Sending the TLID in a MIT request

When creating a merchant-initiated transaction (e.g., a recurring charge), include the TLID from the original CIT to establish the economically-related transaction link.

Pass the TLID as initialTransactionLinkReference at the root level of the Payment Charge request.

{...
  "amount": {
    "value": 2999,
    "currency": "BRL"
  },
  "paymentMethod": "CARD",
  "initiator": "MERCHANT",
	"scheduleType": "RECURRING",
  "initialTransactionLinkReference": "e7R9d3L2-Q9vS6pP1_WzEh",
  "initialSchemeAuthorizationReference": "123456789012345",
...}