---
title: "What is Merchant category code? | Benefit Systems"
description: "A merchant category code is the four-digit code a card network uses to classify a business, and it decides which bonus points a purchase earns."
source: "aus dem gebauten HTML abgeleitet"
---
# What is Merchant category code?

A merchant category code is the four-digit code a card network uses to classify a business, and it decides which bonus points a purchase earns.

Also called: MCC.

## How it works #

The code is assigned by the merchant’s payment processor, not by the card and not by the customer. That is why a restaurant inside a department store may earn no dining points and a filling station with a grocery shop no fuel points. Anyone relying on bonus categories tests the code with a small purchase rather than trusting the shop’s name, since the statement shows what actually counted.

## Not to be confused with #

A merchant category code is not the same as a card’s bonus category: the bonus category is the issuer’s promise, the merchant code is the technical fact that decides whether the promise applies.

## In German #

The German term is Händlerkategorie. [German version of this term](/de/glossar/haendlerkategorie)

## Related terms #

- [Bonus category](/en/glossary/bonus-category): A bonus category is an area of spending where a card credits more points per unit of spend than its base rate, such as travel or restaurants.
- [Interchange fee](/en/glossary/interchange-fee): An interchange fee is the share of a card payment that the merchant’s bank pays to the card issuer, and it is what funds points programmes.
- [Shopping portal](/en/glossary/shopping-portal): A shopping portal is a programme-run page used to start an online purchase so that points are credited on top of what the card itself earns.

## Articles that use this term #

- [What is a merchant category code and why does it decide your points?](/en/knowledge/merchant-category-codes)
- [How do bonus categories work?](/en/knowledge/bonus-categories)
- [Is paying taxes by credit card worth it?](/en/knowledge/paying-taxes-by-card)
- [Why your purchase didn’t earn the points you expected](/en/knowledge/missing-points)