Categories are useless in the wallet app. Seems ridiculous that the majority of gas stations come up as Food & Drinks. The humor there is not lost on me but for purposes of actually tracking expenses... makes categories completely pointless.
It would be fantastic if we were able to make category rules for merchants.
iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 17
That would be something that a financial/budgeting app would do. The card uses what the merchants business is coded at. The Codes are called Merchant Category Code and are picked by the merchant as to how they want their business to appear. If the gas stations you visit are coding as Food & Drink, that’s the merchant choice. The payment network (Visa, MasterCard etc.) can change the coding, but that’s a rare occurrence.
Why would a gas station want Food & Drink code vs. gas? Many credit cards offer discounts for gas and the station might not want to give up the extra percentage of their revenue and profit. If the gas station offers some food and drink, it’s a legitimate classification and the payment network is unlikely to change it.
Many people want to edit the categories of the card(s) itself and that part of the Wallet is restricted as a security measure.
That would be something that a financial/budgeting app would do. The card uses what the merchants business is coded at. The Codes are called Merchant Category Code and are picked by the merchant as to how they want their business to appear. If the gas stations you visit are coding as Food & Drink, that’s the merchant choice. The payment network (Visa, MasterCard etc.) can change the coding, but that’s a rare occurrence.
Why would a gas station want Food & Drink code vs. gas? Many credit cards offer discounts for gas and the station might not want to give up the extra percentage of their revenue and profit. If the gas station offers some food and drink, it’s a legitimate classification and the payment network is unlikely to change it.
Many people want to edit the categories of the card(s) itself and that part of the Wallet is restricted as a security measure.
Apple Card categories
