Overview#
Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-
digit Code, listed in
ISO 18245 for retail
financial services, issued by the
Payment Network (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) assign to every
Merchant that applies to accept
Payment Cards during
Enrollment. Merchant Category Code is based on the
predominant business activity of the
merchant and are often never changed even though the
Merchant changes their
Line Of Business.
Merchant Category Code may be different for the different Payment Networks.
Merchant Category Code is used for Classification:
- to determine the Interchange Fee paid by the merchant, with riskier lines of business paying higher fees.
- by Payment Network companies to offer cash back rewards or reward points, for spending in specific categories
- by Payment Network to define rules and restrictions for card transactions (for example, Automated Fuel Dispensers (MCC 5542) have specific rules for authorization and clearing messages).
- in the United States, to determine whether a payment is primarily for “services”, which needs to be reported by the payor to the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes, or for “merchandise”, which does not.
Merchant Category Code as with many other
codes may be used with or without
Informed Consent to:
- used to market new products to consumers
- are shared with marketing partners
- can be subpoenaed!! More Information
There might be more information for this subject on one of the following: