All codesRetail StoresHigh Risk

5094Precious Stones, Metals, & Jewelry (Wholesale)

Wholesale precious metals and stones. HIGH RISK — high-value portable assets, money laundering concerns, and conflict mineral regulations.

Networks:VisaMastercardAmexDiscover

Merchants Using MCC 5094

Well-known businesses assigned this code

Gold dealersDiamond wholesalersPrecious metal exchanges

Risk Assessment

Specialized high-risk payment processors required. Expect rolling reserves, higher fees, and enhanced chargeback monitoring.

High-risk merchants benefit from payment orchestration to distribute transactions across multiple processors and stay below chargeback thresholds.

Common Use Cases

  • Gold purchases
  • Diamond wholesale
  • Precious metal trading

Category Details

Category
Retail Stores
MCC Range
5000–5099
Description
Durable and non-durable goods wholesale and retail.

Credit Card Rewards

Bonus CategoryGeneral Retail
Typical Earning1x–2x

Most retail MCC codes earn base rewards (1x–2x). Some cards like Citi Double Cash offer flat 2% back on all purchases including retail.

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 5094, this means your precious stones, metals, & jewelry (wholesale) transactions are automatically sent through the optimal path in your processor stack.

Related Payment Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

What is MCC 5094?

MCC 5094 is for wholesale dealers in precious stones, metals, and jewelry.

Why is MCC 5094 high risk?

Precious metals are highly liquid assets favored for money laundering. High-value transactions, international trade, and conflict mineral concerns add risk.

Can gold dealers accept credit cards?

Some can through high-risk processors, but many gold dealers prefer wire transfers or ACH due to processing costs on high-value transactions.

Tagada Platform

High-risk MCC 5094? Tagada has you covered.

Tagada's payment orchestration routes MCC 5094 transactions across multiple high-risk processors, maximizing approval rates and managing chargeback exposure automatically.