Merchant category codes

MCC 4829: Wire Transfers and Money Orders

MCC 4829 is the merchant category code for money transfers, wire transfers and money orders. Card networks treat it as a special category, and many card issuers treat purchases under it like cash.

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 4829 at a glance

4829

Visa: Wire Transfer Money Orders
Mastercard: Money Transfer

Used by money transfer services and sellers of money orders. Networks handle these as unique, cash-like transactions with their own rules.

Seeing it on your own card statement?

Many card issuers treat purchases under this code as cash advances, which can mean an upfront fee, interest from day one and no rewards. Check your card terms or call your issuer before using a card to send money.

What MCC 4829 covers

MCC 4829 covers businesses that move money: wire transfer services, money order sellers and money transfer providers. Mastercard groups these with a small set of codes it classes as unique transactions, which must be flagged as such whatever the sales channel.

Because the purchase is effectively cash, the networks and card issuers treat it differently from buying goods.

Code	Name	How it differs
4829	Wire Transfer Money Orders (Visa) / Money Transfer (Mastercard)	Money transfer and money orders
6050	Quasi Cash, Member Financial Institution	Cash-like purchases at banks
6051	Quasi Cash, Merchant	Cash-like purchases such as foreign currency or travelers cheques
6012	Financial Institutions, Merchandise and Services	Bank products and services

Why the code changes what a business pays

For a business, a cash-like code brings stricter rules, closer scrutiny and higher risk in the eyes of processors. Pricing for these accounts is often set by whoever was willing to take the business, which leaves plenty of room for markup.

For cardholders, the code is the reason a money transfer can cost far more than expected. The issuer, not the merchant, decides whether to treat it as a cash advance.

A business that is not actually moving money should never be coded 4829. A wrong cash-like code can mean declines, cash advance charges for your customers and higher pricing for you.

Signs MCC 4829 may be the wrong code

Your business sells goods or services but is coded as a money transfer
Customers complain that your charges posted as cash advances
Your pricing was set as high risk without anyone explaining why
Card-not-present sales are declined more often than you would expect

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 4829?

It is the merchant category code for wire transfers, money orders and money transfer services.

Why was my purchase treated as a cash advance?

Because many card issuers treat MCC 4829 charges as cash advances. That can mean a cash advance fee, interest from the day of the transaction and no rewards. The issuer decides, so check your card terms.

Is MCC 4829 high risk?

Processors generally treat it as higher risk, because the transaction is effectively cash. That usually means stricter underwriting and closer monitoring.

Can a business that is not a money transmitter use MCC 4829?

It should not. The code must match what the business actually does, and a cash-like code on an ordinary business causes problems for both the business and its customers.

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.