by Ben Dwyer If you accept commercial credit cards, you might come across Mastercard’s business or commercial interchange rates on your credit card processing statement.
Mastercard uses many different interchange categories to determine the rates and fees your business pays for accepting credit cards. There isn’t just a single “Mastercard business” interchange rate. There are 5 different business card rates, depending on the “program level.” From there, most businesses will see rates further broken into one of two categories: Data Rate 1 and Data Rate 2. Let’s dig into those variables.
New to interchange? Check out our article on interchange basics.
Program Level
Mastercard splits commercial interchange into 5 levels. These levels are determined by spending requirements for the cardholder. They are not based on anything your business controls. As of spring 2025, the current thresholds are as follows:
- Level 1: $0 to $24,999.99
- Level 2: $25,000 to $49,999.99
- Level 3: $50,000 to $99,999.99
- Level 4: $100,000 to $249,999.99
- Level 5: $250,000+
Generally speaking, the lower the level, the lower the associated interchange rate. We’ll get to the current rates a little later in this article.
Mastercard Data Rate 1 and 2
The program levels described above will apply to any of Mastercard’s commercial interchange categories. Most businesses will qualify for either the Data Rate 1 or Data Rate 2 interchange categories when accepting commercial cards. Both categories refer to how much transaction information is submitted when you run the card.
Since commercial cards are given to employees by their companies, those companies often want more information about the transactions than would typically be provided for a consumer card purchase.
Data Rate 1
If you receive Data Rate 1 rates, your business only submitted some of the full list of requested data. This means that you didn’t “downgrade” to the most expensive interchange category for commercial cards, but you also didn’t qualify for Data Rate 2, which has lower interchange rates.
Data Rate 2
If you receive Data Rate 2 rates, your business submitted all of the requested data and qualified for the best possible interchange rates for that transaction.
Submitting required data to qualify for the best commercial transaction rates is a whole topic of its own. The information you’ll need to provide – called enhanced data or Level 2 and Level 3 data – can often be sent automatically if set up properly with your credit card processor using compatible equipment. If you take a lot of commercial cards, be sure to check out our article on enhanced data and accepting commercial credit cards.
Standard
If you don’t provide any of the requested data for a commercial transaction, that transaction may “downgrade” to a more expensive interchange category called Standard.
Read more about downgrades and Mastercard Standard interchange.
Mastercard Business Interchange Rates
Mastercard’s business interchange rates are grouped into commercial credit and commercial debit or prepaid.
Mastercard Commercial Credit Interchange
As of spring 2025, Data Rate 1 and 2 rates fees (as well as the Standard downgrade) for business credit cards are as follows:
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 | |
| Data Rate 1 | 2.65% + $0.10 | 2.8% + $0.10 | 2.85% + $0.10 | 2.95% + $0.10 | 3% + $0.10 |
| Data Rate 2 | 1.9% + $0.10 | 2.05% + $0.10 | 2.1% + $0.10 | 2.2% + $0.10 | 2.25% + $0.10 |
| Standard | 2.95% + $0.10 | 3.10% + $0.10 | 3.15% + $0.10 | 3.25% + $0.10 | 3.3% + $0.10 |
Rates and fees subject to change at Mastercard’s discretion.
Mastercard Commercial Debit and Prepaid Interchange
As of spring 2025, Data Rate 1 and 2 rates fees (as well as the Standard downgrade) for commercial debit and prepaid cards are as follows:
| Debit | Prepaid | |
| Data Rate 1 | 2.65% + $0.10 | 2.65% + $0.10 |
| Data Rate 2 | 2.10% + $0.10 | 2.65% + $0.10 |
| Standard |
2.95% + $0.10 | 2.95% + $0.10 |
Note that Mastercard also offers rates for specific types of organizations, such as charities. You can view the full published interchange table on Mastercard’s website.
Statement Abbreviations
If your monthly processing statement shows interchange categories (not all statements do!) the commercial card categories may be spelled out explicitly or they may be abbreviated. Processors can choose the way that they list the categories. In the examples below, the processor spells out the entire interchange category, but abbreviates Mastercard. You’ll see this is the first image with “MC Business Level 4 Data Rate I” and “MC Business Level 5 Data Rate I.”
Another processor also abbreviates Mastercard and spells out the category but reverses the order of data rate and level: “MC Commercial Data Rate 1 Level 3.”
Still another processor abbreviates Mastercard and Business, but spells out the level and data rate. For example, “MC-BUS Level 5 Data Rate 2.”
However your processor chooses to list it out, you can expect to see some version of business or commercial, the name or abbreviation for Mastercard, and the level and data rate.
Why doesn’t my processing statement show interchange categories?
If you use a “flat rate” credit card processor (like Stripe or Square) you won’t see interchange categories detailed on your processing statement. It doesn’t mean that interchange doesn’t apply, it just means your processor only shows you the flat rate you paid, not the interchange rates.
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