• Source: Merchant category code

A merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit number used for retail financial services to classify a business by the types of goods or services it provides. Codes are specified by the ISO 18245 standard.




Assignment of codes


MCCs are assigned either by merchant type (e.g., one for hotels, one for office supply stores, etc.) or by merchant name (e.g., 3000 for United Airlines) and is assigned to a merchant by a credit card company when the business first starts accepting that card as a form of payment. The same business may code differently with different credit cards, and different sections or departments of a store may code differently.




Uses of codes


An MCC reflects the primary category in which a merchant does business and may be used:

to determine the interchange fee paid by the merchant, with riskier lines of business paying higher fees
by credit card companies to offer cash back rewards or reward points for spending in specific categories
by card networks to define rules and restrictions for card transactions (for example, Automated Fuel Dispensers (MCC 5542) have specific rules for authorization and clearing messages)
for tax purposes, e.g., 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




Code lookup tools


There are multiple resources credit card users can consult to predict how credit card purchases with given vendors may be categorized. Examples include:

"AwardWallet Merchant Lookup Tool". AwardWallet.
"Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual" (PDF).
"List of MCC codes in CSV, ODS, XLS formats". github. 24 August 2022.
"An ISO 18245 python library for MCCs". github. 6 July 2022.




See also


ISO 8583
ISO 18245
NAICS Code
Standard Industrial Classification




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Pythagoras
• Perbudakan
• Warner Bros.
• Merchant category code
• Purchasing card
• Standard Industrial Classification
• ISO 18245
• Authorization hold
• ISO 8583
• Coinbase
• Merchant navy
• MCC
• Fixed Acquirer Network Fee