How to tell which stores code with which category?

[Anonymous]

I know they get listed on our statements, but is there anyway to tell beforehand? (before a purchase)

[mrsno]

Bump. I'm curious too.

[Anonymous]

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@mrsno wrote:

Bump. I'm curious too.

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Thanks for the bump.

Could you explain to me what the no preset spending limit means..? lol

[WLRK11]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know they get listed on our statements, but is there anyway to tell beforehand? (before a purchase)

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Are you curious about a few businesses in particular? 

VISA has this handy tool: https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp 

[vwgrrc]

Common sense would work for most place.

But I too curious about this... what if the grocery store of Shell/Chevron, is that gas or grocery? Or, what if the gas pump of 7-11, gas or grocery?

[WLRK11]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@mrsno wrote:

Bump. I'm curious too.

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Thanks for the bump.

Could you explain to me what the no preset spending limit means..? lol

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NPSL or no preset spending limit means that the charge card (not credit card; and usually American Express a.k.a. AMEX) has an internal limit, but no hard limit reported to the credit bureau. The high balance is still reported, though. Charge cards are paid-in-full upon reciept of the statement. 

The internal NPSL varies based on a number of risk factors such as: income, household asssets, payment history, charge history, etc. 

AMEX cardholders are able to enter a dollar amount on AMEX's website to determine whether the charge will be accepted or not. (Don't abuse that feature!) If an AMEX cardholder were to make a large purchase, they would login and enter that amount plus their other expected charges for that billing cycle. I hope that helps. 

[WLRK11]

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@vwgrrc wrote:

Common sense would work for most place.

But I too curious about this... what if the grocery store of Shell/Chevron, is that gas or grocery? Or, what if the gas pump of 7-11, gas or grocery?

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Shell appeared as GAS STATIONS / FUEL / SUPPLIES - 5542,5541 but YRMV. 

Keep in mind that if you pay at the pump (or any other automated terminal) the merchant category code might be different from the store. For example, when I buy a car wash and pay inside of the gas station, the transaction codes as a gas station. When I pay at the automated terminal just outside of the car wash it counts as something other an gas station. (So, I always pay inside!) That's trial and error for you.

[Anonymous]

@wlrk
Thanks for clearing that up.

[Anonymous]

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@vwgrrc wrote:

Common sense would work for most place.

But I too curious about this... what if the grocery store of Shell/Chevron, is that gas or grocery? Or, what if the gas pump of 7-11, gas or grocery?

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Depends, common sense might not be that good if a guide, especially for things like "Will Amex count this as a grocery store?"    In the end, the best way to tell is to make a small purchase, and wait for the REWARD (not transaction) to appear.  Obviously, not always possible if you are visiting somewhere or need to buy something now.   And even then, in the worst case, the stores changes classification between your trial purchase and your real one!

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@vwgrrc wrote:

Common sense would work for most place.

But I too curious about this... what if the grocery store of Shell/Chevron, is that gas or grocery? Or, what if the gas pump of 7-11, gas or grocery?

---

Depends, common sense might not be that good if a guide, especially for things like "Will Amex count this as a grocery store?"    In the end, the best way to tell is to make a small purchase, and wait for the REWARD (not transaction) to appear.  Obviously, not always possible if you are visiting somewhere or need to buy something now.   And even then, in the worst case, the stores changes classification between your trial purchase and your real one!

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Right. If you are really concerned about how a particular place is going to code, you need to just make a small purchase. Generally, "grocery store" means a standalone store with a primarily business of selling groceries -- Shop Rite, Pathmark, Superfresh, etc whatever you have in your area. Now just think about it, in general discussion we do not usually think of Target or Walmart as "grocery stores"; they have nearly everything. While some transactions do still get coded as grocery if you're lucky, the point is that they are technically not grocery stores, so one can't really expect grocery rewards (and in Target's case, they want you to use their redcard, so I imagine they like to NOT be coded as grocery!)

So yes, common sense can be your guide but if you it's a large purchase coming up, I'd just test it out first.