Category Archives: level 3 processing

Level 3 Gateway

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Level 3 payment processing requires a level 3 gateway, but most merchants don’t realize how big an impact gateway selection has on merchant fees paid.

Merchants selling to other businesses or the government benefit from Level 3 processing and the savings this provides on commercial, purchasing and government transactions by processing level 3 Data. What gateway companies won’t tell you, is that not only do you need to send special data, but there are a bunch of rules to qualify for Data Rate III interchange rates as shown in the image below. Don’t follow the rules, and you’ll pay Data Rate I or Standard.

level 3 interchange ratesWhat are the rules? For starters, there are additional fields that must be submitted with the transaction. All the level 3 gateways support submitting the data, though they may do it in different ways. There are other rules such as the authorization and settlement amount must match. It’s unrealistic to expect any user to know all the rules for any transaction to qualify at the lowest interchange rate, so a payment gateway that automates that process is critical. This is where most payment gateways fail. They can submit data, but have no intelligence to help merchants comply with qualification rules.

What gateway supports level 3 for retail, kiosk, mobile or any swiped transaction? CenPOS.

Gateways must certify level 3 to each acquirer, also known as payment processor, or credit card processor. The certifications can include for retail, retail EMV, MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order), and ecommerce. Very few gateways certify level 3 for all sales channels. The only one I’m aware of that’s certified retail and retail EMV is CenPOS.

Gateways supporting level 3 for MOTO:

What level 3 gateway is compatible with First Data? CenPOS, First Data Global Gateway e4 – now called Payeezy. While CenPOS automates level III processing, First Data has multiple optional steps after the sale, leaving compliance up to the individual user; additionally, their method does not guarantee that all rules will be met to qualify for level III interchange rates. Authorize.net and Payflow Pro offer level III with certain API’s only.

What level 3 gateway is compatible with Vantiv or NPC? CenPOS

What level 3 gateway is compatible with Chase Paymentech? CenPOS, Paymentech Orbital, PayTrace. Paymentech and Paytrace have optional extra steps, leaving compliance up to the individual user; additionally, their methods do not guarantee that all rules will be met to qualify for level III interchange rates. Authorize.net and Payflow Pro offer level III with certain API’s only.

What level 3 gateway is compatible with Tsys? CenPOS, eProcessing Network, Authorize.net and Payflow Pro offer level III with certain API’s only

What level 3 gateway is compatible with Moneris? CenPOS

What about Revolution Payments, Vantage Card Services and other gateways not listed here? In most cases, the company is a reseller of a gateway listed above, not a gateway manufacturer. Network Merchants, LLC (NMI) distributes a white label solution that supports level 3 data, but there’s no public information about acquirer certification; BluePay and 3DSI also offer level 3, but it’s unclear what acquirers. Please add your suggestions in comments.

As of September 15, 2015, of the brands listed in this post, only CenPOS has both certified EMV terminals to accept chip cards with their gateway, and has also certified level 3 processing for all sales channels via any method, including API, virtual terminal, and online payments.

 

 

Authorize.net and level 3 processing for business to business

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The Authorize.net virtual terminal is expensive for business to business merchants, even though rates seem cheap. That’s because Authorize.net ® only supports level III data for certain integrated solutions, leaving B2B companies out of luck qualifying for the lowest interchange rates for corporate, business and purchasing cards.

Authorize.net Payment Gateway Rates

  • $49 set up
  • $25 /month
  • $.10 per transaction
  • $.10 daily batch
  • Additional services which used to be extra, are now free: Automated Recurring Billing, Advanced Fraud Detection Suite TM, Customer Information Manager (subscription management).

level 3 interchange ratesNot shown above: Data Rate III large ticket ($10,000 minimum) Level 1 rate is 1.20% and $40, up to Level 4, 1.51% and $40. MasterCard Cardholder Spending Requirements for Small Business Products: Business Level 1 – $0 to $24,999; Business Level 2 – $25,000 to $49,999; Business Level 3 – $50,000 to $99,999; Business Level 4 – $100,000 and greater.

The table below shows different rates possible for the same transaction. Using the Authorize.net virtual terminal, the best rate possible for a Level 1 Business card is usually 2.65%. While the Authorize.net virtual terminal supports Level II Data, to qualify for the Level II rate, it requires a valid sales tax amount, tax indicator and valid tax id. Sales tax must be between 0.1% and 30%. If tax exempt ($0 entered as tax amount or blank) will clear at Commercial Data Rate I. Most business to business companies do not have a sales tax amount.

The examples below include the interchange fees above and the payment gateway transaction fees for Authorize.net qualifying transactions at Data Rate I and CenPOS qualifying transactions at Data Rate III (also known as Data Rate 1 and Data Rate 3)

Authorize.net vs CenPOS payment gateway example for Level 1 card

$5,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $148.10 vs $108.20 CenPOS.*
$25,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $662.60 vs $365.20 CenPOS.*

Authorize.net vs CenPOS payment gateway example for Level 4 card

$5,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $132.60 vs $92.70 CenPOS.* CenPOS saves merchant 27%.
$25,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $740.10 vs $442.70 CenPOS. CenPOS saves merchant 40%.

How does CenPOS help merchants qualify transactions for level 3 rates? There are multiple requirements to qualify for the level 3 rates. These include submitting level 3 data, valid authorization, and authorization and settlement amount must match, among others. CenPOS automates interchange management in compliance with card acceptance rules, making it light and easy for users to comply, while also removing employee decision making that can impact the cost of card acceptance.

CenPOS customers achieve similar results across all sales channels, including retail. CenPOS is compatible with all the major processors, so merchants do not need to change their financial partners. No special software is required; users can access via a secure web page, mobile device, or integrated solution. Contact CenPOS Authorized Reseller Christine Speedy today for a demo and free trial.

 

 

 

 

Level 3 Processing Payment Gateway

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Looking for level 3 processing payment gateway for your application? Whether you need retail, ecommerce, hosted pay page or something else, we have the solution.

level 3 interchange rates

The difference from Data Rate III to Commercial Standard is the data sent with the transaction. Swipe and card not present are both eligible for the same interchange rates in the example.

Choosing a gateway capable of level 3 processing is not enough. There’s a multitude of rules that must be followed for the lowest qualified interchange rate. Merchants desiring to maximize qualification will want a gateway that automates processes to ensure all the rules are met, not to just send level III enhanced data.

Keep your existing new merchant account with our omnichannel payment gateway.  If your processing doesn’t support level 3, we’ll help you get an account that does.

Contact Christine Speedy 954-942-0483 for a free trial and your business to business company can start qualifying for lower interchange rates almost instantly. If your application only supports specific gateways, we have solutions for that too.

Level 3 processing for Magento

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Looking for a level 3 processing gateway?

No new merchant account required with our omnichannel payment gateway that works with your existing financial partners. Contact us for a free Magento gateway module and your business to business company can start qualifying for lower interchange rates almost instantly.

Example of a wew low interchange rate a merchant transaction qualified for.

Example of a low level 3 interchange rate a merchant transaction qualified for. Without our solution, the qualified interchange rate would have been more than double.

Key things to note:

  • Level 3 processing for all major processors
  • Omnichannel – from retail to hosted pay pages to Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment, level 3 is supported all sales channels.
  • To qualify for level 3 interchange rates, any initial pre-authorization and settlement must be equal, and there must be a valid authorization code (not expired), in addition to other requirements. It’s here where most other solutions fail, even if they do support level 3.

Level 3 payment gateway are modules available for Prestashop and other shopping carts too. Contact Christine Speedy at 3D Merchant Services