Can a merchant have more than one MCC?

Yes. Under Visa rules, a merchant with several distinct lines of business can use a different MCC for each one, and each outlet or e-commerce website is treated as its own merchant location.

Typical cases

• A hotel that also runs a restaurant and a gift shop.
• A retailer with a pharmacy counter inside its stores.
• A company selling physical goods online and running a separate travel booking site.
• A franchise group with outlets in different sectors.

In each case, the transactions of each activity are processed under the code that matches that activity, usually through separate merchant IDs.

Why it matters

Each code drives how issuers treat the payment, which interchange applies and which scheme rules are relevant. Mixing a restricted activity, such as gambling, into the code of a general retailer would break scheme rules and could trigger fines for the acquirer.

How it is set up

The provider creates a separate merchant account or location for each line of business, each with its own MCC, descriptor and sometimes its own reporting. The merchant can still see all activity together at group level.

What it means for payment operators

For platforms serving multi-activity merchants, this means one merchant with several accounts, each with its own MCC and settings. A hierarchy that groups those accounts under one merchant, with consolidated reporting, keeps the setup compliant without fragmenting the merchant's view of its business.