Accepting GSA SmartPay cards
When it comes to accepting GSA SmartPay cards, its time to make some changes.
21st century technology is required to keep your business competitive and compliant.
Accepting GSA SmartPay cards requires more sophisticated processing technology able to capture what Visa and MC refer to as Level III data.
Level 3 data allows government vendors to reduce the cost of accepting GSA SmartPay cards by up to 30%-40%.
What is Level III Data?
An easy way to explain level III data is to think of an invoice, information you’d generally find on an invoice that is included with a transaction. Information that defines the “what”, “how” and “who”
Level 3 Processing was initially created to prevent excess government spending. The level 3 data showed up on governments bank statement which help them reconcile spending on employee issued cards.
Even though Level III processing has tremendous advantages, 3 out of 5 vendors are still not participating, many that are, have not been set up in a way to receive 100% of the reduced interchange rates for providing level III data.
How do you take advantage of Level III Interchange Rates?
You need to adopt a virtual terminal capable of capturing the additional line item detail requirements.
Credit card terminals do not support the additional detail required to receive level 3 interchange rates.
Unfortunately many vendors are using equipment that is outdated equipment along with bad processing practices.
Statistics also show us that at least 3 out of 5 vendors are not set up to accept P-cards correctly, meaning they are not set up to process level 3-line item detail. That’s crazy, considering level 3 processing as been around for more than 15 years.
With greater and greater utilization of Government Purchase Cards, it is now of even of greater importance to properly manage your account when Accepting GSA SmartPay Cards. This will ensure you receive Visa and MasterCard’s level III interchange rates for Accepting GSA SmartPay Cards, and that your business is processing as efficiently as possible.
If you accept a government P card without providing level III payment detail, you’re losing 1% of potential revenue that has NOTHING to do with the rate your processor is charging you.
Remember, interchange amounts to roughly 80% of your expense for accepting credit cards, commercial cards accepted without level 3 detail qualify at different codes, and cost 1% more before your processor adds their fee.