A guide to MCC 742: Veterinary services

What is MCC 742? Learn its business impact and how to verify it. Get JIM for iOS/Android to take phone payments in seconds for a 1.99% fee.

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Mar 25, 2026

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2 min read time

Merchant Category Code (MCC) 742 is a classification for veterinary services, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This code applies to businesses that provide medical care and treatment for animals. It covers transactions for services performed by licensed practitioners, like veterinarians, for both pets and livestock. The category includes a range of animal healthcare from routine checkups to surgical procedures, but excludes pet grooming or boarding.

Which businesses fall under MCC 742?

MCC 742 applies to a broad range of animal healthcare establishments:

General Veterinary Clinics: These practices provide routine and preventive care for companion animals. Services include vaccinations, wellness exams, and treatment for common illnesses. Examples include chains like Banfield Pet Hospital or local neighborhood vets.
Animal Hospitals: Often larger than clinics, these facilities offer comprehensive medical and surgical services, including emergency care. Many, like VCA Animal Hospitals, provide advanced diagnostics and overnight hospitalization for pets.
Emergency and Specialty Hospitals: These centers handle urgent medical situations and referrals for specialized treatments like oncology or cardiology. BluePearl Pet Hospital is a well-known network of such facilities across the country.
Mobile Veterinary Practices: Licensed veterinarians travel to provide care for pets in their homes, a convenient option for many owners. Companies like The Vets offer house calls for checkups and minor procedures.
Large Animal and Livestock Vets: These practitioners focus on the health of farm animals, including cattle, horses, and swine. Their work supports the agricultural industry through on-site medical care and herd health management.
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories: These labs process biological samples from animals to help diagnose diseases and monitor health. Antech Diagnostics is a major company that provides these services to veterinary practices nationwide.

Business implications of MCC 742

Payment networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover use MCC 742 to categorize transactions, which affects several aspects of business operations. These networks use the code to assess the risk profile of a business. Since veterinary services are generally considered low-risk, businesses with MCC 742 often benefit from lower interchange fees compared to higher-risk industries.

Beyond its effect on transaction fees, the MCC code also plays a part in other operational areas, from internal accounting to customer incentives.

Expense tracking

Companies use MCC 742 to automatically sort business expenses. For a company with working animals, this categorization on credit card statements simplifies expense reporting and helps identify potentially tax-deductible costs for animal care without manual review.

Financial analysis

Businesses can analyze spending data tied to MCC 742 to understand their animal care expenditures. This information allows them to track costs against a budget, identify spending trends over time, and more accurately forecast future veterinary expenses.

Compliance and auditing

The consistent application of MCC 742 creates a clear audit trail. This documentation helps businesses verify that expenses are legitimate and comply with company policies or regulatory requirements during financial reviews.

Rewards and customer behavior

Credit card issuers often structure rewards programs around MCCs. Some cards offer bonus points or cash back on pet-related purchases, which can influence a customer’s decision to use a particular card for their veterinary bills.

How to verify your business's MCC

Veterinary service owners should confirm their MCC classification to support proper transaction processing and avoid customer confusion regarding rewards eligibility. If you find out that your business is incorrectly classified, for example, a veterinary clinic coded as a pet grooming service, contact your payment processor immediately to request reclassification.

Here's how to verify your MCC classification is set up correctly:

Contact Your Payment Processor: Your merchant services provider assigned the MCC code when you opened your account. To verify your classification, contact their customer service department or review the details in your original merchant agreement documents.
Review Processing Statements: Your monthly merchant statements typically display the assigned MCC code. Look for a four-digit number, often located in the account information or business profile section of the statement, to confirm your current code.
Check with Your Acquirer: The acquiring bank or financial institution that processes your transactions maintains the MCC code in their system. You can reach out to their merchant support team, who can confirm your business's current classification upon request.
Test Transaction Method: Some merchants process a small test transaction and check how it appears on a personal credit card statement. This method is less reliable than direct confirmation from your processor, as statement descriptions can sometimes be generic.

How to choose a reliable payment service provider

Your MCC 742 classification directly influences interchange rates and processing requirements, which makes your choice of payment processor a major business decision. Processors handle transactions for veterinary services differently, with variations in pricing models, settlement speed, and support that can affect your bottom line. Consider the following factors when you select a provider.

Transparent pricing: Flat-rate pricing models offer predictability that tiered or interchange-plus structures lack. For example, the JIM tap-to-pay app for iPhone and Android charges 1.99% per transaction with no setup costs, monthly fees, or premium card surcharges.
Payment method support: To meet customer expectations, your processor should accept all major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, along with popular digital wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Fast fund access: Quick access to funds is important to manage cash flow in a veterinary practice. Faster settlements allow you to cover immediate operational costs like restocking medical inventory, supplier payments, or payroll without delay.
Security: Look for a provider that uses tokenization and encryption to protect sensitive cardholder data. For instance, JIM uses tokenization for every transaction, so card numbers are never stored on your device.
Reporting: Modern processors offer advanced analytics to help you understand your business performance. JIM's AI assistant provides sales reports and transaction history through a simple chat interface, which simplifies financial tracking.

Streamline payments with JIM

JIM offers veterinary service owners a straightforward payment processing solution. With the JIM tap-to-pay app, you can turn your iPhone or Android phone into a tap-to-pay terminal. It uses NFC technology, so you need no extra hardware. The price structure is a flat 1.99% per transaction, and you face no setup costs, monthly fees, or variable rates for premium cards.

You can also send payment links for remote transactions (like deposits for a procedure), which cost 4.99% + $0.30 per sale. Your funds become available instantly on a JIM Visa Prepaid Card. You can add this card to Apple Pay or Google Pay for immediate use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question

What is Merchant Category Code 742?

Merchant Category Code 742 is a four-digit classification number assigned to veterinary services by payment networks and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This code identifies businesses that provide medical care for animals, including general clinics, animal hospitals, and specialty practices. Payment processors use this code to categorize transactions, which influences interchange fees, financial reporting, and customer rewards programs.

Is Merchant Category Code 742 high-risk?

Merchant Category Code 742 is classified as low-risk by payment processors. This classification stems from low chargeback rates and predictable transaction patterns, as services are typically paid for upon completion. Consequently, businesses with this MCC benefit from favorable interchange rates, which lowers their overall payment processing costs.

Can a business have multiple MCC codes?

A business is typically assigned one MCC code that reflects its main source of revenue. However, a company with distinctly separate operations can maintain multiple merchant accounts, each with a different code. For example, a large pet supply store, which falls under a retail MCC, might also house a veterinary clinic. That clinic could use a separate merchant account classified under MCC 742 to process payments for medical services, keeping those transactions separate from the store's retail sales.

What happens if my MCC code is wrong?

An incorrect MCC code can create problems for your veterinary practice. Customers who expect credit card rewards on pet expenses might not receive them, which could cause dissatisfaction and affect their loyalty. Your business might also face improper interchange rates, either increasing your processing fees or putting you in violation of network rules for accepting rates intended for a different industry.

Can merchants choose their MCC code?

Merchants do not get to choose their MCC code; payment processors assign it based on the business's primary operations and revenue stream. This assignment follows strict guidelines from card networks and the ISO to maintain consistency. If a business owner feels their assigned code is a mismatch for their services, they can contact their processor to request a re-evaluation and correction.

How does MCC 742 affect my payment processing costs?

Your MCC 742 classification directly influences the interchange rates you pay on each transaction. Because payment networks classify veterinary services as low-risk, this code typically qualifies for more favorable rates than those applied to high-risk industries, which translates to lower processing costs. The exact financial effect, however, depends entirely on your payment processor’s pricing structure.

With an interchange-plus model, the processor passes the direct interchange rate to you, so you benefit from the lower fees associated with MCC 742. In contrast, other models offer a different approach; while flat-rate processors like JIM absorb the variability and charge you a consistent fee regardless of card type.