# Merchant Category Code Lookup
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/use-cases/merchant-category-code-lookup/index.md

### Overview {#overview}

A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit code used to classify a merchant by its line of business. MCCs appear across transaction records, merchant onboarding files, and reporting systems, but the code alone provides little business meaning without an up-to-date mapping of codes to category names.

Places API exposes Mastercard's global Merchant Category Code dataset so organizations can retrieve the complete list of active codes or decode an individual code on demand. Customers who need a list can synchronize a local reference table, populate filters and drop-downs, or validate incoming values; customers who need a single code can translate it into a human-readable category name at the point of use. The same codes can also be applied as filters in a Places search to isolate merchants in specific business categories.

### Where it applies {#where-it-applies}

* **Financial Institutions** decode MCCs on transactions to present clear merchant categories in statements and digital banking experiences.
* **Merchant Analytics Platforms** use a synchronized MCC reference list to standardize categorization across merchant and transaction datasets.
* **Onboarding \& Risk Teams** validate that the MCC submitted for a merchant is a valid, active code and matches the declared line of business.
* **Marketing \& Segmentation** build category-based audiences and filter Places searches to merchants in targeted business categories.

## How it works {#how-it-works}

**Retrieve all merchant category codes**

Diagram placesMerchantCodesDiagram

Example response, limited to five results:

```json
{
  "total": 127,
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 5,
  "items": [
    {
      "merchantCategoryCode": "5699",
      "merchantCategoryName": "ACCESSORY AND APPAREL STORES-MISCELLANEOUS"
    },
    {
      "merchantCategoryCode": "8931",
      "merchantCategoryName": "ACCOUNTING  AUDITING AND BOOKKEEPING SERVICES"
    },
    {
      "merchantCategoryCode": "7311",
      "merchantCategoryName": "ADVERTISING SERVICES"
    },
    {
      "merchantCategoryCode": "0004",
      "merchantCategoryName": "AIR CARRIERS  AIRLINES-NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED"
    },
    {
      "merchantCategoryCode": "8641",
      "merchantCategoryName": "ASSOCIATIONS-CIVIC  SOCIAL  AND FRATERNAL"
    }
  ]
}
```

**Retrieve a single merchant category code**

Diagram placesMerchantByCode

Example response for MCC `5699`:

```json
{
  "merchantCategoryCode": "5699",
  "merchantCategoryName": "ACCESSORY AND APPAREL STORES-MISCELLANEOUS"
}
```

## Relevant Endpoints {#relevant-endpoints}

[Find All Merchant Category Codes](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/api-reference/index.md#tag/Merchant-Category-Codes/operation/getAllMerchantCategoryCodesUsingGet)
Use this endpoint when a customer needs to obtain a list of Merchant Category Codes. It returns all active codes with their category names, ordered by code or name, with `limit` and `offset` available for paging through the results.

API Reference: `GET /merchant-category-codes`

[Find a Merchant Category Code](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/api-reference/index.md#tag/Merchant-Category-Codes/operation/getByMccCodeUsingGET)
Use this endpoint when a customer needs to obtain a specific Merchant Category Code. Supply the four-digit MCC as a path parameter and the API returns that code with its category name.

API Reference: `GET /merchant-category-codes/mcc-codes/{mcc_code}`

Tip: The same patterns apply to Merchant Industry Codes. See [Merchant Industry Code Lookup](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/use-cases/merchant-industry-code-lookup/index.md).

## Useful Links {#useful-links}

* [View the full Open API Specification](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/api-reference/index.md)
* [Review the APIs error responses](https://developer.mastercard.com/places/documentation/codes-and-formats/index.md)