Level II and Level III fields allow merchants to pass more detailed information about a transaction to the card networks. By submitting additional fields like tax details, invoice number, product descriptions, and line-item breakdowns, the merchants can qualify for lower interchange fees on eligible business or corporate card transactions.

• Level II data focuses on summary-level information such as customer reference, tax amount, and purchase identifiers.
• Level III data adds granular detail such as the individual product lines, quantity, unit price, and shipping or duty charges.

These fields are primarily applicable to U.S. domestic Visa and Mastercard transactions. If enhanced data is incomplete or invalid, the transaction may still process but will not qualify for enhanced interchange.

A few Business examples are enlisted below:

• Corporate Purchase: A company buys 10 office monitors for $5,000. The merchant includes tax and line-item details to qualify for Level 3 rates.
• B2B Software Renewal: A SaaS vendor charges a corporate client $1,000 plus applicable tax and shipping, submitting invoice and tax details as Level 2 data.
• E-Commerce Order with Multiple Items: A merchant includes full product, discount, and freight details for a multi-item order to meet Level 3 requirements.

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Level II/III Data Requirements

Level II and Level III data enablement allows merchants to pass enhanced transaction details that help qualify for lower interchange rates, especially for B2B and corporate card payments. These enhanced data levels ensure transparency and accuracy in reporting while maximizing cost efficiency for eligible merchants.

There are no standalone API nodes to “turn on” Level II/III data. However, the following configuration settings affect how Level II/III data is captured and processed, impacting both interchange qualification and data accuracy in B2B transactions.

Enable B2B Optimizer via the PUT /checkout/v3/merchantsetting/{merchantId} endpoint.

Once activated, the B2B App works entirely in the background. No interface or workflow changes are required.

Additionally, the below Loss Prevention settings can be updated via the POST /checkout/v3/fraudSetting?merchantId={merchantId} endpoint.

If any of these values are missing or invalid, the transaction is automatically declined.

To know more, kindly refer to the Merchant Configuration and Payment Controls.

Additionally, to ensure successful qualification and processing, the following business and technical requirements must be met:

• Level II/III data applies mainly to business, purchasing, or corporate cards; consumer cards typically do not support these enhancements.
• Some merchant category codes (MCCs), such as travel, lodging, or rental services—may have limitations on enhanced data submission. For details on MCC eligibility for Level II/III Data, see the B2B Optimizer: Eligibility & Requirements section.
• All transmitted details (e.g., tax, item totals, transaction amounts) must match precisely, as mismatched values can cause qualification downgrade or rejection.
• Tax and item data must comply with card network–defined thresholds and formatting standards.
• If Level III validation fails, the transaction may fallback to Level II or revert to standard data processing.

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How it works

• Identify eligible transactions, usually commercial or purchasing cards.
• Collect required Level II/III fields during checkout.
• Make a POST request to /checkout/v3/payment endpoint with including the Level II/III fields.

• Processor forwards data to card networks for interchange qualification.
• Reduced interchange fees are applied automatically if all conditions are met.
• Our system processes the payment and returns a response indicating the outcome. You can learn the outcome of the request via GET /checkout/v3/payment/{id} or wait for the Payment webhook You can determine the result by checking the status and responseCode fields in the response.
  • status: The primary outcome of the transaction, either Approved or Declined.
  • responseCode: A detailed code explaining the reason for the status. See our comprehensive Response code guide guide for full list
• For every approved payment, it is critical to store two identifiers
  • id : The unique Payment ID. Use this for retrieving or voiding the transaction before it settles.
  • paymentToken: The secure Transaction Token. Use this for follow-up actions like refunds or adjustments after the transaction has settled.

You can also Retrieve or Update the Level III - Line Data Items included within a Payment.

• Use the GET /checkout/v3/payment/{id}/purchase endpoint to view all the Line Items data for a Payment.
• Use the POST /checkout/v3/payment/{id}/purchase endpoint to update any Line Item data.
• Use the POST /checkout/v3/payment/{id}/L3 endpoint to update any of the L3 data fields such as Freight & Shipping information.

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Level I, II and III Data Fields

PCE transmits L2/L3 data, but card brands and processors determine the final interchange category. Ensure data accuracy and retain documentation supporting tax, freight, and itemization.

Key Validations

• Tax for L2 pricing: send a non-zero tax value to qualify for the lowest L2 tiers (Visa/MC). Zero tax is allowed, but may not yield the best L2 rate unless you also pass L3.
• Reconciliation: All amounts must align to -

Σ(unitPrice × quantity) + Σ(taxAmount) − Σ(discountAmount) + shipAmount == amount

• Tax identification flag: (taxExempt) uses enum:
  • 0 no tax info,
  • 1 tax amount provided,
  • 2 item exempt/non-taxable.
• The sum of all line items, plus tax and freight, must equal the total transaction amount.
• Use valid ISO country and currency codes.
• tax present and > 0 for lowest L2 tiers (Visa/MC)
• taxExempt values limited to 0|1|2 and consistent with item taxation
• shipToCountry is ISO alpha‑3 (e.g., USA)
• Line items roll up to amount via the reconciliation formula
• Auth/Capture gap ≤ 2 days (where applicable)

Missing or invalid data may cause the transaction to be downgraded to a higher interchange rate.

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See Also

• Retrieve Payment API
• Cancel Payment API
• Refund Payment API
• Payments lifecycle

Pending items

• Update Links to GET Purchase data
• Update Links to Update Purchase Data
• Update Links to Update L3 data