Level III processing is a process by which merchants can securely pass detailed
purchase card information in order to qualify for better rates from their merchant
account provider.
Processing a Level III transaction includes an intricate involvement from the merchant, the
merchant account provider, Virtual terminal, and the processor.
Key Players and Their Roles in a Level III Transaction:
Merchant: Collects and inputs valid Level III information regarding the purchase card and
transaction detail. Through a secure Virtual Point of Sale, batch file, or API this Level III
information is sent to Virtual terminal secure servers.
Virtual terminal: Accepts the merchant’s Level III input and couples it with the merchants unique
Level III processor information that is stored in our secure servers. The complete Level III
information is sent to the processor for validation.
Processor: Validates all of the transaction information that is sent from the merchants Virtual terminal. This
includes verifying that the merchant’s account is setup for Level III processing, that the
purchase card being used is capable of the transaction, and that the transaction detail that
is passed is valid Level III information.
Revolution Payment Systems: Accepts the response from the processor and compares the
information to their Level III standards in order to decide if the transaction qualifies for
Level III.
Note: Different merchant account providers may have different criteria for Level III
qualifications.
What information is needed for a level III transaction?
Unique and crucial information has to be provided from each of the three parties that
communicate with your virtual terminal in order for a transaction to qualify for Level III. Due to
the detailed nature of a Level III transaction, if any of the three parties provides incorrect
information the transaction will not qualify for Level III. Because of the importance of valid
communication between all of the parties involved, Revolution strongly recommends testing
a Level III transaction before mass processing of transactions through our services.
“Level-1” card data is typically associated with consumer transactions and provides limited purchase data back to the cardholder.
“Level-2” data adds more information to benefit the corporate/government/industrial buyer, but the number of fields is limited because of the restricted data capture capabilities provided by most hardware-based Point Of Sales (POS) terminals.
“Level-3” (also known as Level III) line item detail, is equivalent to the information found on an itemized invoice, requires greater system capability and is provided through 3Delta Systems’ payment applications.
Comparative Example*
| Merchant Name |
Level 1
|
Level 2
|
Level 3
|
| Transaction Amount (Total) |
•
|
•
|
•
|
| Date |
•
|
•
|
•
|
| Tax Amount |
|
•
|
•
|
| Customer Code (30 Char) |
|
•
|
•
|
| Merchant Postal Code |
|
•
|
•
|
| Tax Identification |
|
•
|
•
|
| Merchant Minority Code |
|
•
|
•
|
| Merchant State Code |
|
•
|
•
|
| Ship from Postal Code |
|
|
•
|
| Destination Postal Code |
|
|
•
|
| Invoice Number |
|
|
•
|
| Order Number |
|
|
•
|
| Item Product Code |
|
|
•
|
| Item Commodity Code |
|
|
•
|
| Item Description |
|
|
•
|
| Item Quantity |
|
|
•
|
| Item Unit of Measure |
|
|
•
|
| Item Extended Amount |
|
|
•
|
| Freight Amount |
|
|
•
|
| Duty Amount |
|
|
•
|
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