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Restricted Merchant Category Codes (MCCs)
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SPENDING & ACCEPTANCE • MCCS
Restricted Merchant Category Codes (MCCs)Certain MCCs are blocked program-wide under Schedule A of the Card Program Terms. Here's the complete list, how declines are handled, and what you can restrict on top of it. |
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AUDIENCE B2B Clients |
SOURCE Schedule A |
PROHIBITED MCCS 13 codes |
Summary: Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) are standardized codes Visa and Mastercard use to classify merchant types. A defined set of MCCs — gambling, cash services, securities, and other high-risk categories — is prohibited program-wide under Schedule A. Transactions attempted with these merchants are declined automatically and may incur a decline fee.
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The full prohibited MCC list |
These 13 MCCs are blocked across every Swype card and Card Account, per Schedule A of the Card Program Terms:
| MCC | Description |
| 4829 | Wire Transfers and Money Orders |
| 6051 | Non-Financial Institutions — Foreign Currency, Money Orders, Traveler's Checks, Quasi-cash |
| 7801 | Government-Licensed Online Casinos and Gambling (incl. sportsbooks, bingo, lottery) |
| 7802 | Motion Pictures and Video Tape Production and Distribution |
| 7995 | Gambling Transactions — Casinos, Sports Betting, Lotteries, Online Gambling |
| 6211 | Security Brokers and Dealers |
| 7273 | Dating Services |
| 7297 | Massage Parlors and similar adult-oriented services |
| 7800 | Government-Owned Lotteries |
| 6012 | Financial Institutions — Merchandise and Services (loan payments, credit-related) |
| 6540 | Non-Financial Institutions — Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
| 6010 | Financial Institutions — Manual Cash Disbursements |
| 9406 | Government-Owned Lotteries |
The current version of this list is maintained on the Website or available on request — treat this article as a reference, not the authoritative source if the two ever diverge.
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How declines on these MCCs are handled |
| ● | Classification is determined by the card network (Visa or Mastercard) based on the MCC assigned to the merchant — Swype is not responsible for merchant or network misclassification |
| ● | Transactions attempted with a prohibited MCC are declined automatically, before any balance check occurs |
| ● | Declined transactions on prohibited merchants may incur the applicable decline fee outlined in the Fees section of the Card Program Terms |
| ● | The list may be updated at any time to address fraud, compliance, or risk considerations, without requiring Account Owner consent |
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What you can restrict on top of this |
The Schedule A list is the floor, not the ceiling. As Business Administrator, you can layer your own restrictions on top:
| ● | Restrict additional transactions by Merchant Category Code beyond what's prohibited program-wide |
| ● | Restrict by specific Merchant ID, independent of category |
| ● | These program-level restrictions are on top of, not instead of, the universal Schedule A prohibitions — you cannot loosen what's already blocked |
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Important Repeated decline attempts against prohibited MCCs accumulate decline fees on the Card Account. If your end users are hitting these categories frequently, that's worth addressing in your own product UX rather than absorbing the fees silently. |
Need to configure additional MCC restrictions?
We can walk you through setting up program-level restrictions on top of the baseline list.
Contact Support →