What Is an MCC Code?
An MCC (merchant category code) is the four-digit code your acquirer assigns to classify what your business sells. It is standardised under ISO 18245 and attached to every card transaction you process.
The code matters because the card system prices and polices by category: interchange rates, cardholder rewards, risk monitoring and even some card acceptance rules all key off the MCC rather than your business name.
Rates checked: August 2026
How your MCC gets assigned, and why you should check it
When an acquirer opens your merchant account, it picks the MCC that best matches your trading activity from the standard list. A cafe gets an eating-places code, a barber gets a beauty and barber shop code, a taxi driver a taxicabs code. With payment facilitators such as SumUp, Square and Zettle you select a business category at sign-up and the code is mapped for you behind the scenes.
It is worth checking the code is right. A miscoded business can pay interchange for the wrong category, appear oddly on customers' bank statements, and trip risk rules written for a sector it is not actually in. If your business genuinely spans two categories, the convention is to code by the activity that generates the majority of turnover.
The MCC sits alongside your merchant ID in your account record; if you are not sure what a merchant ID is, our MID answer covers where to find it.
Common MCC codes UK small businesses see
| MCC | Category | Typical businesses |
|---|---|---|
| 5812 | Eating places and restaurants | Restaurants, cafes |
| 5813 | Drinking places | Pubs, bars |
| 5411 | Grocery stores and supermarkets | Convenience stores, grocers |
| 7230 | Beauty and barber shops | Salons, barbers |
| 4121 | Taxicabs and limousines | Taxi and private hire drivers |
| 7011 | Lodging: hotels, motels, resorts | Hotels, B&Bs, guest houses |
| 5999 | Miscellaneous retail stores | Shops without a more specific code |
Codes from the ISO 18245 merchant category code standard as published in card scheme documentation. Your acquirer confirms the exact code on your account.
What the MCC changes in practice
Three things, mostly. First, cost: interchange varies by category, so the MCC feeds into what your acquirer pays out on each transaction and therefore what it quotes you. Second, customer experience: banks decide rewards, cashback and spending-category labels by MCC, which is why the same card earns differently at differently coded businesses. Third, risk: schemes and acquirers monitor chargeback and fraud rates by category, and a handful of MCCs are treated as high risk with stricter underwriting.
None of this is something you manage day to day. The one action worth taking is a 30-second check that your acquirer has coded you sensibly, especially if your statement descriptor or quoted rates have ever struck you as odd. If your rates feel wrong for what you sell, that is a pricing conversation; our guide to reducing card processing fees covers how to have it.
MerchantSwitch is a free comparison service; we are paid by providers when we successfully match a business. We are an introducer, not a lender or acquirer, and we are not regulated by the FCA.
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