Which category will my Verizon Fios bill likely fall under for my Elan Max Cash Preferred?

[cws-21]

I just got approved for the Elan Max Cash Preferred and I am wondering which category I should choose to earn 5% on my Verizon Vios bill. Do I go with "TV, Internet & Streaming Services" or "Cell Phone Providers?" "TV, Internet & Streaming Services" is the obvious choice, but I know there was some question about it awhile back. Any insight you might be able and willing to offer is greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

In the Boston area it gets covered by Cell Phone and not by the more obvious choice.   As @K-in-Boston has posted, the MCC is very strange,

"CALLS THROUGH USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES" but cell phone selection gives 5%

[cws-21]

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@Anonymous wrote:

In the Boston area it gets covered by Cell Phone and not by the more obvious choice.   As @K-in-Boston has posted, the MCC is very strange,

"CALLS THROUGH USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES" but cell phone selection gives 5%

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Thanks, @Anonymous. Given your experience, and that of @K-in-Boston, I should choose "Cell Phone Providers" for the first quarter. Obviously, I can switch it for the second quarter if I get it wrong, but I would rather not get it wrong right out of the gate. Does anyone else have an experience that confirms or contradicts @Anonymous's experience?

[Beefy1212]

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@Anonymous wrote:

In the Boston area it gets covered by Cell Phone and not by the more obvious choice.   As @K-in-Boston has posted, the MCC is very strange,

"CALLS THROUGH USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES" but cell phone selection gives 5%

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I don't think it is weird... 

While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

Just because you only buy Dr. Peppers and the ocasional car wash from your local Chevron Station, and those services wouldn't "obviously" be gas, doesn't mean doing business with Chevron would code otherwise. 

[Anonymous]

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

In the Boston area it gets covered by Cell Phone and not by the more obvious choice.   As @K-in-Boston has posted, the MCC is very strange,

"CALLS THROUGH USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES" but cell phone selection gives 5%

---

I don't think it is weird... 

While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

Just because you only buy Dr. Peppers and the ocasional car wash from your local Chevron Station, and those services wouldn't "obviously" be gas, doesn't mean doing business with Chevron would code otherwise. 

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The weirdness was the actual MCC description, which isn't that of cell phones.   In the Dr Pepper example, I would think, "Oh right, I bought them at a gas station, that's why it coded that way", and as someone who had the pleasure of installing FiOS for customers, there was a noticeable absence of MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES in the process  (unless there is a tiny one inside the ONT)!

[Anonymous]

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@cws-21 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

In the Boston area it gets covered by Cell Phone and not by the more obvious choice.   As @K-in-Boston has posted, the MCC is very strange,

"CALLS THROUGH USE OF MAGNETIC STRIPE - READING TELEPHONES" but cell phone selection gives 5%

---

Thanks, @Anonymous. Given your experience, and that of @K-in-Boston, I should choose "Cell Phone Providers" for the first quarter. Obviously, I can switch it for the second quarter if I get it wrong, but I would rather not get it wrong right out of the gate. Does anyone else have an experience that confirms or contradicts @Anonymous's experience?

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Just to add:   When I first got my MaxCash, I selected TV and internet.   I paid using Paypal Billpay and reported here that I only got 1%   At the time, I attributed that to Paypal Billpay not working with this card, but it then became clear that the culprit was merely making the wrong selection.

[Anonymous]

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

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This isn't too convincing as the FiOS customers making the selection are making it for their home tv/internet/phone and so DO know that, for them, Verizon does these things!

[Beefy1212]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

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This isn't too convincing as the FiOS customers making the selection are making it for their home tv/internet/phone and so DO know that, for them, Verizon does these things!

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My point is what is the primary business, just because you buy groceries at target/Walmart doesn't mean they are grocery stores or that it is their primary business. I wouldn't assume comcast is a cellular company simply because they now also offer cell service (through Verizon in fact) they are primarily a wired home tv/internet/phone service company and the MCC code they likely use is tied to their primary business.

Amazon is the exact opposite they use a bookstore MCC for historical reasons even though it doesn't really match their current business most of which is AWS.

[UncleB]

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

---

This isn't too convincing as the FiOS customers making the selection are making it for their home tv/internet/phone and so DO know that, for them, Verizon does these things!

---

My point is what is the primary business, just because you buy groceries at target/Walmart doesn't mean they are grocery stores or that it is their primary business. I wouldn't assume comcast is a cellular company simply because they now also offer cell service (through Verizon in fact) they are primarily a wired home tv/internet/phone service company and the MCC code they likely use is tied to their primary business.

Amazon is the exact opposite they use a bookstore MCC for historical reasons even though it doesn't really match their current business most of which is AWS.

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For what it's worth, until recently AT&T *did* use different MCCs depending on the service type (fixed wireless was a different MCC from wireless/wireline) so it's definitely not unreasonable to expect a Fortune 50 company to be able to use multiple MCCs based on the product offering classification.  

Actually I would have been willing to excuse AT&T for using the same MCC for both services (and now they do) since it can be said that fixed wireless is a 'flavor' of their larger wireless business.  That can't be said for Verizon Fios, however.  Having had a past life in telecom (IXC) billing, I get that they probably put Fios on an already established billing system which would explain the odd MCC, but it's not surprising (to me) for those not well-versed in telecom to find the situation "weird."

[Beefy1212]

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@UncleB wrote:

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Beefy1212 wrote:

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While it is true Verizon AKA North Eastern Bell is the ILEC in Boston, and you are talking about fiber home tv/internet, if you look at Verizon's business as a whole there are likely far more customers nationwide that only know verizon as a cell phone provider It is the second largest cell phone provider in the US.

---

This isn't too convincing as the FiOS customers making the selection are making it for their home tv/internet/phone and so DO know that, for them, Verizon does these things!

---

My point is what is the primary business, just because you buy groceries at target/Walmart doesn't mean they are grocery stores or that it is their primary business. I wouldn't assume comcast is a cellular company simply because they now also offer cell service (through Verizon in fact) they are primarily a wired home tv/internet/phone service company and the MCC code they likely use is tied to their primary business.

Amazon is the exact opposite they use a bookstore MCC for historical reasons even though it doesn't really match their current business most of which is AWS.

---

For what it's worth, until recently AT&T *did* use different MCCs depending on the service type (fixed wireless was a different MCC from wireless/wireline) so it's definitely not unreasonable to expect a Fortune 50 company to be able to use multiple MCCs based on the product offering classification.  

Actually I would have been willing to excuse AT&T for using the same MCC for both services (and now they do) since it can be said that fixed wireless is a 'flavor' of their larger wireless business.  That can't be said for Verizon Fios, however.  Having had a past life in telecom (IXC) billing, I get that they probably put Fios on an already established billing system which would explain the odd MCC, but it's not surprising (to me) for those not well-versed in telecom to find the situation "weird."

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I would imagine the merger chains likely had a lot to do with it as well ATT is such a Frankenstein of companies at this point god knows what entity "doing business as" you are really dealing with at any given time. The anti-trust break up of ma bell and the reforming as ATT and Verizon aka SouthWest Bell and North East Bell under the telecommunications act of 94 was not well thought out.