How to check MCCs instantly with Trust cards

The ones you really need to be careful about here are MCCs 7299, 7399 and 8999. We know these are used by CardUp and Points.com, but they can frequently pop up in unexpected places like Shopee.

When in doubt, put a temporary block on your Trust Freedom Card, make sure the merchant doesn’t have a “forbidden MCC”, then unblock your card and charge it.

Two caveats

While checking MCCs with a blocked Trust card is simple enough, there are two things you want to be aware of.

Visa Provisioning Service

When I was attempting transactions with a blocked Trust card on Giving.sg and AXS, both showed up as MCC 6012, Visa Provisioning Service.

Obviously, that’s not the correct MCC. What’s probably going on is that Visa is first trying to authenticate the card before the actual transaction takes place, but the process fails since it’s blocked. I know this must happen in the background all the time, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it appear under a card’s recent activity.

If it’s any consolation, this only affects online transactions, where Amaze’s delay will be less of an issue (there’s no line to hold up). Alternatively, you can check such merchants through the DBS digibot method.

Visa and Mastercard may have different MCCs

Trust only issues Visa cards at the moment.

But if you plan to make the actual transaction with a Mastercard, you should know that Visa and Mastercard may occasionally use a different MCC for the same merchant. It’s rare, but it can happen. For example, a GrabUnlimited subscription codes as MCC 5812 (Restaurants) on Visa, and MCC 4121 (Taxicabs) on Mastercard.

If there’s absolutely no room for error, then you should do your testing with a card on the same network. You can check Mastercard MCCs with Amaze, or through the DBS digibot with any DBS Mastercard.

Other ways of checking MCCs

Here’s a quick recap of the four ways of checking MCCs in Singapore, following the addition of the Trust Card. 

Conclusion

With Amaze’s declined transactions now taking up to 15 minutes to appear, a blocked Trust card is the quickest way to check MCCs on the spot. It’s free, it works for both online (well, mostly) and in-person transactions, and the result shows up in the app almost immediately.

Just remember that some online merchants may show up as Visa Provisioning Service instead of their actual MCC, and if you’re paying with a Mastercard, the MCC could occasionally be different.

(H/T: Robert)