5816Digital Goods — Games
Digital game purchases and in-game transactions. High volume of microtransactions. Parental chargebacks on children's purchases are a major issue.
Merchants Using MCC 5816
Well-known businesses assigned this code
Risk Assessment
May require additional documentation or slightly higher processing fees. Some processors apply enhanced monitoring.
Common Use Cases
- Game purchases
- In-game purchases
- Game subscriptions
- Virtual currency
Category Details
- Category
- Digital Goods & Services
- MCC Range
- 5815–5818
- Description
- Digital media, games, apps, and software subscriptions.
Credit Card Rewards
Digital goods may code as streaming, online purchases, or miscellaneous. Rewards vary depending on how the processor reports the transaction.
Why MCC Codes Matter for Your Business
Your MCC code directly affects how card networks and processors treat your transactions.
Approval Rate Impact
Processors have different acceptance rates per MCC. A misclassified code can silently tank your approval rate by 5-15%, costing revenue on every declined transaction.
Interchange Fees
The interchange fee you pay on every transaction is directly tied to your MCC code. Some categories pay 0.5% less per transaction — at scale, that compounds into significant savings or hidden costs.
Chargeback Thresholds
Visa and Mastercard set different chargeback monitoring thresholds per MCC category. High-risk MCCs face stricter limits — exceeding them triggers fines, reserve requirements, or account termination.
Wrong MCC = Serious Risk
An incorrect MCC assignment means you could be paying inflated fees, hitting the wrong chargeback program, or worse — facing account termination for "MCC mismatch" during a processor audit.
Tagada Optimizes Routing by MCC Code
Tagada's payment orchestration engine analyzes your MCC code to route each transaction to the processor with the highest approval rate and lowest fees for that specific merchant category. For MCC 5816, this means your digital goods — games transactions are automatically sent through the optimal path in your processor stack.
Related Payment Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MCC 5816?
Does Steam use MCC 5816?
Why are game purchases medium risk?
How do game companies reduce chargebacks?
Tagada Platform
Optimize MCC 5816 payments with Tagada
Tagada's intelligent routing engine optimizes MCC 5816 transactions for the best approval rate, lowest fees, and fastest settlement across your processor stack.
Related MCC Codes
Digital Goods — Media (Books, Movies, Music, Videos)
Netflix, Spotify, Apple iTunes
Digital Goods — Applications (Excluding Games)
Apple App Store, Google Play Store, SaaS platforms
Digital Goods — Large Digital Goods Merchant
Apple (bundled), Google (bundled), Amazon digital
Video Game Arcades & Establishments
Dave & Buster's, Round1, Local arcades