Merchant Category Codes

I happened by a page that listed cashback rewards for a particular credit card the other day, and at the bottom I found this fine print:To earn the rate in each category, eligible purchases must be made with merchants assigned to that category. Categories are assigned based on merchant category codes (MCC) set by Mastercard. The payment networks assign each merchant to one MCC, even if they offer a variety of products and services. For example, gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores all sell several different products, but all purchases from these merchants — regardless of the type of product — are always categorized under the merchants MCC. I’d never heard of merchant category codes before, and so got curious. It turns out that, by virtue of accepting credit cards via Stripe for our Queen Square Press online shop, we have one of our own, 2741 for Miscellaneous Publishing and Printing. I had to set this when I first signed up for a Stripe account, and I wasn’t aware that it…