An MCC, Merchant Commodity Code, is a four digit code assigned to every
supplier that accepts MasterCard, identifying the products and/or services
they provide.
The bank that processes the supplier’s charge card assigns the MCC
Code to the supplier. UMKC has no control over what MCC Codes
are assigned to supplier. Each supplier is assigned only one MCC Code. (Example:
Wal-Mart is assigned the MCC Code of 5411 – Grocery Stores, Supermarkets).
For every transaction or purchase, the MCC Code of the supplier is compared
to the list of authorized MCC Codes for the purchasing card being used. If
a supplier has an MCC Code that is not included as an authorized code, the
transaction will be denied.
MCC Codes and card limits provide the University and the cardholder additional security so the purchasing card will not be misused.