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Business Application Identifier and Merchant Category Code Use Cases

Acquirers, service providers, and you must use the correct Business Application Identifier (BAI) and Merchant Category Code (MCC) in the OCT authorization request message. These codes also be used in the clearing and settlement messages. This helps identify the type of OCT and the merchant or business that started the transaction.
Both the BAI and the MCC help the issuer identify the business purpose of the OCT. The MCC should represent you, the acquirer, or the service provider/payment facilitator involved in the OCT transaction. Acquirers receive instructions during program approval on which BAI to use for their OCTs. The BAI and MCC Usage – Money Transfer table lists the available BAIs and provides examples of relevant use cases.
Certain industries, such as healthcare, insurance, payroll, and gambling, are regulated by federal, provincial, and local laws. You, acquirers, and service providers are responsible for ensuring that your Visa Direct program complies with all applicable laws. This includes making required disclosures, obtaining necessary consents, and ensuring that OCTs are not sent to or from countries where gambling is illegal.
The table shows MCCs based on specific use cases. This is not a full list of all MCCs used with OCT.
IMPORTANT
Starting April 16, 2023,
Cybersource
 requires the merchant name field in a stand-alone tipping transaction to include the word "tip" for tipping use-cases.
BAI and MCC Usage – Money Transfer
BAI
Use Case
MCC
Examples of Use
AA
Account-to-Account
Remote Deposit Check (RDC) capture
Consumer funding of their own account
4829
 Non-financial Institution Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs) (Not applicable to the US with BAI
AA
)
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
6211
 Security Brokers/Dealers
For OCT, this is a sender moving money from their own account to their card account. Me-to-Me money transfer.
BI
Bank-Initiated Money Transfer
Important:
 BAI
BI
 is used for very specific scenarios and is enabled only in limited markets. Contact your Visa representative for information on:
  • The availability of BAI
    BI
     in your market, and
  • Applicability of BAI
    BI
     to your program.
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
BAI
BI
 should only be used in combination with MCC
6012
.
Money transfer is initiated from an online banking system, making it a bank-initiated transaction. Usage of this BAI applies to money transfer offered in a closed-loop solution.
CD
Cash Deposit
6012
 or Retail Merchant MCC
Deposit of cash using an OCT to add funds to a debit account at a bank branch or retail location.
FT
Funds Transfer
6540
 Non-financial Institutions: Stored value card purchase/load
4829
 Non-financial Institution Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs)
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
Cashing out a Stored Value Digital Wallet (SVDW) account.
Liquid and cryptocurrency asset as a general purpose wallet, proceeds from a sale or cash out, are paid out with an OCT with BAI
FT
. Cryptocurrency transactions must include the Special Condition Indicator (Field 60.4) =
7
.
Wallet providers must use BAI
LA
 instead of
FT
/
WT
 for cashing out funds if it is a general-purpose wallet, and 50 percent or more of their annual sales volume comes from liquid or cryptocurrency assets.
LA
Effective 19 October 2024
Liquid Assets
A new BAI for Visa Direct transactions involving wallet pre-funding or the direct purchase of liquid and cryptocurrency assets.
In Canada and the US the new BAI value will not be applicable for origination of domestic OCTs. Issuers and issuer processors must be ready to receive new BAI value of
LA
 for cross-border OCTs originating outside of Canada and the U.S.
Any originating entity identified as a foreign currency exchange or cryptocurrency merchant, broker, or platform.
6012
 – Financial Institutions: Merchandise, services, and debt repayment
6051
 – Non-Financial Institutions: Foreign currency, liquid and cryptocurrency assets (cryptocurrency), money orders (not money transfer), account funding (not stored value load), travelers cheques, and debt repayment; must identify Visa Direct transactions under the BAI value of
LA
.
6211
 – Security Brokers/Dealers Brokerage. If greater than 50 percent of client annual sales volume, measured in the client’s local fiat currency comes from noncryptocurrency (for example, stocks, bonds, and so on).
Liquid and cryptocurrency asset, proceeds from a sale or cash out, are paid out with an OCT with BAI
LA
. Cryptocurrency transactions must include the Special Condition Indicator (Field 60.4) = 7.
Wallet providers must use BAI LA instead of
FT
/
WT
 for cashing out funds if it is a general-purpose wallet, and 50 percent or more of their annual sales volume comes from liquid or cryptocurrency assets.
PP
P2P Money Transfer
4829
 Non-Financial Institution Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs)
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
Based on the type of services, combine MCC
6012
 with a valid BAI. Bank-initiated P2P programs must use a BAI of
BI
 and MCC
6012
 or a BAI of
PP
 and MCC
6012
. Non bank-offered services must use a combination of PP and
4829
.
For OCT, this is a sender sending money to someone else’s account.
WT
Wallet Transfer-Staged Digital Wallet (SDW) Transfer
6051
 Non-financial Institutions: Foreign currency, liquid and cryptocurrency assets (for example: cryptocurrency), money orders (not money transfer), account funding (not stored value load), travelers checks, and debt repayment
4829
 Non-Financial Institution Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs)
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
For OCT this is the withdrawal or cash out of funds from a staged digital wallet to a card account.
Wallet providers must use BAI
LA
 instead of
FT
/
WT
 for cashing out funds if it is a general-purpose wallet, and 50 percent or more of their annual sales volume comes from Liquid or Cryptocurrency assets.
If the wallet supports cryptocurrency, this must be communicated by setting the Special Condition indicator (Field 60.4) =
7
.
Acquirers and originators in Europe, India, and Brazil are not required to submit a business application identifier of
WT
 for staged digital wallet transactions.
BAI and MCC Usage – Funds Disbursement/Non-Money Transfer
BAI
Use Case
MCC
Example of Use
BB
 (Not applicable to the US)
Business-to-business Supplier Payments
Any MCC associated to the merchant, acquirer, or service provider business (example:
5812
 = restaurant,
5311
 = department store)
Business-to-business payments for business-related supplies.
BP
Non-card Bill Pay
MCC associated to the recipient business
For non-card bill payment.
CP
Credit Card Bill Pay
4829
 Non-financial Institution Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs)
6012
 Financial Institutions: Merchandise and services
Pushing funds to a credit card account as a payment.
FD
IMPORTANT
If requesting to use FD for a subuse case not listed, it must be described in detail in the PIF for approval.
General Funds Disbursement: All other funds disbursements not listed.
Examples:
  • Commission payments
  • Digital goods – games
  • Insurance payments
  • Loan disbursements
  • Alternative/online lending or peer-to-peer lending
  • Shared economy
  • Tax refund services: non-government initiated (for example, tax preparation businesses)
  • VAT tax reclamation
  • Earned wage access
  • Gig worker payouts
  • Marketplace payouts
  • Contractor payouts
  • Tip payouts
  • Corporate expense reimbursement
  • “Bad customer experience” payouts (for example, airline payment to disgruntled passenger)
  • Rebates
  • Education disbursements
  • Security deposit refunds
  • Reimbursement of over payments to billers (for example, Business owes me USD 50 after I cancel service mid-month)
Any MCC associated to the merchant, acquirer, or service provider business (example:
5812
 = restaurant,
5311
 = department store)
Funds disbursements not covered by other BAI use cases listed above. If the program supports cryptocurrency, this must be communicated by setting the Special Condition indicator (Field 60.4) =
7
.
GD
Government Disbursements and Government Initiated Tax Refunds
9399
 Government services (not elsewhere classified)
9402
 Postal services – government only
9405
 U.S. Federal government agencies or departments 9222 fines; government administered
9211
 Court costs, including alimony and child support 9311 tax payments
Government payments, including social security payments, unemployment, disability, jury duty, and disaster relief/emergency.
GP
Gambling/Gaming Payouts (other than online gambling)
7800
 Government owned lottery (US only)
7801
 Government-licensed casinos (US only)
7802
 Government-licensed horse/dog racing (U.S. only).
7800
,
7801
, and
7802
 are US only MCCs that also require the use of a valid Merchant Verification Value (MVV). Merchants must register with Visa to obtain an MVV.
7995
 Betting, including lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, off-track betting, and wagers at racetracks
9406
 Government-owned lottery (non-US only)
Casino payouts at gaming floor counter and sports books.
Advanced deposit wagering.
Gambling that is not considered online gambling.
LO
Loyalty Payments
Any MCC associated to the merchant, acquirer, or service provider business
Examples:
  • 5812
     = restaurant
  • 5311
     = department store
Payment for a canceled loyalty program/service, deposit refunds, employee rewards, and purchase rebate payments.
MD
Merchant Settlement
6012
 Acquirers sending settlement payments to merchants
4829
 Payment facilitator (includes sponsored processors, and ISOs) sending settlement payments to merchants
Merchant payments for purchase transaction processing where the processor sends settlement payments to a Visa card account using OCT.
MI
Effective January 2024
Faster Refunds
Any MCC associated with the merchant, acquirer, or service provider business.
Refund purchases of goods and services made on a Visa Card using OCT.
OG
Online Gambling Payouts
7800
 Government-owned lottery (US only)
7801
 Government-licensed Casinos (US only)
7802
 Government-licensed horse/dog racing (US only)
7995
 Betting, including lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, off-track betting, and wagers at racetracks
9406
 Government-owned lottery (non-US only)
Payout of winnings from online gambling merchants, including casinos, horse/dog racing wagers, lottery, digital, and social gaming payouts.
PD
Payroll and Pensions Disbursements
8931
 Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services
Independent contractor works for temporary staffing agency or directly with an employer, submits time sheet or completes project, and is paid to bank account by using a debit card.
RP
Request-to-Pay Service
Refer to
Visa Direct Request to Pay Implementation Guide
 for information on eligible MCC.
Visa's Request-to-Pay (R2P) service is a secure messaging framework built on APIs that enable client to request payment and communicate about a payment obligation, enabling bill splitting, and funds collection functionality for mobile banking applications.
Limited geographic scope to Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
TU
Prepaid Card Load
6012
 Financial Institutions – merchandise and services
6540
 Non-financial Institutions: Stored-value card purchase/load
Loads, reloads, and top-ups to prepaid card accounts.
Restricts use to Prepaid card only. VisaNet edit declines the transaction if the card product is not prepaid and BAI is
TU
.
Money transfer velocity limits apply.
Visa issuers/issuer processors are required to receive and process all types of OCTs.