What Is a Merchant Category Code

Cash back cards like OCBC Titanium Card and Hong Leong Wise Credit Card are very popular nowadays as they give cash rebates according to the amount spent in specific categories such as dining, petrol, utilities and shopping. So how do credit card issuers know that each transaction belongs to which category? They actually know that from Merchant Category Code (MCC).

A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit assigned to a business by Visa or MasterCard in order to accept one of these cards as payment in the business. It is the responsibility of the credit card organization to assign the correct MCC classification to the business. The merchant category code is based on the predominant activity being conducted by the business, even if they are engaged in multiple types of commerce.

This is the list of commonly use MCC:

No.	Categories	Merchant Category Code (MCC)
1	Groceries	All grocery stores (MCC 5411)
2	Petrol	All petrol stations (MCC 5542)
3	Dining	All dining outlets (MCC 5811, 5812, 5814)
4	Utilities	Electricity and Water (MCC 4900)
5	Entertainment	All cinemas (MCC 7832)
6	Travel	All airlines (MCC 3000-3299, 4511), hotels (MCC 3501-3999, 7011), tour packages (MCC 4722, 4723)