Very few merchants are aware about the potential savings of level 3 processing. This is surprising as there is a proliferation of merchants who Commercial, Business, Purchasing and GSA where such levels of processing would significantly lower their costs.
However, like many facets of payment processing Level-3 remains and unknown entities, and not typically brought up in a discussion when one is investigating merchant account providers.
Visa and MasterCard business, commercial, government and purchasing cards are used similar to personal credit cards. However, Level-3 transactions carry lower interchange rates due to lower risk B2B (Business to Business) or B2G (Business to Government) situations and fraud, chargebacks, etc are less and the costs are lower.
Any business that accepts government GSA or purchase cards (p-cards) qualifies for level 3 processing. In order to process level 3 data, you must have a system that allows you to input the additional required information entries. Payment gateways or specialized computer software may serve in this capacity.
Almost all payment gateways restrict business owners to level 2 processing. To meet the requirements for level 2 processing, the merchant must collect and submit the tax amount to Visa/Mastercard. While no longer required for Level-3 processing, Line Item detail is required to qualify at Level-3 interchange. Many merchants have been reluctant to process Level III due to the additional line item requirements.
Revolution Payment Systems has made this very easy and in fact has technology that allows us to pass Level III Data on your behalf. If you have questions or would like a complementary review please call or email us today
888-790-3450 [email protected]