All codesMiscellaneous RetailLow Risk

5973Religious Goods Stores

Retail stores selling religious articles, books, vestments, and devotional items.

Networks:VisaMastercardAmexDiscover

Merchants Using MCC 5973

Well-known businesses assigned this code

Catholic supply storesChristian bookstoresJudaica shops

Risk Assessment

Standard processing rates. Most payment processors accept this MCC with minimal additional requirements.

Common Use Cases

  • Religious article purchases
  • Devotional goods
  • Religious bookstore sales

Category Details

Category
Miscellaneous Retail
MCC Range
5900–5999
Description
Drug stores, florists, gift shops, and general merchandise.

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 5973, this means your religious goods stores transactions are automatically sent through the optimal path in your processor stack.

Related Payment Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

What is MCC 5973?

MCC 5973 covers religious goods stores selling articles, books, and devotional items.

Is MCC 5973 high risk?

No, religious goods stores are very low risk with small average transactions.

Tagada Platform

Optimize MCC 5973 payments with Tagada

Tagada's intelligent routing engine optimizes MCC 5973 transactions for the best approval rate, lowest fees, and fastest settlement across your processor stack.