If your business sells to other businesses and accepts corporate cards, purchasing cards, or government cards, there is a discount built into the card network rules that most merchants never collect. It is called Level 2 and Level 3 data, and it can cut interchange on those transactions by a meaningful amount. The problem is not eligibility — it is that most processors never bother to set it up, and most business owners do not know to ask.
What Are Commercial Cards, and Why Do They Cost More?
When a consumer swipes a personal Visa or Mastercard, the interchange rate is relatively straightforward. When a business employee swipes a corporate card, a purchasing card, or a government procurement card, the interchange rate is higher — sometimes significantly. The card networks charge more because those cards carry rewards, liability protections, and spending controls that cost money to operate.
Illustrative example: a standard consumer credit card might carry an interchange rate around 1.65%. A corporate purchasing card on the same transaction might run 2.65% or higher. On a $10,000 B2B invoice paid by card, that difference is $100 on a single transaction.
The good news is that the card networks built a relief valve into the system. If you send back enough detail about the transaction — what was purchased, a tax amount, a customer code — they reward you with a lower interchange rate. That is the Level 2 and Level 3 system.
What Data Fields Actually Qualify a Transaction?
The card networks define three tiers of transaction data. Level 1 is what every merchant sends: card number, amount, date. Level 2 and Level 3 require additional fields.
Level 2 typically requires:
- Sales tax amount (or confirmation that the transaction is tax-exempt)
- Customer code or purchase order number
- Merchant postal code
Level 3 goes further and is generally used for larger B2B and government transactions. It requires line-item detail: a description of each product or service, quantity, unit of measure, unit cost, and commodity codes.
Not every card qualifies for every level. Corporate cards often qualify for Level 2. Government and large purchasing cards frequently qualify for Level 3. Consumer cards do not qualify for either — those rates are set regardless of what data you send.
The catch: your payment terminal, gateway, or software has to be configured to capture and transmit those fields. Most retail setups are not. The data just never gets sent, the transaction downgrades to a higher interchange bucket, and the processor collects the difference.
How Much Can Level 2 and Level 3 Data Actually Save?
The savings vary by card type and network, but the chart below shows illustrative interchange ranges to give you a sense of the spread. These are representative figures, not a quote for your account.
On a business that runs $30,000 per month in corporate card volume, the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 processing is roughly $180 per month in interchange alone — $2,160 per year — just from sending a tax amount and a PO number. Level 3 savings on large purchasing card transactions can be larger still.
These are illustrative numbers. Your actual savings depend on your card mix, average ticket, and which cards your customers actually carry. A statement review will show you exactly what you are currently paying and what category your commercial card transactions are landing in.
Does Your Current Setup Even Support It?
This is the question most business owners never think to ask. Flat-rate processors like Square, Stripe, and PayPal do not pass Level 2 or Level 3 savings to you at all. You pay the same flat rate whether the transaction qualifies for a discount or not — the processor keeps the spread. Tiered processors typically lump commercial cards into a "non-qualified" bucket and charge you the highest rate in their structure.
Interchange-plus pricing is the only model where Level 2 and Level 3 savings flow through to you directly. When interchange drops because you sent the right data, your cost drops. The processor's margin stays the same; you keep the difference.
Beyond pricing model, your terminal or gateway software has to be capable of capturing those extra fields and transmitting them with the authorization. Many standard retail setups simply do not have those fields on the screen. The operator never enters them because there is nowhere to enter them.
What Does the Setup Actually Look Like?
For most B2B merchants, enabling Level 2 is straightforward once you are on the right platform. Your payment software needs to prompt for tax amount and customer code at the time of sale. For invoicing workflows, those fields can often be populated automatically from the invoice data — the customer PO number is already on the invoice, and the tax line is already calculated.
Level 3 is more involved. Line-item data has to be structured in a specific format the card networks accept. It is most practical for businesses that already generate itemized invoices — distributors, wholesalers, contractors billing materials and labor separately, and government vendors. If your invoices already have line items, the data exists; it just needs to be transmitted correctly.
At Zend Blue, we configure Level 2 and Level 3 data submission as part of the account setup for qualifying B2B merchants. It is not an add-on you have to ask about separately.
The Worked Example: A Wholesale Distributor
Consider a wholesale distributor running $80,000 per month in card volume. About 60% of that — $48,000 — comes from corporate and purchasing cards held by their business customers.
| Scenario | Rate on Commercial Cards | Monthly Cost on $48,000 | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat-rate processor | 2.90% blended | $1,392 | $16,704 |
| Interchange-plus, Level 1 only | ~2.65% interchange + margin | ~$1,272 + margin | ~$15,264 + margin |
| Interchange-plus, Level 2 enabled | ~2.05% interchange + margin | ~$984 + margin | ~$11,808 + margin |
| Zend Blue, Level 2/3 optimized | from 1.7%* total | from $816* | from $9,792* |
The difference between doing nothing and enabling Level 2 is roughly $3,456 per year in interchange savings on the commercial card portion alone — before accounting for any improvement in the base processing rate. These figures are illustrative; run your own numbers at the calculator below.
Who Should Prioritize This?
Level 2 and Level 3 optimization matters most if your customers are businesses or government entities, your average ticket is above a few hundred dollars, and you are currently on flat-rate or tiered pricing. The higher your commercial card volume and the larger your tickets, the more the data fields are worth.
It matters less if nearly all your customers pay with personal consumer cards — retail shops, restaurants, and similar businesses will see little benefit because consumer cards do not qualify for the discount regardless of what data you send.
If you are not sure what percentage of your volume is commercial cards, your merchant statement will show transaction counts by card type. If you see categories labeled "commercial," "corporate," "purchasing," or "business" cards, you have volume that may be eligible.
What to Do Next
The fastest way to find out what Level 2 and Level 3 savings are worth to your business is to look at your current statement and identify what your commercial card transactions are actually costing you today.
Run your numbers at the free calculator: https://www.zend.blue/#calculator
Text us at 580-910-9100 for a free statement review — we will show you exactly which transactions are downgrading and what enabling the right data fields would save.
Ready to build a plan? Start at https://www.zend.blue/start
Figures in this guide are illustrative estimates, not a quote. Wholesale rates starting at 1.7% are interchange-plus; your rate depends on card mix, ticket size and business type, and is confirmed through a statement review.
*Figures in this guide are illustrative estimates, not a quote. Wholesale rates starting at 1.7% are interchange-plus; your rate depends on card mix, ticket size and business type, and is confirmed through a statement review.