I was looking up a vendor for the MCC code in the Visa Supplier Search and noticed the column “Enhanced Data Level” I had to look it up and there are three levels.
According to bluepay.com, the levels of data are:
- Level 1
- Basic data – merchant name, transaction amount, transaction date
- Level 2
- More detailed data – all of the above including tax ID, taxes paid, customer code, merchant postal code, and a couple of others
- Level 3
- Even more detailed data – all of the above including line item transaction like product code and descriptions and quantities, and if shipping, weight, duty, and destination postal code, and other detailed information
I’d be incredibly wary about gift card churning from stores that have Level 2 and above. One vendor that I frequent is on Level 2 and I will not be patronizing them anymore. The credit card companies would see that I am paying for a tax-free item at $504.95 and could easily decide that I am abusing the card after a repeated pattern.
My advice: research all of the stores you patronize and reconsider your plan of attack for manufactured spend.
Any idea if there’s a default level? The couple of places where I might want to spend around $504.95 or $505.95 were blank.
Hi Al, I believe the default is level 1
That is interesting stuff to a credit card nerd like me! First time I’ve seen that on the interwebs.