Legal-but-restricted: many issuers block 7995 outright; others allow it regionally. In the US it pairs with special transaction-type flags for legal wagering. The MCC that proves 'approved by the network' ≠ 'approved by your bank.'
The MCC quietly sets the interchange rate, whether the purchase earns rewards, whether it's treated as a cash advance, and how risk models see the merchant. Acquirers assign it at onboarding — and miscoding is a compliance problem, not a shortcut.
Merchant Category Codes are defined under ISO 18245, with network-specific usage on top. Around 500 exist; the ones that come up in real conversations are in our lookup tool.