Merchant category codes

MCC 5814: Fast Food Restaurants

MCC 5814 is the merchant category code for fast food and quick-service restaurants. It tells every card network what kind of business you are, and for a business built on small sales, getting it right, and getting the per-transaction fees right, matters more than almost anywhere else.

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 5814 at a glance

5814

Visa: Fast Food Restaurants
Mastercard: Fast Food Restaurants

Used by quick-service and counter-order restaurants, drive-thrus and similar food businesses. Sit-down restaurants belong under 5812, and bars under 5813.

Seeing it on your own card statement?

It means the business you paid is classified as fast food. Many cards treat that as dining for rewards, but each issuer sets its own rules.

What MCC 5814 covers

MCC 5814 covers businesses that prepare food for customers who order at a counter, a drive-thru window or a kiosk and pay before they eat: burger and sandwich shops, pizza by the slice, many coffee shops and similar quick-service restaurants.

It sits in a small family of food and drink codes, and the boundaries matter, because the networks treat each one differently.

Code	Name	How it differs
5814	Fast Food Restaurants	Quick-service, counter-order food
5812	Eating Places and Restaurants	Full-service and sit-down dining
5813	Drinking Places	Bars, taverns, nightclubs and lounges
5811	Caterers	Food prepared for events off the premises

Why small tickets change the math

Interchange is set by card category and by merchant type, and the networks run programs for quick-service and small-ticket sales. The code is how a sale qualifies for them, so a fast food restaurant coded as something else can pay more on every card without any line on the statement saying so.

Small tickets also make the fixed pieces of every transaction matter. Regulated debit interchange is capped at 21 cents plus 0.05% plus a 1-cent fraud adjustment, which is under 1% of an $80 sale but about 2.8% of an $8 one. A processor’s own per-transaction fee works the same way: 10 cents is 0.125% of an $80 sale and 1.25% of an $8 one. For a quick-service restaurant, the per-item fee is often worth more attention than the percentage.

The code is set when the account is opened, usually by the salesperson filling in the application. Nobody checks it again unless you ask. A wrong code, or a per-item fee that was never negotiated, costs money on every sale for as long as the account is open, and never appears as a fee.

Signs MCC 5814 may be the wrong code

Your statement shows a different code, or a retail description, for a quick-service restaurant
You run counter service but are coded 5812 restaurant, or the reverse
Small sales show up in standard or non-qualified interchange categories
Your account was set up by a reseller who also sold your POS system, and nobody has checked it since

See the full merchant category code list, run your numbers with the fee calculator, or read why setup matters more than the rate you were quoted.

Common questions

What is MCC 5814?

It is the merchant category code for fast food restaurants: quick-service businesses where customers order at a counter, drive-thru or kiosk and pay before they eat.

What is the difference between MCC 5812 and 5814?

5812 is for eating places and restaurants with table service. 5814 is for fast food and quick-service restaurants. The right code depends on how the business actually serves customers, and the two can qualify for different interchange programs.

Do coffee shops use MCC 5814?

Many do, because they sell counter-service food and drink, but some are coded 5812 or as specialty food stores. The right code depends on what the business sells and how it serves customers.

Does MCC 5814 count as dining for credit card rewards?

Many card rewards programs treat both 5812 and 5814 as dining, but each card issuer sets its own rules. If a purchase did not earn the rewards you expected, the merchant’s code is the first thing to check.

Why do fast food restaurants pay more per dollar in card fees?

Because their sales are small. Fixed per-transaction pieces, from regulated debit fees to the processor’s own per-item charge, take a much bigger share of an $8 sale than of an $80 one.

Can a restaurant change its merchant category code?

Yes, by asking its processor, but the code must match what the business really does. A code that does not fit can cost money on every sale, and one assigned only to get a lower rate can break card network rules.

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, including the per-transaction fees that matter most on small sales, 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.