# MastercardPayment Account Reference Inquiry

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercardpayment-account-reference-inquiry/  
**Provider:** Mastercard — https://apis.io/providers/mastercard/  
**Documentation:** https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/

MastercardPayment Account Reference Inquiry is one of 249 APIs that [Mastercard](https://apis.io/providers/mastercard/) publishes on the [APIs.io](https://apis.io/) network. Tagged areas include Card Linking, Payment Account Reference, and Tokenization. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes a changelog, a getting-started guide, authentication docs, API documentation, and a support channel.

The Payment Account Reference (PAR) is a value linked to the Primary Account Number (PAN) of a Mastercard-branded cardholder account. EMVCo introduced the industry-wide solution to address merchant and acquirer challenges resulting from tokenization. PAR links tokenized and PAN-based transactions without the need for a PAN as the linkage mechanism (1:1 PAR to PAN). PAR enables merchants.

## Machine-readable artifacts (12)

- **ChangeLog** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/pre-release-notes/
- **GettingStarted** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/getting-started/
- **Authentication** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/api-basics/#authentication
- **Security** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/api-basics/#encryption
- **Sandbox** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/api-basics/#environments-and-key-usage
- **UseCases** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/use-cases/
- **Tutorials** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/tutorials/
- **Documentation** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/api-reference/
- **Sandbox** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/env-domains/
- **ErrorCodes** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/code-and-formats/error-codes/
- **FAQ** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/support/#faq
- **Support** — https://developer.mastercard.com/payment-account-reference-inquiry/documentation/support/#get-help

## Other Mastercard APIs (12)

- [Mastercard Universal Specification Submission API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-universal-specification-submission-api/)
- [Mastercard Account to Account Commerce for Creditor Service Providers](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-account-to-account-commerce-for-creditor-service-providers/)
- [Mastercard Debtor Service Provider Resources API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-debtor-service-provider-resources-api/)
- [Mastercard Automatic Billing Updater API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-automatic-billing-updater-api/)
- [Mastercard Benefit Eligibility Service API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-benefit-eligibility-service-api/)
- [Mastercard Bill Pay API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-bill-pay-api/)
- [Mastercard Bill Payment Validator](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-bill-payment-validator/)
- [Mastercard BIN Lookup API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-bin-lookup-api/)
- [Mastercard Business Payment Controls](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-business-payment-controls/)
- [Mastercard Carbon Calculator API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-carbon-calculator-api/)
- [Mastercard Carbon Calculator Experience API](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-carbon-calculator-experience-api/)
- [Mastercard Checkout Solutions](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercard-checkout-solutions/)

## Tags

Card Linking, Payment Account Reference, Tokenization

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/apis/mastercard/mastercardpayment-account-reference-inquiry/). The API's provider profile, Kin Score and agent-readiness rating are at https://apis.io/providers/mastercard/.