If you sell to other businesses or to government buyers, you may be overpaying on every single card transaction. Not because of your rate — because of missing data. Level 2 and Level 3 processing is one of the few genuine cost savings in payments that most merchants never switch on.
What the levels actually mean
Interchange isn’t one price. When a commercial, corporate, or purchasing card is used, the networks offer lower interchange categories to merchants who send richer transaction data — because that data makes the transaction easier to reconcile and harder to dispute. Send the bare minimum and you pay the standard rate. Send more, and the same sale qualifies for a cheaper one.
- Level 1 — the basics: card number, amount, date. What every transaction sends.
- Level 2 — adds sales tax amount and a customer or purchase order code.
- Level 3 — adds full line-item detail: item descriptions, quantities, unit prices, product codes, freight, and duty.
Who this applies to
The savings only exist on commercial, purchasing, corporate, and government cards — so this matters if you invoice businesses, agencies, schools, or municipalities. It does nothing for consumer card sales. As a rough test: if your average ticket is large and your customers pay with cards carrying their company’s name, you are a candidate.
Why most merchants never get it
- Nobody told them. It requires setup, and a provider on a flat blended rate has no particular incentive to raise it.
- The gateway doesn’t support it. Level 3 needs a gateway that can accept and transmit line-item fields — not all do.
- The data has to be complete and correct. Partial or malformed fields simply fail to qualify, silently. You keep paying the higher rate and nothing tells you why.
- Pricing hides the benefit. On a flat-rate plan you may pay the same regardless of qualification, and the savings go to the provider instead of you. Interchange-plus pricing is what lets the discount reach you — worth understanding alongside the other line items in merchant account fees.
The side benefit: fewer disputes
Line-item detail lands on the buyer’s statement and in their accounting system, which means their AP department can identify the purchase without calling anyone. Recognizable charges generate fewer “what is this?” disputes — a quiet second saving on top of the interchange one.
What to ask your provider
Three questions: Is my account set up to pass Level 2 and Level 3 data? Does my gateway support the line-item fields? Is my pricing structured so the lower interchange actually reaches me? If the answer to any of them is vague, that vagueness is costing you money on every B2B sale.
Set up for how you actually sell
At Creditcard Payment Services, B2B merchants get card processing configured to pass the data that qualifies, a gateway that supports it, and ACH and eCheck for the invoices where no card rate wins. Since 2009, including the industries other banks avoid.
Selling to businesses and paying consumer-card rates? Apply online or call 1-800-475-6011 for a look at your statement. No cost, no obligation.
Ready to find out where you stand?
Most approvals come back in 2–3 business days — and there’s no cost to apply and no obligation.
Apply onlineor call 1-800-475-6011