First Data level 3 processing solutions

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Christine Speedy

Need a solution for level 3 processing with your First Data merchant account? A payment gateway that supports level 3 processing is required, but that’s not enough. Payment gateway selection and implementation impact whether a transaction actually qualifies for level 3 rates.

The main requirements to qualify for level III interchange rates are:

Submit required extra order detail. This varies by card brand; for example Ship to/from ZIP code, Destination country code,VA/ tax amount, invoice number, order reference number, Discount amount, Freight/shipping amount, Duty amount, Order date, unit of measure and more.
Valid authorization. For example, the authorization and settlement amount must be the same.
Interchange Rate Special Requirements, which may vary by card, industry etc. For example, here are requirements to qualify for MasterCard Data Rate III
1. U.S. Merchant
2. Applicable Electronic Authorization Data must be included and match Settlement Data
3. Valid Banknet Reference Number and Banknet Date in valid date format MMDD
4. Settlement within 2 days of transaction
5. Level II & Level III Corporate Card data (Level II Data includes the entry of customer code, card acceptor type, tax ID and sales tax. Level III Data includes Level II data, line item detail, item description, item quantity, item unit of measure, extended item amount, product code, and debit or credit indicator.)
6. Non-T&E MCC
7. Card Acceptor Type and Tax ID must be provided

Visa Stored Credential Framework Impacts Authorization Validity

For business, corporate and purchasing card transactions to qualify for Level 3 interchange rates, a valid authorization is required. New rules change requirements for card not present transactions using stored cards. US businesses must comply with Visa Stored Credential Transaction framework effective October 14, 2017. Without getting into too much detail, payment gateways must update to comply, and merchants will also need to make some changes going forward.

Merchant requirements include:

When capturing a stored credential for the first time, complete special requirements, including cardholder authentication as applicable (Managed by payment gateway or integrated solution.)
Send correct transaction type on subsequent transactions: Installment Payments, Recurring Payments, or Unscheduled Credential On File. (Managed by payment gateway or integrated solution.)
Authorization and settlement amount must match. (Managed by payment gateway or integrated solution.)
Obtain cardholder consent and disclosure agreement. (Most likely managed by payment gateway or merchant.)

For years, authorization and settlement amount mismatch has been a common problem for merchants to qualify for level III rates. Even if a gateway solves this problem, an integration may limit the capability. This is easily identified by EIRF, STD/ standard, level I and level II rates present in the “pending interchange” section on merchant statements.

To solve all of the above problems, merchants can use a third party payment gateway with their merchant account, that manages authorization validity and continual changes within the gateway, including integrated solutions. Below image shows before and after interchange rates from actual merchant statements; same merchant account, just changed the payment gateway.Contact Christine for a level 3 payment gateway that works with your First Data Merchant Account, as well as other acquirers.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS authorized reseller, 954-942-0483 is based out of South Florida and NY. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships.

Best Quickbooks Credit Card Processing – Card Not Present 2017

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Christine Speedy

Due to new credit card processing mandates effective October 14, 2017, business to business merchants especially need to review practices for card not present transactions. Compliance will boost profits and improve customer experience; non-compliance will increase costs, penalty fees and customer dissatisfaction. Our Quickbooks plugin for all desktop and enterprise versions (except Quickbooks Online) eases the burden of compliance, while improving customer buying experience, cash flow and profits. For business to business (B2B), we have the best solution.

Card Not Present Credit Card Processing Rules & Guidelines:

Never store full card data on paper or digitally. If you can retrieve it, so can a criminal. Merchants are never, ever allowed to request the security code (Visa Core rule 5.4.2.5) on paper, or via digital methods such as email or text. Paper credit card authorization forms as well as digital signature forms that can be unencrypted to view sensitive cardholder data are prohibited. We fix this problem by delivering electronic invoices and empowering customers to self-store payment methods.
When first storing a credit card, perform a Zero Dollar Authorization with the correct transaction type flag. This process is managed seamlessly in the background if supported and enabled by the payment gateway. (TIP: Some solutions perform a $1 authorization and then void the transaction- this is non-compliant.) We automate this this process in full compliance.
Perform Cardholder Authentication. The two authentication options are card security code and 3-D secure, such as Verified by Visa. The latter is a global standard that requires the cardholder self-initiate payment, a more secure solution; Merchants using 3-D secure benefit by increased sale approvals, fraud liability shift to issuers, and for some cards, lower rates.
When first storing a credit card, have your customer opt-in via a manual checkbox to return and cancellation policies.
Hosted online pay page, partial screenshot

If your gateway does not include this option for customer initiated checkout, including paying invoices, it’s an easy way to identify your payment gateway is not compliant with new rules yet.
Use a payment gateway that supports new authorization rules, including stored card pre-authorization, incremental authorization, final authorization, authorization reversal, partial authorization reversal, and credit authorization.

Both the payment gateway provider and processor must support 3-D secure and zero dollar authorization.

Alternative Quickbooks Credit Card Processing Module- features for card not present:

EBPP- Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment to send invoices and accept ACH/eCheck, credit card, wire, Paypal
Customers self-manage payment methods
Unscheduled charge card on file supported
3-D Secure and additional security tweaks
Customer portal for 24/7 invoice retrieval and payments
Deliver invoices via text and email
Automated collections reminders
Opt-in checkbox with custom text
Optional custom fields
Works with all the acquirers, including First Data, Paymentech, Heartland, Global Payments, Elavon, TSYS, Moneris etc.
Level III 3 processing supported for reduced merchant fees when applicable for purchasing, business and corporate cards.
Smart Rate selector optimizes transactions for lowest qualified rate

Want the best Quickbooks credit card processing plugin for your B2B business? Contact Christine Speedy today for a virtually instant ROI, maximize profits and cash flow while improving your customer buying experience. Quick and easy to adopt, you’ll wish you had found this solution sooner.

What is Commercial Card Interchange Service? Is it good or bad?

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Christine Speedy

First Data Commercial Card Interchange Service to reduce fees for some merchants automatically.

The Commercial Card Interchange Service June 2017 merchant statement message to First Data Merchant Services, and Independent merchant service provider customers using the First Data credit card processing platform, is bound to raise questions. Essentially, the service automates sending additional data required to qualify some card types for lower rates. Skip to the bottom to see the impact if you already have the message details.

“Merchants using cloud-based payment processing solutions with interchange optimization, including level 3 processing, will continue to retain 100% of interchange savings”, says Christine Speedy, business to business payments expert.

FULL STATEMENT TEXT: Note- The live date and other language may vary, but the overall terms are the same for all merchants getting the message. “We are pleased to introduce the Commercial Card Interchange Service, designed to save you money by reducing the interchange cost for certain Commercial Card transactions. The card networks require that you include the sales tax amount with each transaction to get the best interchange for Commercial Card transactions. Your POS terminal should prompt for that information but often that prompt is bypassed so no tax information is sent causing a downgrade. With the CCIS service,when transactions do not include any tax information we will compute the sales tax based on the applicable rate at your location to allow you to obtain the best interchange. When we compute the sales tax on your behalf, we will retain 50% of the interchange savings. You will see this reflected on your monthly statements as Commercial Card Savings Adjustment. This adjustment is only applied when CCIS has improved your interchange qualification. You can save even more by entering the tax with each transaction at the point-of-sale, but if your employees do not do so, CCIS will help you qualify for Commercial Card interchange. If a transaction is fully or partially exempt, you should enter the tax amount (even if that amount is $0.00) as
CCIS applies your local tax rate to the full amount of transactions when the prompt is bypassed.

This service will begin on August 1, 2017. You may see savings beginning with your August statement. More detail about this new benefit can be found on the last page of this statement. Please call the customer service number on the statement if you do not want us to perform this service. Otherwise, continuing your merchant account with us or use of your merchant account after 30 days will represent your acceptance of these terms. If you have any questions, please contact customer service at the number on your statement.

Frequently Asked Questions- Commercial Card Interchange Service

Why am I eligible for a lower interchange on some Commercial Card Transactions? Some card networks require additional information beyond the total sales amount to qualify the Commercial Card transaction for a lower interchange rate. This information includes sales tax amount, which if provided reduces your interchange cost.

How does the service work? First Data will compute and submit the required sales tax to the Card networks on your behalf for applicable Commercial Card Transactions when not supplied in your submission. This additional data allows these transactions to qualify for a lower interchange rate that reduces your interchange cost.

Why is First Data offering this service? At First Data we are always working to bring you the broadest and most innovative range of payment options to grow your business and maximize your revenue. This is a new service that was developed to help merchant minimize interchange costs.

What is the cost of this service? There is no incremental cost for this service. Ignite payments shares in the savings it helps your company to achieve on qualifying transactions.

How can I see how much I have saved? The savings will be shown on each month’s statement. The adjustment to your account for this service wills appear in the Service Charge section of your processing statement. It will appear as “MC COMMERCIAL CARD IC SAVINGS ADJ” for applicable MasterCard Transactions and “VISA COMMERCIAL CRD IC SAVINGS ADJ” for applicable Visa transactions. The detail as in the example shown below will include: the total interchange savings; the portion of the interchange savings that will be retained by you; and the portion that we will retain.

Date Type Description Total
05/01/2017 SC MC COMMERCIAL CARD IC SAVINGS ADJ .50 DISC RATE TIMES $140.93 -70.47
05/01/2017 SC VISA COMMERCIAL CARD IC SAVINGS ADJ .50 DISC RATE TIMES $359.76 -179.88

In the example above:

Total savings of $140.93 was achieved on the eligible MasterCard Commercial Card transactions.
You will recieve 50% of this savings, which is $70.47 and we will retain 50% (noted as the .50 DISC RATE).
Shown as -$70.47

Are there any setup fees that will be billed to my account to activate this service? No setup fees will be billed to your account upon activation of this service.

Will my business need to make any changes to utilize this service? No, First Data will perform this service completely during the interchange qualification and submission process to the card networks.

Will this service be performed on all Commercial Card transactions? This service will only be performed when a lower cost interchange qualification can be achieved on applicable Commercial Card transaction for which your business did not submit the required sales tax amount and did not identify as tax exempt.

Can my business request this interchange savings service be cancelled? Yes. This service can be cancelled upon request by the individual within your organization authorized to make accounts changes. If you prefer to opt out of this savings opportunity, please contact customer service at the number on your statement.

Who can I contact with additional questions? Please contact customer service at the number on your statements.” End statement message.

From Christine Speedy, business to business payments expert:

Is CCIS good or bad for merchants? Saving 50% automatically is good. Giving away 50% of the savings is bad, but might be the only option for some merchants due to business size, technology or other circumstance. CCIS does not ensure the lowest commercial card rates, only another possible level of savings. For B2B merchants especially, there are multiple ways to reduce fees with technology, including for card not present transactions.

How can I qualify for the lowest commercial card rates and keep 100% of the related savings?

A cloud-based payment gateway is required. Desktop terminals are incapable of sending all the data required.
Use a payment gateway that supports level 3 processing and will automate interchange optimization. More than just submitting sales tax, there are other rules that must be met to qualify for the best rates.
Contact Christine Speedy for the best payment gateway analysis for your business needs, compatible with your existing merchant account and other software needs.

What is level one level two and level iii processing?

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Christine Speedy

Level 1, Level 2 and level 3 processing are different ways of handling purchasing or p-card, business, commercial, and corporate cards. Each level has unique data specifications that determine the potential rate merchants pay for related card acceptance. Even if Level 1, Level 2 and level 3 data is sent to the acquirer, or credit card processor, the merchant may not qualify for the associated rate due to other rules not being met. Although interchange rates are the non-negotiable fees all merchants pay, they can be influenced.

MYTH: If I use a level 3 processor, I’ll get the lowest rates. False. Many rules must be followed. The payment gateway and integration method, if applicable, is largely in control of potential rate qualification. Few have the necessary technology automation to maximize profits. Additionally, the processor may be certified for one channel, but the merchant accepts payments via multiple channels such as retail and e-billing.

What is level 1 processing?

The default commercial card transaction is level 1.

What is level 2 processing?

Requires level II data, including the entry of customer code, card acceptor type, tax ID and sales tax.

For MasterCard, a sales tax amount is required, and the amount must be greater than $0.00, but no less than 0.1% – 30 % of the transaction amount. This is important because most B2B companies typically are not charging sales tax, therefore cannot qualify for level II rates, and need to focus on level III.
For Visa, a tax amount is not required, but the merchant must indicate whether the transaction is tax exempt.

Most acquirers and payment gateways support level 2 data.

What is level 3 processing?

Level III minimum data requirements include: Summary Record – Discount Amount, Freight/Shipping Amount, Duty Amount and Account Number and Line Item Detail Record – Item Sequence Number, Item Commodity Code, Item Descriptor, Product Code, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Cost, and Discount per Line Item, Line Item Total, and Line Item Detail Indicator.

While that sounds like a lot, this can be managed by the payment gateway, which is required for level III processing. It’s critical to point out that the data is the minimum requirement to even potentially qualify. There are a bunch of other rules. For example, authorization and settlement must be equal and settlement must be within required timeframe. Again, this is an area for B2B that often causes a problem. Payment gateway capabilities and integration method must support all the rules, including numerous new Visa rules.

Each rate below is for the same credit card, but different rules apply to qualify for them.

2016-2017 U.S. Region MasterCard Commercial Rates—Small Business Credit
Interchange Rate Program	Level 4
Standard	3.26% + $.10
Data Rate 1	2.96% + $.10
Data Rate II	2.31% + $.10
Data Rate III	2.06% + $.10
Large Ticket 1/II/III	1.51% + $40

Not to be confused with processing level, MasterCard came out with “Small Business Level”, which is about the cardholder and issuer relationship size (how much the cardholder spends).

Distributor EMV Credit Card Terminals – Profit busters, profit boosters

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Christine Speedy

Distributors have special needs for retail credit card processing to maximize profits and mitigate risk. Here we identify credit card terminals that are certain fall short on delivering in an EMV environment. The two most critical retail needs are requiring customers to comply with the highest security supported, and supporting level III processing. Additionally, P2PE, encrypting at the terminal head, is important for a security and compliance.

Only cloud payment solutions have the potential to meet the primary distributor retail processing needs. This precludes all First Data terminals, one of the most popular brands distributed, and similar devices. DISCLAIMER: comments are specifically regarding business to business needs, not all retail industry needs, and are not in any way intended to imply anything negative about the terminals.

The terminals below DO NOT meet the two most critical distributor needs to maximize profits.

Verifone vx520

Clover Mini by First Data

First Data FD35 EMV PinPad, attaches to a variety of FD terminals.

Ingenico iCT250 emv capable countertop terminal.

Magtek mini card swiper.

The terminals below have the POTENTIAL meet the two most critical distributor needs to maximize profits. Special certifications and payment gateway logic is required.

ingenico isc250 signature capture terminal

Ingenico isc250 EMV

Verifone MX915 EMV chip terminal

Fraud liability review for MasterCard, American Express, and Discover (credit and debit)

If the card is chip & sign, and the terminal is EMV only, the card issuer is liable
If the card is chip & pin, and the terminal is EMV without pin, or pin debit without EMV, the merchant is liable
If the card is chip & pin, and the terminal is EMV with pin, the issuer is liable
If the terminal supports EMV & pin, but the customer uses chip & sign, the merchant is liable. Acquirers generally support chip and pin bypass to chip and signature. Merchants should only use solutions that require the highest security on every transaction, including prohibiting customer bypass.
If the terminal supports EMV & pin, but the customer does chip & sign, the merchant is liable.

Merchants should only use solutions that require the highest security on every transaction, including prohibiting customer bypass.

If you want to enhance your customer experience, make a change that also maximizes profits too.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS global sales and integrated solutions reseller, 954-942-0483. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS? secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting merchant banking relationships. Keep your processor, upgrade your technology! Quick and easy to implement with no long term contract.

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Card Not Present, CenPOS, credit card processing

B2B Cloud payment processing technology blog about increasing profits, efficiency and security.

Category Archives: level 3 processing