MCC and Merchant ID ALC Examples
See Designing Authorization Controls for an explanation of this page.
- MCC — Merchant category code
- MID — Merchant ID
Contents
- Examples 1–5
- Examples 6–10
- Examples 11–15
- Examples 16–20
- Invalid MCC control configurations
- Velocity MCC example
Examples 1–5
| Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | Example 4 | Example 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction | MCC 7995 | MCC 5550 | MCC 5650 | MCC 5750 | MCC 5750 |
| MCC blocklist | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 |
| Product-level MCC | any value | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 ALLOW |
| Online only (product) | any value | N | N | N | N |
| Account-level MCC | any value | — | — | 5750 DENY | 5700 ALLOW |
| Online only (account) | any value | — | — | N | N |
| Product-level MID | any value | — | — | — | — |
| Account-level MID | any value | — | — | — | — |
| Result | DENY | ALLOW | DENY | DENY | DENY |
| Reason | Program blocklist overrides all other controls | MCC 5550 falls inside the ALLOW range | MCC 5650 falls outside the ALLOW range | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level | MCC 5750 falls outside the ALLOW range |
Examples 6–10
| Example 6 | Example 7 | Example 8 | Example 9 | Example 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction | MCC 5560 | MCC 1111 | MCC 1112 | MCC 5800 MID 1234 | MCC 5800 MID 1234 |
| MCC blocklist | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 |
| Product-level MCC | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 0000–0000 ALLOW | 0000–0000 ALLOW | any value | any value |
| Online only (product) | N | N | N | N | any value |
| Account-level MCC | 5700 ALLOW | 1111 ALLOW | 1111 ALLOW | any value | any value |
| Online only (account) | N | N | N | N | any value |
| Product-level MID | — | — | — | 1234 DENY | any value |
| Account-level MID | — | — | — | — | 1234 ALLOW |
| Result | ALLOW | ALLOW | DENY | DENY | ALLOW |
| Reason | MCC 5560 is included in the product-level control | 0000–0000 ALLOW = deny all, but 1111 is allowed at the account level | 0000–0000 ALLOW = deny all, and 1112 is not allowed at the account level | The product-level merchant ID overrides MCC controls | The account-level merchant ID overrides all other controls |
Examples 11–15
| Example 11 | Example 12 | Example 13 | Example 14 | Example 15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction | MCC 5800 MID 1234 | MCC 5750 MID 1234 online | MCC 5550 MID 1234 not online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 online |
| MCC blocklist | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 |
| Product-level MCC | any value | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 DENY |
| Online only (product) | any value | Y | Y | N | N |
| Account-level MCC | any value | — | — | 5750 DENY | 5750 DENY |
| Online only (account) | any value | — | — | Y | Y |
| Product-level MID | any value | — | — | — | — |
| Account-level MID | 1234 DENY | — | — | — | 1234 ALLOW |
| Result | DENY | DENY | DENY | DENY | ALLOW |
| Reason | The account-level merchant ID overrides all other controls | MCC 5750 is outside the ALLOW range, and the control applies to online transactions. | MCC 5550 is allowed only for online transactions. | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level, and the control applies to online transactions. | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level, but the account-level merchant ID overrides it. |
Examples 16–20
| Example 16 | Example 17 | Example 18 | Example 19 | Example 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction | MCC 5750 MID 1234 online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 not online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 not online | MCC 5750 MID 1234 not online |
| MCC blocklist | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 | MCC 7995 |
| Product-level MCC | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 ALLOW |
| Online only (product) | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Account-level MCC | 5750 DENY | 5750 DENY | 5750 DENY | 5750 DENY | 5750 ALLOW |
| Online only (account) | N | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Product-level MID | — | — | — | — | — |
| Account-level MID | — | — | — | — | — |
| Result | DENY | ALLOW | DENY | ALLOW | DENY |
| Reason | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level, and the control applies to all transactions. | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level, but only for online transactions. | MCC 5750 is denied at the account level, and the control applies to online transactions. | All of the existing controls apply only to online transactions. | MCC 5750 is allowed at an account level, but only for online transactions. |
Invalid MCC control configurations
Attempting to configure any of these MCC control combinations will return an error.
| Example 21 | Example 22 | Example 23 | Example 24 | Example 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCC blocklist | MCC 7995 MCC 7800–7802 | MCC 7995 MCC 7800–7802 | MCC 7995 MCC 7800–7802 | MCC 7995 MCC 7800–7802 | MCC 7995 MCC 7800–7802 |
| Product-level MCC | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 DENY | 5500–5600 ALLOW | 5500–5600 DENY | MCC 7500–7550 ALLOW |
| Account-level MCC | 5000 DENY | 5500 ALLOW | 5550–5700 ALLOW | 5550–5560 DENY | MCC 7990–8000 ALLOW |
| Reason | Product level is ALLOW, so the account level must also be ALLOW. | Product level is DENY and account level cannot contradict or overlap the product level. | Account-level range overlaps the product-level range. | Account-level range is inside the product-level range. | Both ranges overlap MCC blocklist |
Velocity MCC example
Consult the examples below for valid velocity ALCs with MCCs. This example demonstrates a use case wherein parents can set limits on a debit card that is issued to an adolescent, as shown in Use case 7: Teen spending cards.
Product-level controls
These are the product-level controls for the card product.
| Control ID | Description | Period | Trans Type | Domestic Flag | Has PIN | Amount | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weekly POS limit, PIN | 7D | POS | A | Y | 3000 | — |
| 2 | Weekly POS limit, signature | 7D | POS | A | N | 1500 | — |
| 3 | Monthly combined limit (ATM, POS, CAD, CBD) | 1M | ATM, POS, CAD, CBD | A | A | 10000 | — |
| 4 | Per-transaction cash-back limit | 1T | CBA | A | A | 200 | — |
Account-level MCC velocity controls
At the time the parents order the card, they can select from among preset categories of transactions. This example assumes that all of the MCCs are allowed at both the product level and account level.
| Control ID | Description | MCCs | Amount | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weekly POS limit, PIN | — | 2000 | — |
| 1 | Weekly POS limit, PIN | 5541–5542 | 500 | 5 |
| 2 | Weekly POS limit, signature | 5815–5818 | 100 | 5 |
| 2 | Weekly POS limit, signature | 5812–5814 | 200 | — |
| 3 | Monthly combined limit (ATM, POS, CAD, CBD) | — | 3000 | 25 |
| 3 | Monthly combined limit (ATM, POS, CAD, CBD) | 6011 | 400 | 4 |
| 4 | Per-transaction cashback limit | — | 100 | — |
| 4 | Per-transaction cashback limit | 5411 | 40 | — |
- First, the parents set a weekly limit for PIN transactions to 2000, down from the 3000 allowed by the product-level control.
- The second control ID 1 limits gas station PIN transactions to 5 transactions totalling no more than 500.
- For signature transactions (which includes online transactions), they impose a limit of no more than 5 transactions of 100 total weekly for digital goods such as online music, games, apps, and videos. They also impose a 200 weekly limit on restaurants.
- They then reduce the monthly amount for all transactions to 3000, down from the 10000 allowed by the product-level control.
- The second control ID 3 limits ATM transactions to 400 per month of the total.
- For cashback transactions, there is a 100 limit per transaction, unless it is at a grocery store, and then the limit is 40.
MCC definitions
- 5411 — Grocery stores
- 5541–5542 — Service stations and gas pumps
- 5812–5814 — Restaurants
- 5815–5818 — Digital goods: ebooks, videos, music, games, apps
- 6011 — ATMs