MCC 7995: The Merchant Category Code for Betting and Gambling

Visa names the code "Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, Off-Track Betting, Wagers at Race Tracks and games of chance to win prizes of monetary value". Mastercard simply calls it "Gambling Transactions". In practice it covers:

• Online casinos, slots and live dealer games.
• Sportsbooks, betting exchanges and other wagering on events.
• Real-money poker and bingo.
• Lottery tickets, unless the lottery is government owned and a separate code applies.
• Casino chips bought at a land-based casino, and bets placed at race tracks or off-track betting shops.
• Other games of chance where the customer pays to play and can win a prize of monetary value.

The last part of Visa's definition reaches further than most people expect. A paid prize draw, a game where chance decides who wins something of real value or a paid tournament where luck settles the result can all fall under 7995, even when the business does not see itself as a gambling operator.

A quick way to check is to ask three questions. Does the customer pay to take part? Does chance decide the result, at least in part? Is the prize money or something with monetary value? If the answer to all three is yes, expect your acquirer to treat the product as 7995. Whether a specific product counts as gambling is also a question of local gambling law, so settle it before you apply rather than after your first review.

Visa has specific rules for merchants that offer gambling next to something else, such as a hotel with a casino, a bar that takes bets or a media site that adds a betting product.

• In person: a merchant that conducts gambling transactions must process those transactions under 7995. Its other sales can stay under their normal code.
• Online: a merchant that conducts online gambling transactions must use 7995 for all its transactions, even if gambling is not its main business.

A few other codes cover gambling or games. Most of them only exist in the US, so outside the US a private gambling operator almost always ends up on 7995.

• 7800, government-owned lotteries. US region only.
• 7801, internet gambling licensed by a US state. US region only. Visa names it government-licensed online casinos.
• 7802, government-licensed horse and dog racing. US region only.
• 9406, government-owned lotteries outside the US, in Mastercard's list.
• 7994, video game arcades and establishments. Mastercard also uses it for skill games such as paid fantasy sports.
• 5816, digital goods: games. In-game purchases and game downloads, where nobody wagers money on a result. Visa places card-absent games of skill under this code in its risk program.

How licensing, player markets, payouts and reserves decide which provider accepts a gambling business is covered on our iGaming payment processing page.

• Registration: card-absent gambling under 7995 is a Tier 1 category in the Visa Integrity Risk Program, which has applied since May 2023, and Mastercard requires non-face-to-face gambling merchants to be registered before processing. Your acquirer handles both, but it needs your licence and company details to do it.
• Declines: card issuers see the code on every payment. Many decline gambling by policy in some countries, and cardholders can switch on gambling blocks in their banking app. In the UK, gambling with credit cards has been banned since 14 April 2020.
• Fewer providers: many mainstream payment providers exclude 7995 in their terms, so the number of acquirers that will consider you is much smaller than for an ordinary online shop.

Because issuers decline 7995 more often, it can be tempting to process gambling under a games, software or retail code. Card schemes treat that as miscoding. When it comes to light, and transaction monitoring and website reviews are built to find it, the merchant account is normally closed and the merchant can be added to Mastercard's MATCH list, which makes the next application much harder for five years.

Payments processed for a gambling site through another business's merchant account are treated even more seriously, as transaction laundering. The safe route is the slower one: get the code right from the start and apply to providers that accept gambling.

Ecompayer is not a payment provider. If your business processes under MCC 7995, you add your licence, player markets and volumes once, and your profile is matched with a payment provider that accepts gambling merchants with your licence. Your account is then prepared with that provider. Final approval and terms are always the provider's decision.

• Visa, Merchant Data Standards Manual, April 2026.
• Mastercard, Quick Reference Booklet, Merchant Edition, February 2025.
• Mastercard, Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, August 2026.
• Visa Integrity Risk Program, in effect since May 2023.
• UK Gambling Commission, ban on gambling with credit cards, in force since 14 April 2020.

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