Visa has instructed payment processors to stop classifying meme coin credit card purchases as digital media, closing a loophole that allowed those purchases to earn standard card rewards. A grace period for winding down the practice is expected to end this week.

Crossmint checkouts ran token purchases under code 5815

The workaround was embedded in checkouts built by Crossmint, a crypto payments company whose technology powers card-based token buying on the Fomo and Robinhood Wallet apps. According to an investigation by The Block, customers could use Apple Pay or Google Pay to buy tokens with Visa and Mastercard credit cards, with no separate identity check. Typical crypto on-ramps require a standalone identity check before purchasing; here, the wallet checkout did not.

The charges were classified under merchant category code 5815, a designation meant for digital goods such as e-books, streaming movies, and music. Merchant category codes are four-digit classifications that card networks assign to merchants, and the code attached to a transaction tells issuers how to treat the purchase — from rewards eligibility to whether it is handled like cash. Because these transactions were never flagged as crypto, they drew regular points and cash back.

As Cryptopolitan reported earlier this month, Visa's own rules call for codes 6012 or 6051, plus a quasi-cash signal, for crypto purchases. Chase's rewards terms treat crypto transactions like cash, earning no points.

Chase contested one charge as New York's attorney general reviewed the matter

Chase said one Visa charge was miscoded, never flagged as a cryptocurrency purchase, and should not have triggered rewards. The bank then opened a case with Visa disputing the classification. A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office is aware of and reviewing the matter.

Visa said in correspondence with at least one industry participant that meme coin purchases do not fit the digital-goods code. Processors, including Checkout.com, were told the code would no longer be accepted for those transactions, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Crossmint defended the coding, citing a February 27, 2025, staff statement from the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance. The statement described typical meme coins as “akin to collectibles” rather than securities offerings. The company said the 5815 classification was cleared with partners during onboarding. Vanderbilt Law School professor Yesha Yadav called SEC guidance and card-network rules two different regimes.

Crossmint said its processes for handling digital goods remain the same. After questions about how the company categorized the GENIUS and DEGEN tokens, those tokens became unavailable through Apple Pay and Google Pay on both apps.

Meme coin buying is still happening on Fomo and Robinhood Wallet, with the Crossmint checkout still live as of Saturday. The rewards are likely to disappear once purchases run as standard crypto transactions. Cryptopolitan reported in May that Visa captures 90% of on-chain card payments — a footprint that makes Visa's coding rules consequential for card-based crypto buying across the industry.