U.S. Banking Partners /
Transactions/
Level 2 and 3 Processing

Level 2 and 3 Processing

For certain Mastercard and Visa cards, credit card processing fits into 3 levels: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Each level is defined by how much information about the transaction is required and stored to complete the payment. Level 1 requires the least information for processing, and is the default at which all of your Braintree transactions are passed.

While Level 1 processing is the standard, some business cases would benefit from processing higher level transactions.

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Level 2 and 3 processing is only appropriate for specific business use-cases. Keep the following in mind:

  • Some business types, like travel and entertainment, are not eligible
  • Level 2 and 3 processing is intended primarily for business to business transactions
  • Your Tax ID must be stored in Braintree's Control Panel
  • Corporate and purchasing cards (p-cards) are eligible for Visa transactions
  • Any commercial cards are eligible with Mastercard

To ensure that your business and transactions are appropriate for Level 2 or 3 processing, contact us for complete eligibility information.

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Providing detailed information about business transactions via Level 2 and 3 data can enable eligible merchants to receive lower interchange rates. These rates are defined by the card brands (Visa and Mastercard).

Transactions that include Level 2 and 3 data are also beneficial to the business making the purchase – the detailed information they receive back makes it easier to track their expenses.

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All credit card transactions follow the same settlement and funding timeline, regardless of their level.

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Level 2 processing requires the capture of specific data in credit card transactions – your tax exempt status, tax amount, and purchase order number must be included. For a complete list of Level 2 data, see our developer docs.

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Level 3 processing requires the capture of specific line item data in credit card transactions. Certain fields, such as merchant name and address, invoice number, and tax amount must be included – along with line item details such as item description, quantity and unit of measure, freight amount, and commodity and product codes. For a complete list of Level 3 data, see our developer docs.

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Level 2 and 3 processing requires passing certain data with your transaction API calls. See our developer docs for integration setup.