You can use Spending Settings to allow or block purchases at entire categories of merchants on the Visa® Prepaid Card. If you block a category, you can still allow purchases at individual merchants in that category using Merchant Exceptions.
In this article, you'll learn how to block or allow purchases by spending category from the True Link mobile app or the online dashboard.
Before you begin
- You'll need full access. Only users with full access can change Spending Settings. If you have read-only access, please ask a user with full access on your account to complete these steps.
How to block or allow a spending category
You can update spending categories in one of two ways.
Option 1 – True Link mobile app
If you don't have the app yet, see Download our mobile app.
- Log in to the True Link mobile app and tap Spending Settings.
- Tap the spending category grouping you'd like to update (e.g., Top line protections or Commonly blocked), or tap See All 35 Categories to see every category.
- Tap the toggle next to a category to change it from Allowed to Blocked, or vice versa.
Option 2 – Online dashboard
- Log in to your online dashboard and go to the Spending Settings tab.
- Scroll down to the Spending categories section.
- Click the spending category grouping you'd like to update (e.g., Top line protections or Commonly blocked), or click See All 35 Categories to see every category.
- Click the toggle next to a category to change it from ALLOW to BLOCK, or vice versa.
To see more information about a category, hover your cursor over the green circled "i" next to the category name.
Changes save automatically and take effect immediately.
Allow specific merchants in a blocked category
If you'd like to block a category but still allow the cardholder to make purchases at specific merchants in that category, add those merchants as Merchant Exceptions from the online dashboard.
For example, to block purchases at beauty salons, spas, and barber shops but allow purchases at the salon the cardholder visits regularly:
- Block Beauty in the list of spending categories.
- Add the salon as a Merchant Exception and select Always allow.
Please be aware
- Categories are set by Visa. Spending categories are based on merchant category codes (MCCs), a classification Visa assigns to every business so that financial institutions can categorize purchases. True Link can't change how an individual merchant is categorized.
- Settings apply at the merchant level. It isn't possible to block specific items at a merchant. If a merchant is allowed, the cardholder can buy anything that merchant sells. For tips on handling this, see our article Managing Merchandise Purchases at a Merchant.
If you have any questions about spending categories, please don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team.