Some purchases just won't go through — here's why... Restricted merchants

Short answer: every merchant is classified under a code — called an MCC — that identifies what type of business it is. Some categories, like gambling or cash-equivalent services, are blocked on every Swype card no matter how much balance you have.

Every merchant that accepts Visa or Mastercard is tagged with a Merchant Category Code — a standardized number that says what kind of business it is (a restaurant, a gas station, a casino, and so on). That code travels with the transaction, and it's checked automatically before your purchase goes through.

Regardless of your balance, these kinds of merchants are declined on every Swype card:

On top of the categories blocked for everyone, whoever set up your specific card program may restrict additional merchant categories or specific merchants. If a purchase keeps getting declined somewhere that doesn't look like any of the categories above, that's likely a program-specific restriction rather than a universal one.

Good to know: a decline at one of these merchant types isn't a mistake or a bug — it's the card working as designed. There's no way to override it from your side.

Still unsure why a purchase was declined?

Tell us the merchant and we can confirm what's going on.