General Contractors

MCC Codes We Work With

• 1520General Contractors - Residential and Commercial
• 1711Heating, Plumbing, Air Conditioning Contractors
• 1731Electrical Contractors
• 1740Masonry, Stonework, Tile Setting, Plastering, Insulation
• 1750Carpentry Contractors
• 1761Roofing, Siding, and Sheet Metal Work Contractors
• 1799Special Trade Contractors - Not Elsewhere Classified

Processor Landscape

Most general contractors don't realize they're flagged high-risk until their account gets frozen mid-job. The classification comes from three patterns: large average-ticket sizes (single $30k-$200k transactions look like fraud to a low-risk underwriter), pre-payment deposits before work is performed (future-delivery risk), and the chargeback exposure that comes with disputes over workmanship. Cybin places GCs with acquirers that have explicit deposit-collection appetite and offer split-billing — typically domestic, three or four working acquirers, with offshore as a fallback only for GCs with prior MATCH-list history.

Chargeback Profile

Contractor chargebacks fall almost entirely into two codes: 'services not provided as described' (workmanship dispute) and 'merchandise not received' (deposit collected, job delayed or cancelled). Baseline ratio runs 0.4-0.8% gross on contractors with detailed signed change-orders and milestone billing; it runs 2-4% gross on contractors who collect a single up-front deposit on long-cycle projects. Milestone billing with cardholder e-signature on each milestone drops disputes to near zero because the customer's bank treats the e-signature as a fresh authorization.

Compliance Traps

Two traps: (1) collecting a 50% deposit on a job that won't start for 60+ days — the schemes treat that as future-delivery and require either an escrow account or a reserve hold equal to the deposit; (2) billing for materials and labor on the same MID when the materials are drop-shipped from a separate vendor — the schemes pattern-match this as transaction laundering and audit the MID within a quarter.

Why Accounts Get Terminated

• •Single up-front deposits >25% on jobs with start dates >30 days out
• •Workmanship disputes resolved by full chargeback without prior alert
• •Materials drop-shipped from separate vendor billed through GC's MID
• •Cross-state work without licensure verification at underwriting
• •1099 subcontractor payments routed through customer-deposit MID

Pricing Reality

Contractors with clean files and milestone billing target 2.9-4% effective on card-present and 3.5-4.5% on card-not-present. Per-transaction fees of $0.15-$0.25 (lower than typical high-risk because acquirers reward the deposit-collection structure). Reserves rare on clean files; 5% rolling at 90 days on files with prior disputes. ACH overlay typically priced at 0.8% capped — well below card rates on high-ticket draws.