<p>Some payment cards can be limited for certain purposes only (e.g. for paying only for food, or only for car fuel). When you try to pay for a different purpose, the system rejects the payment.</p>

<p>I understand that this may be implemented by using <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_category_code" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MCC</a></strong>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>A Merchant Category Code (MCC)</strong> is a four-digit number listed in ISO 18245 for retail financial services. MCC is used to classify the business by the type of goods or services it provides. MCCs are assigned <em>by merchant type</em> (e.g. one for hotels, one for office supply stores, etc.) or <em>by merchant name</em> (e.g. 3000 for United Airlines).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I pay in the supermarket and I have e.g. food, toiletries and light bulbs in my shopping cart. Does the payment terminal communicates with the card provider multiple MCCs based on the type of goods, or is there one single MCC assigned to the merchant (based on their most common goods) and only this is sent for payment authorization?</p>

<p>From the definition on Wikipedia</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>MCCs are assigned by <strong>merchant</strong> type</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I would understand that the MCC is assigned to the <strong>merchant</strong>. On other side, based on my shopping experience, I am sometimes not able to pay with such a card for all the goods. </p>

<p>E.g. if the card is limited to food (a type of card used for employee benefit) and my shopping cart contains food <em>and</em> toiletries, the card pays for the food only.</p>

<p><strong>Can one single payment contain multiple MCCs? Or is there another mechanism employed?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-03T01:47:21.830Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not about economics.
Jamzy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-03T06:33:09.520Z
@Jamzy Please recommend a better SE site, if **this** question is not about economics.
Honza Zidek
<banking><technology><regulation><payment-system>
Can one single payment contain multiple Merchant Category Codes (MCC)?
Honza Zidek
# Can one single payment contain multiple Merchant Category Codes (MCC)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-15)

Some payment cards can be limited for certain purposes only (e.g. for paying only for food, or only for car fuel). When you try to pay for a different purpose, the system rejects the payment.

I understand that this may be implemented by using **[MCC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_category_code)**:

> **A Merchant Category Code (MCC)** is a four-digit number listed in ISO 18245 for retail financial services. MCC is used to classify the business by the type of goods or services it provides. MCCs are assigned *by merchant type* (e.g. one for hotels, one for office supply stores, etc.) or *by merchant name* (e.g. 3000 for United Airlines).

I pay in the supermarket and I have e.g. food, toiletries and light bulbs in my shopping cart. Does the payment terminal communicates with the card provider multiple MCCs based on the type of goods, or is there one single MCC assigned to the merchant (based on their most common goods) and only this is sent for payment authorization?

From the definition on Wikipedia

> MCCs are assigned by **merchant** type

I would understand that the MCC is assigned to the **merchant**. On other side, based on my shopping experience, I am sometimes not able to pay with such a card for all the goods.

E.g. if the card is limited to food (a type of card used for employee benefit) and my shopping cart contains food *and* toiletries, the card pays for the food only.

**Can one single payment contain multiple MCCs? Or is there another mechanism employed?**

**Tags:** banking, technology, regulation, payment-system

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not about economics.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Please recommend a better SE site, if **this** question is not about economics.  

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## 0 answers

