Merchant Category Code
What is a merchant category code?
Merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit code that assign to a business to classify the type of goods or services it sells. Visa, Mastercard, and the other networks use the MCC to identify what a merchant actually does, so every transaction sent under that carries an industry label.
An MCC of 5812 marks a restaurant; 7379 marks a computer programming service. The codes are standardized under ISO 18245, so a category carries the same meaning across networks and markets. That consistency is what lets a bank in one country price and screen a transaction from a merchant it has never seen.
Key facts
- Format: four digits, standardized under ISO 18245
- Assigned by: the at onboarding, from the card network's published category list
- Applies to: every merchant account, and every transaction sent under it
- Also known as: MCC, merchant category classification
- Affects: , underwriting risk tier, category-level network and rules, and cardholder reward eligibility
How MCCs are assigned
The acquiring bank selects the MCC during , based on the business description, website, and product catalogue submitted at onboarding. The code is attached to the merchant account and its , then registered with the card network.
Merchants don't pick their own code and can't change it directly. When a business outgrows its classification, a retailer moving into subscriptions or a marketplace adding a new vertical, the correction goes through the acquiring bank, which resubmits the classification to the network.
Why it matters
- Interchange is priced by category. Two merchants charging the same card the same amount pay different interchange if their MCCs differ, and that difference carries through to the .
- Issuers apply category-level rules. Certain MCCs trigger stricter checks, and corporate card and parental control programs block whole categories by code.
- Risk tiering follows the code. Categories tied to gambling, adult content, and other regulated verticals push an account into treatment, with rolling reserves and closer monitoring.
- benchmarks are set per category. A rate that reads as normal for one MCC reads as an outlier in another, so a wrong code distorts the comparison a network runs against peer merchants.
- Reward programs key off the code. A cardholder earning bonus points on dining earns them because the transaction arrived carrying a restaurant MCC.
Where to find the MCC
- Merchant: in the merchant account agreement issued by the acquiring bank, and on monthly processing statements alongside the MID. PSP dashboards list it under account or business settings.
- Cardholder: it isn't printed on a card statement. The MCC surfaces indirectly, through the spend category an issuer assigns to the transaction on the statement or in a rewards summary.
- Developer: in the transaction object returned by the API and in reports, exposed as a merchant category code field.
