Merchant category codes

MCC 5411: Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

MCC 5411 is the merchant category code for grocery stores and supermarkets. It decides whether a store counts as a grocery store to the card networks, and that changes both what the store pays and what shoppers earn.

Written by Robert Day, Founder and Managing Partner of weAudit.com, previously an executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, the world’s largest card processor. Published October 2026.

MCC 5411 at a glance

5411

Visa: Grocery Stores and Supermarkets
Mastercard: Grocery Stores, Supermarkets

Used by full-line grocery stores and supermarkets. Convenience stores and specialty food shops usually belong under 5499.

Seeing it on your own card statement?

It means the store is classified as a grocery store. Grocery rewards on most cards depend on this code, which is why warehouse clubs and superstores often do not earn grocery points even when you buy food there.

What MCC 5411 covers

MCC 5411 covers stores whose main business is selling a full line of food for home use: groceries, produce, meat, dairy and household staples. It is the code card issuers look for when they offer grocery rewards.

Plenty of businesses sell food without being grocery stores in the networks’ eyes. The neighboring codes show where the lines fall.

Code	Name	How it differs
5411	Grocery Stores and Supermarkets	Full-line food stores
5499	Miscellaneous Food Stores	Convenience stores, specialty markets, vending
5300	Wholesale Clubs	Membership warehouse stores
5310	Discount Stores	General merchandise discount retailers

Why the code changes what a business pays

The card networks run supermarket interchange programs that are tied to this code, and some of them carry their own qualifying requirements. A grocery store coded as general retail can miss those programs entirely, and pay more on every card.

Grocery is also a high-volume, thin-margin business, which makes small rate differences expensive. A tenth of a percent on a store doing millions a year in card sales is real money.

Coding is decided when the account is opened and rarely checked again. A grocer that has grown, added locations, or changed processors can carry a code that no longer fits, and the statement will never flag it.

Signs MCC 5411 may be the wrong code

Your statement shows a general merchandise or retail code for a grocery store
Customers mention that purchases did not earn grocery rewards
You changed processors and the new account was coded from the application, not from the old one
Your effective rate looks high for your card mix and nobody can explain why

See the full merchant category code list and how to look up your own code, or read why setup matters more than the rate you were quoted.

Common questions

What is MCC 5411?

It is the merchant category code for grocery stores and supermarkets, used by stores whose main business is selling a full line of food for home use.

Why did my grocery purchase not earn grocery rewards?

Because rewards follow the store’s merchant category code. Many warehouse clubs, superstores and convenience stores are not coded 5411, so they do not count as grocery stores for rewards.

What is the difference between MCC 5411 and 5499?

5411 is for full-line grocery stores and supermarkets. 5499 covers convenience stores, specialty markets and other miscellaneous food stores.

Does MCC 5411 affect processing fees?

Yes. Supermarket interchange programs are tied to the code, so a grocery store with the wrong code can pay a higher rate on every sale.

How do I change my store’s MCC?

Ask your processor to review it, with a description of what you sell. If the code is wrong, the processor can request the change.

Send us a statement. We will check your code, and everything else.

Our first audit is free and takes about five minutes of your time. We check whether your account is coded and set up correctly, along with every fee on the statement, and if there is nothing to find, you will know that too.

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About this page: merchant category codes are defined by the ISO 18245 standard and published by the card networks, which occasionally add, retire or rename codes and do not always use identical names. Code names here follow Visa and Mastercard published lists, checked October 2026. Whether a code is right for a particular business depends on what it actually sells; your processor and the card networks make the final assignment.