How does Authorize.net processing work?

Authorize.net processes data in three levels. Acctivate currently supports Level 2.

Acctivate's multi-channel order management capabilities support multiple payment options including credit cards with integration to Authorize.net.

When processing payment in Acctivate using the Authorize.net integration , Acctivate sends information related to the payment to Authorize.net which Authorize.net then passes along to the processor. The information which is sent to the processor is separated into different Data Levels. The higher level of data which is received by the processor, the greater discount is realized on the charge. This article will cover the levels of data which Acctivate currently sends as well as the levels which Authorize.net are capable of sending to the processor.

Level 1 data:

Level 1 data is the usually used for business to customer transactions. This will send the least amount of data typically including the Merchant Name, Transaction Amount and Date related to the transaction.

Level 2 data:

Level 2 data is usually used for business to business transactions. This will send all of the data from level 1, but will typically also include the Tax Amount, Tax Exempt Status, Freight and PO Number.

Level 3 data:

Level 3 data is the most detailed data processing. Usually, this is only used for transactions involving Government cards. Typically level 3 data will include all of the data from levels 1 and 2, but will also include such fields as the Invoice Number, Order Number, Product ID, Product Description, Quantity Ordered, Product Unit Etc.

Currently, Acctivate sends all required data to meet most level 2 requirements. This is mostly because that is the current limitation of data Authorize.net is capable of passing to the processor. Moving forward, Authorize.net is expected to support passing level 3 data at which time Acctivate will work towards sending level 3 required data.