The problem of companies underestimating commissions when making non-cash payments was assessed by the National Payment Card System (NPC). The commission level depends on the market segment to which the company belongs, it corresponds to a certain code. More often than others, according to the NSPK, the codes of fast food enterprises are used as substitutes, the commission for which is 0.5%, while, for example, restaurants must pay 1.65%. At the same time, according to Mir cards, the largest amount of subsequently recalculated commission falls on medical institutions.
At the NSPK technology conference, held on June 10, statistics on miscoding were presented – the substitution of MCC codes that determine whether a trade and service enterprise (TSE) belongs to a certain market segment. This substitution allows merchants to underestimate the interchange (the commission that the acquiring bank that makes the payment pays to the card issuing bank) and, accordingly, save on it. Acquiring banks that are found to have merchants with an incorrect MCC code are subject to a fine, as well as recalculation of the interchange. In this case, the fine goes to the NSPK, and the recalculated commission goes to the issuing bank.
According to NSPK statistics, MCC codes of fast food enterprises and grocery stores are most often used as counterfeit codes.
- For payments made through Mir cards, shops are in first place, fast food is in second, and for the Fast Payment System (FPS) it’s the other way around.
- According to cards of international payment systems (IPS), fast food is also in first place, accounting for 42% of the number of detected violations and 31% of the volume of commission recalculation.
The differences in the data of the identified miscoding can be explained by the fact that if the system was built globally according to the MPS cards and only after the departure of the MPS from Russia was picked up by the NSPK, then the developments on “Mir” and SBP are “domestic ideas,” explains Roman Prokhorov, head of the board of the Financial Innovations association. In general, “fast food has historically been a haven for card miscoding,” says independent expert Maxim Mitusov. For fast food in the Mir payment system with a check amount of up to 1.3 thousand rubles. commission is 0.5%, and for a restaurant with a check amount of more than 1.3 thousand rubles – 1.65%.
Most often, according to the NSPK, companies in the medical services sector use miscoding. “This year’s trend for miscoding in the Mir payment system is the segment of medical services, for which there are quite large recalculations; such companies primarily include dentistry, as well as spas and organizations providing cosmetic services without a medical license,” says Vitaly Likhachev, head of the compliance control department for participants in the operational and technological department of NSPK. He advises banks to pay attention to which MCC dentists, veterinary clinics and other organizations use, as they have their own codes. According to Mir, the largest volume of recalculated commission falls on medical institutions – 61% and only 11% in the number of cases of miscoding due to a high bill.
112 trillion rubles
amounted to the volume of transactions using Mir cards at the end of 2025
One of the main channels for identifying miscoding is the analysis of customer requests for not receiving cashback, for which programs, as a rule, funds from interchange commissions are used, says Mr. Prokhorov. He considers “consumer supervision” to be the most effective method of controlling miscoding. “A significant part of consumers are well aware of the amount of cashback that the bank must accrue, and if such a consumer comes to a restaurant and expects to receive, conditionally, 5% for a purchase, but receives only 1% because the MCC is fast food, then he immediately complains to his bank, and it files a complaint with the NSPK,” adds Maxim Mitusov.
“It is clear that not the best economic situation is pushing SMEs to miscoding to reduce commissions, but at the same time, the general trend of its reduction is obvious, since large market participants do not play such games: reputation is more valuable,” says Mr. Prokhorov.
