Metro 2 Creditor Classification 03: Oil/National Credit Card

Specification

Code	03
Meaning	Oil/National Credit Card
Field	K1 Creditor Classification (Field K1-4)
Record	K1 Segment (Original Creditor Name)
Length / position	2 chars · 33–34
Category	Retail and Consumer Accounts
CRRG reference	CRRG Creditor Classification code table (K1 Segment)

Distinguishes single-brand fuel cards and national charge programmes from ordinary store credit (01) and from bank-issued general-purpose cards (08 or 12).
The distinguishing feature is that the issuer is the branded company itself rather than a bank partner, and the card is accepted across a national network of that brand's locations rather than in one merchant's stores.
Does NOT mean any card that can be used nationally. A general-purpose card issued by a bank is a banking or financial account regardless of where it is accepted.
Does not indicate the account was revolving. Several classic programmes in this category were charge accounts payable in full each cycle, which is Portfolio Type O (Open), not R.
Classification is unaffected by whether the programme still exists. Long-discontinued fuel-card portfolios still classify by what the creditor was.

1A debt buyer holds a portfolio of unpaid fuel-card balances originated by a petroleum marketer's own credit operation.
2A collection agency reports a placed balance from a national travel charge-card programme that the issuing brand funded directly.
3A servicer continues furnishing a discontinued branded fleet-fuel consumer card book after the programme wound down.
4A collection attorney reports an unpaid national charge-card balance where the brand, not a bank, was the creditor of record.

Check who actually extended the credit before choosing between 03 and 08. A co-branded fuel card issued by a bank is a banking account.
Keep the K1 Original Creditor Name as the brand the consumer transacted under, so the tradeline is recognisable.
Do not reclassify to 01 because the underlying purchases were retail goods. The classification describes the creditor, not the merchandise.
Preserve the original Portfolio Type. A charge account settled monthly should not be converted to revolving because it ended up in collections.

A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Creditor Classification 03 has to satisfy.

Report only on a record carrying a K1 segment, meaning the furnisher is not the original card issuer.
Typically pairs with Base Segment Account Type 48 (Collection Agency/Attorney Account) for placed balances or 0C (Debt Buyer Account) for purchased ones.
Portfolio Type O (Open) is common for true charge programmes and R (Revolving) for revolving fuel cards. Whichever applies, Terms Duration and Terms Frequency must be consistent with it.
A purchased portfolio should carry a K2 (Purchased From / Sold To) segment naming the seller, which will usually be a bank or a prior debt buyer rather than the branded issuer.
Current Balance and Amount Past Due describe the collections balance being furnished today, while the classification continues to describe the origination-era creditor. The two are independent.