Consumer transactions are often mentioned as being a premier processing topic but what about corporate level transactions?

Billions of dollars are spent in B2B transactions and this often outweighs purchases made at the consumer level. To ensure a smooth setup that enables transactions to go through without a problem, it remains important to recognize the value of a professional solution at the hands of a refined credit card processor.

Let's take a look at what level 3 payment processing entails for businesses aiming to solidify their payment setup as soon as possible.

 

What is Level 3 Payment Processing?

Let's assume a corporate account wants to make a purchase from another business.

The transaction could be worth a significant amount of money and that means it is going to be processed at a different level compared to a regular consumer transaction. With corporate purchase card transactions, the pricing is going to be different to a consumer level transaction.

To make sure the difference is pinpointed and included in the transaction itself, level 3 payment processing comes into the equation. The idea is to ensure the merchant has an ideal rate on the corporate purchase being made because of how each transaction goes through. To do this, a "line item detail" is required for every single corporate transaction.

Merchants don't have the time or the resources to dig through each transaction (at a corporate level) to ensure information is accurate and the data is relevant. Therefore, it becomes important for them to include the use of L3 transactions as a payment gateway solution. This helps any purchase made with a commercial card go through and remain integrated with the rest of the setup. Otherwise, the line item detail would have to come with each transaction on the commercial card making it tougher to manage in the long-term. Instead of dealing with manual entries on the commercial card purchases, it is easier to use the L3 transaction.

This service ensures all L3 processing is done with the level of security and quality needed to maintain valid data on all transactions. Any commercial card transaction that uses the Payflow Pro or related setup goes through a rigorous security solution that is PCI-compliant and fully secure. As soon as the code is put in, the in-house solution is able to manage the transaction and process it in seconds. This processor offers point-to-point encryption, robust payment forms, and top of the line fraud management solutions on e-commerce transactions.

Security is never optional and that's where this processor stands out for L3 transactions.

 

The Benefits of Level 3 Processing

To recognize the value of level 3 processing, it's essential to understand the benefits it brings to the table for merchants.

1) Lower Interchange Rate

A major requirement is the interchange rates and these fees can be taxing over time. Instead of paying a higher interchange fee as soon as the invoice number is listed, it is easier to have the interchange fee reduced using L3 transactions. This is done with the use of additional data that can only be processed using L3 transactions.

If the interchange rate is an issue, it has to be handled with these transactions. Otherwise, the interchange rates remain sky high and taxing on the business.

Put in the L3 transactions and watch the interchange rate drop.

2) Detailed Reporting on Transactions

For all merchant e-solutions or payment processing transactions, it is the detailed reporting that stands out.

The eprocessing network is able to keep everything safe and make sure the reporting is as accurate as possible. This is because of the added information that comes through with the use of such a processing solution. The PayFlow gateway becomes seamless and easier to manage despite the larger usage pattern.

This is one of the reasons the Payflow SDK is popular for its ability to add value.

3) Attract New Corporate Customers

As soon as the alphanumeric data comes in, it is kept safe and that is of utmost importance to corporate purchase card users.

Being able to rely on the setup is what makes or breaks a merchant in this day and age. Those who are using this processing solution will know everything is encrypted and as good as it needs to be. This can help spread the word about the business and how efficient it is as what it does.

This includes coding such as letter-spacing em because each layer is as secure as it needs to be.

4) Safer

One of the biggest limitations of any processing solution or Payflow link is not knowing how safe it is.

This is why a good processor such as this one can help out and keep things as convenient as possible. Using L3 transactions is one way to make sure everything is as refined as it needs to be. It also helps ensure everything is safe down to the last string of data.

Level III is well-regarded as being a top-tier processing safety mechanism to keep things going in the right direction.

All of the characters are handled with ease making the data simpler to manage. The payment doesn't become a major issue this way.

5) Customizable

With any credit purchase, customization for the merchant account is going to play a role.

In this regard, L3 transactions are a good way to process information and make sure it is personalized down to the last detail. There are no loopholes in the information and it keeps it as encrypted as demanded when it comes to credit purchases on such a large scale. Instead of taking a risk on the credit purchase, it is safer to rely on something that is customized.

This way, the corporate account can put in the credit purchase and know it will go through without a hitch. This is how a credit purchase should be in the modern age. This processor is one of the elite options for its ability to offer such customization making it a no-brainer for those wanting simplicity and security.

 

Accepting Level 3 Payments

Now that the benefits of such credit payments have been mentioned, it's time to look at how to accept them.

The premise of the level 3 payments is to make sure more information is coming through so the risk is mitigated for Visa or Mastercard. In this case, the information is going to be far greater than the average consumer because of how large the average transaction is.

Therefore, there are additional data requirements such as:

1) Item Commodity Code
2) Item Product Code
3) Ship-From Zip Code
4) Ship-To Zip Code
5) Order Number
6) Duty Amount
7) Freight Amount
8) Item Description
9) Item Unit of Measure
10) Item Extended Amount
11) Invoice #

All of this information is going to play a role in getting the lowest possible rate as a merchant. Without it, the processing is not going to be as secure nor is it going to be as affordable.

 

B2B Payment Processing for Business and Purchasing Card Acceptance

To ensure everything is as seamless as it needs to be, a good credit card processor is going to help iron out these details and make sure it comes out as smoothly as possible. Without such an occurrence, it is impossible to vet all of the information even with a B2B transaction.

For level 3 processing to be as smooth as it needs to be, the information is going to be collected quickly, efficiently, and accurately. This is what helps the merchant maintain a fast operation without having to worry about potential risks that can emerge over time.

It keeps things in line and that is of utmost importance to the average merchant while dealing with such transactions. A good credit card processor can help ensure these details are managed efficiently as soon as they come in.

 

Qualifying for Level 3 Credit Card Processing

Let's move onto the next stage with level 3 processing.

How does a merchant go about qualifying for it and ensuring the fees remain as low as needed?

There are a few steps necessary to qualify for level 3 processing and it starts by being able to capture line item data for all incoming credit card transactions. This line item data is a mandatory requirement for the risk to be mitigated on the other end and will help bring the fee down to a manageable level.

For example, the line item data that is needed will include things such as the invoice #, merchant name, address to begin before diving into deeper details such as their taxed amount, item description, quantity of items, unit of measure, product codes, and more. Overall, there are 15-20 line item details that are going to be required and processed before the transaction is approved for the highest tier. In general, these data requirements have been drawn up with the sole purpose of finding additional information on what is being purchased and where it can be found. This offers a way to reduce the risk before approving the transaction on all ends. By providing this information, the fee will be reduced as soon as the transaction goes through.

Remember, each level of processing is going to have its own requirements and level 3 is the most stringent of them all.

For most government or corporate customers, these details are of utmost importance and a way to keep track of money coming in or going out. This is also a good way to understand what some of the key restrictions are on a card before it is put to use for expenditures.

Corporations and/or other related entities will know they are going to have a transactional limit and this information is going to keep things as simple as possible. If they start to approach the upper limit, it is going to be there and easy to spot in seconds.

 

Level 3 Payment Technology

Please note, there is specific technology (as provided by this credit card processor) necessary to take care of all level 3 transactions.

Without this technology, it is impossible to collect the relevant information and process it in a timely fashion. For example, the standard terminal used by merchants will not be able to collect the relevant data and is therefore unable to support level 3 transactions in its current state.

To make sure the technology is able to keep up with the requirements, the merchant has to use specialized payment software that is only available through a pre-designed application. All of the data goes through the payment processor and is then integrated with the built-in ERP system.

This ensures everything goes through one setup instead of being diverted or manually entered.

By doing this, the reduced rate can be offered and taken advantage of.

 

Business Cards vs. Corporate Cards vs. Purchasing Cards

Business Cards are used by small or mid-size businesses, offer consumer-level rewards, and provide added purchasing authority.

Corporate Cards are used by large businesses/corporations, offer access to traveling employees, and offer increased transactions to these traveling employees.

Purchasing Cards are used for B2B transactions, take care of potential purchasing hurdles, and simplify the processing of transactions in general.

 

Enhanced Data Requirements and Eligibility

There are specific enhanced data requirements and most commercial cards do provide eligibility once this information is collected.

The information can include things such as unit cost, item descriptor, unit of measure, unit of cost, ship from zip code, ship-to zip code, tax rate, and more. All of these are a part of the enhanced data requirement that comes with corporate transactions in the modern age of processing.

 

Level 3 Rates

Assuming the average consumer rate is set at 2.95% + 10 cents, the level 3 rate comes in at 1.80% + 10 cents (purchases less than $7000). This rate continues to drop as the transaction amount increases. This can make it far more cost-efficient to process a larger transaction at once due to the amount being saved as a whole.

Take the time to sign up with a world-class credit card processing service and see the advantages of robust payment processing mechanisms.