Does your business accept card payments from either businesses or the government? If so, your business may benefit by processing Enhanced Data. Submitting Enhanced Data with eligible transactions could result in savings on your processing costs. Let’s break it down:
Enhanced Data-Explained: Level II and Level III data (known as Enhanced Data) is additional information provided when completing a transaction on an eligible B2B (business to business) or G2B (government to business) credit card.
- Level II data includes details such as tax information, customer codes, and PO numbers.
- Level III data offers more in-depth information like line-item detail, item description, freight amount, and order number, in addition to Level II info.
The Merchant Benefit of Level II and Level III Data: Processing Level II and Level III data could provide your business with interchange rate savings. Additionally, by utilizing this data, the merchant is completing a more secure transaction. This means it could help to prevent risks associated with potential chargebacks. It is important to remember that enhanced data will not benefit all businesses from a savings perspective. Reach out to your merchant processor to evaluate possible interchange rate savings.
The Cardholder Benefit of Level II and Level III Data: If a business or organization has a card program that supports Level II and Level III data, the cardholder will see the submitted Level II and Level III on their statement and could see the benefit to their accounting processes. For example:
- If a merchant submits a PO number and tax data during the transaction, a card that supports Level II will see the PO Number and tax amount on their statement.
- If the cardholder is driving a corporate “fleet” vehicle and purchase gasoline from a merchant that offers Level III data, the cardholder may be prompted for a driver number, current mileage, or other additional information to assist the cardholder’s company when reconciling the card activity.
Eligible Card Types: The most current information to reference is available on the Visa and MasterCard interchange rate charts which are published on their websites. Often on that same chart, the brands will reference any changes to card acceptance requirements. Note: consumer credit and debit cards are not eligible for level 2 or level 3 processing.
Leveraging tools like Enhanced Data could prove beneficial to your payment processing costs. Data driven opportunities can provide value to both your business and customers. To learn more about Arvest Merchant Services and how your business can leverage Level II and Level III data, click here.