Skip to main content

Merchant Controls and Controlling Spend on Cards

Natalie Wong
  • Updated

What are Merchant Controls?

Merchant controls offer a simple solution for a complex issue: ensuring business spend is used appropriately. To do this, we’ve added the ability to limit card spending to specific categories of merchants, so any non-approved transactions are declined immediately. Controls can be applied and edited on both physical and virtual cards at any time!

 

  • Merchant controls help admins limit spending to specific categories of merchants
  • Any transactions made outside of a category will be declined 

 

This feature is accessible to all admins on a Professional Plan, and can be accessed when creating a card, approving a card, or through the card-edit page.
 

🎛️ How do I add Merchant Controls to cards?

You can watch a full walkthrough here. By default, all merchant categories are enabled, and any categories you’d like to restrict will need to be deselected. 

When creating a new card: Click “Add control” under “Merchant Controls”, and remove the categories of merchants you’d like to restrict.

1.png

2.png
 

To add controls to an existing card: While logged in as an admin, navigate to the card you'd like to add controls to. Select “Edit Card” and make your changes in the “Allowed Spend Categories” section.

3.png4.png
 
 

🔍 How will a cardholder know where they can spend?

Before spending: A card owner can see the categories of merchants allowed by clicking the “Card Restrictions” button found on the card’s details page.
5.png6.png
 
 

🚧 What happens if a Card is Used at a Merchant in a Restricted Category?

Any transactions attempted at merchants outside the approved category list will be automatically declined. We'll let the cardholder know the reason for the decline immediately by email, or sms if their phone is connected to the account.

7.png8.jpeg

 

When checking on the declined transaction at floatcard.com, the reason for the decline will be displayed as “Merchant category not approved for this card”

9.png
 

📝 How does Float determine a merchant’s category?

Merchant Category Codes (MCC) are assigned by the card processing network when a merchant is set up to accept payments through that network, and are typically assigned based on the industry a merchant operates within. There are over 800 different MCC codes in use.
 
Float groups MCCs into a smaller set of distinct categories to simplify spend management. For example, we group the Hotel, Motel, and Resort MCCs under the Lodging category.
10.png
 
A description of the types of merchants within each category can be found right below the category name, as seen above. After making a purchase the category the merchant falls into can be found under their name in your list of transactions, as seen below.
11.png
 

👌 How accurate are Merchant Category Codes?

MCCs are general descriptions of merchant types/ industries, and may not cover all products or services offered by merchants. For example:
 
  • Gas stations that sell other goods would still be categorized as Gas & Charging.
  • Car dealerships likely provide vehicle maintenance services.
 

❓Can merchants be in multiple categories?

Yes. Some merchants provide a wide variety of services and may have opted to use multiple MCCs to define their sales. As such, two distinct purchases at the same merchant might be categorized differently. For example:
 
  • Uber’s taxi service falls under the Transportation category, while its food delivery service falls under the Restaurant category.
 
Using multiple MCCs is optional for the merchant, and as such many opt to use a single category to define all of their sales.
 

❓Is this a required field?

By default, all categories are enabled, and no changes need to be made to this field for the card to function normally.
 
We do not support restricting all categories on a card. If you do not want a card to be usable, please pause or archive the card (found on the card management page).
 

❓Can I add more specific Merchant Controls?

Category-level controls are the only feature we’re releasing at this time, but we're constantly looking to give you more controls and may add more granular options in the future!
 
 

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.