Merchant Category Codes

Merchant Category Codes are codes given to businesses accepting credit cards as payment, based on what type of trade they're doing. there is an international list of which codes given to which type of trade.

These category codes can be linked to cost types in advance, and this link is created in the Credit card administration menu, and this can be found under the "Administration" menu (fig. 1):

 

Fig. 1

Here you will find the menu "Credit Card Administration" (fig. 2):

Fig. 2

Choose the tab marked "Category codes" (Fig. 3a):

Fig. 3a

Here you can see that Merchant Category Code is selected, which is the most commonly used. There are other types of Category codes, for example CWT which stands for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which uses their own codes (fig. 3b). These will mainly be based on letters, but can in certain instances also be a combination of letters and numerical values.

Fig. 3b

Note: If the company is set up with MCC as default, this option will not necessary appear.

How to create a new link between Category Code and cost type (fig. 4):

Fig. 4

A. Click the button "Add"

B. Enter the codes relevant for this cost type. It is possible to use several different codes that defines the various types of trade the cost type represents. This can be done in several different ways:

- Single values can be entered separated with comma, both as numerical and letterbased combinations, ex. "3000,3001,3101,3299" or "DIFM05, DIFMAI, DOFAM,DIFMBO"

- Intervals can be used for numerical values, ex: "3000-3101"

- A combination of comma separated values and intervals can be used, ex: 3000-31,01,3122,3299-3300,DIFMAI"

C. Enter if the amount is positiv or negative

D. Enter which cost type the code(s) should be linked to

E. Enter a short description of the category type(s) for easier reference

F. Save by clicking on "Save"

Note: The cost type chosen will disappear, and cannot be chosen again.

 

How to edit a link between category code and cost type (fig. 5):

Fig. 5

Click on the "Edit" icon, and you will then be able to edit the information (fig. 6):

Fig. 6

A. Edit the fields as needed

B. If the changes are to be stored - click on the "Save" icon

C. If the changes are to be discarded, keeping the original values - click on the "Cancel" icon

 

How to delete a link between category code and cost type (fig. 7):

Fig. 7

A. Mark (check box) the link you would like to delete

B. Click the "Delete" button

 

Note: You can find a complete list of Merchant Category Codes here.