How Versapay helps reduce processing costs under CEDP

Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) is an initiative geared toward improving the quality of transaction data on business credit card purchases. Since launching in April 2025, merchants have reported seeing rising transaction processing costs; especially those in business-to-business (B2B) sections.  

This is because the program enforces stricter data requirements, making it harder for merchants to provide Visa with complete, accurate Level II and III data to qualify for and maintain optimal interchange rates. 

Brandy Luczywo, Interchange Manager at Versapay, explains the rationale behind this change, clarifying that Visa’s making a concerted effort to hold merchants more accountable to higher transaction data-quality standards.  

She suggests that, “Visa still wants to give merchants interchange benefits, but only when they're receiving the appropriate data that they need in return. Historically, merchants would often submit lower quality and inaccurate data because Visa had not been requiring accountability to pass accurate information. Since that's changed with CEDP, the cost of accepting business cards has, and is scheduled to, go up.” 

Even merchants who meet Visa's new CEDP requirements, and who Visa considers validated, may find that processing costs starting in January 2026 will exceed anything they’ve seen previously.  

As Brandy explains, “Visa is basically eliminating a lot of the financial benefit that merchants used to reap by simply including Level II and III data. Merchants will need to ensure the data they provide with each transaction is correct, comprehensive, and descriptive. They will not get the benefits they received before CEDP was implemented if they continue to use generic placeholders or dummy data. Visa is also scheduled to make significant changes to Small Business Tier 1 to 5 categories in January 2026, which will provide marginally less savings opportunity overall.” 

Ultimately, with CEDP, merchants accepting Visa’s business credit cards are seeing increased payment processing fees as a result of more interchange downgrades, and greater complexity in managing payment acceptance. To offset these costs, merchants are considering surcharging, offering customers discounts to pay by alternative payment methods, such as ACH, increasing product pricing across their business to their customers / cardholders, or simply absorbing the higher processing costs. 

However, those aren’t the only solves for tackling CEDP head-on. 

One of Versapay’s core advantages as a payment processor is its deep focus on integrated solutions, connecting directly with ERPs (like NetSuite, Intacct, or Dynamics 365) to ensure merchants can consistently capture and transmit high-quality data. 

This expertise with integrated solutions is why Versapay is set up for success with CEDP rolling out. Versapay has a variety of solutions that have been built and designed, and had time and energy invested into, and is able to take the transaction data that merchants are putting into their systems and transmit it to give them the best chance of getting those interchange benefits. 

Integration truly is the operative word here. Beyond merchants enjoying faster onboarding, better economics, and total visibility, integrated payments like that which Versapay offers give merchants more control and a better shot at qualifying for the lowest processing fees. 

Brandy explains that, “Anytime you are processing payments in a non-integrated manner or where you are utilizing an outside source to collect transactional data to send to the card brands, your ability to qualify for interchange benefits becomes at risk. Additionally, how that information gets into your system and how your system then passes it to the processor is less in your control.” 

Versapay’s integrations are built such that payments processed through your ERP capture the required data points for CEDP compliance, giving merchants a greater chance at CEDP-verification and reducing the risk of downgrades and missed interchange savings. 

Brian Lee, Director of Pricing at Versapay, explains, “Versapay has the integrations to capture and pass the highest degree of transactional data. Whether the payment type is credit card or ACH, our proprietary gateway is best-in-class and fully capable of securely transmitting the most robust set of data throughout the entire transaction lifecycle. This not only helps merchants qualify for the most optimal interchange rates, but it also delivers deeper transaction-level insights that enable an actionable understanding of customer behavior and buying patterns, which can then be used to enhance the customer experience.” 

Qualifying for the best possible interchange rates remains the best option for merchants looking to maximize payment processing margins. The industry, however, changes quickly, and merchants cannot reasonably be expected to stay fully updated on what will or won’t impact their compliance status.  

Luckily, Versapay’s team actively monitors industry updates and adapts its integrations to meet evolving requirements, minimizing the risk of costly downgrades. 

“As changes are made within the industry,” Brandy notes, “Versapay has resources that are constantly working through enhancing data or enhancing the information that's being passed inside of these integrated solutions.” 

Beyond employing payments experts (like Brandy and Brian) who actively monitor industry changes, Versapay partners with merchants to help them understand statement changes, identify cost increases, and optimize payment flows.  

CEDP began fully enforcing CEDP standards in October, 2025. By April next year, they’re expected to retire the old Level II program entirely, and Visa’s stricter standards will be fully in effect for all B2B credit card transactions. This will effectively mark enhanced data transitioning from a nice-to-have to an expected norm.  

With this timeline in mind, Brandy advises merchants compare their September 2025 processing statement to their November 2025 processing statement. “That will give merchants a one-month shift in what business they did in September, before anything changed, versus the business they did in November after the CEDP changes had taken place for a full month worth of activity. They may also want to consider doing a similar comparison against their February 2026 volume statement once Visa introduces their next changes in late January 2026." 

• $4,447,338.87
• American Express direct volume excluded 

• $118,908.46 

• Total fees / funded volume
• 2.67% 

Interchange fees comprise a portion of a merchant’s total processing fees. Below is an example of a merchant processing statement that highlights various transaction categories that are applicable for interchange benefits with Visa, alongside the various levels of exposure towards higher fees with Visa.  

Non-qualified volume that requires client action to either settle faster and / or provide cardholder address / zip information or review basic data quality needs to be eligible for any interchange incentives. 

Product 1 “downgrades” — Visa volume not meeting current CEDP requirements and clearing at higher interchange rates. 

Business Level II and III categories — Visa volume that is scheduled for interchange increases in January 2026. 

Corporate and purchasing Level III categories meeting CEDP requirements — Visa volume obtaining optimized interchange benefits with CEDP that are scheduled to continue through 2026. 

Interchange eligibility depends on what data is sent alongside each transaction. Reviewing and confirming your existing data quality, auditing current submission processes, and ensuring your integration or payment gateway passes all required fields accurately are the best steps merchants can take to prepare for CEDP.  

Beyond ensuring Versapay supports transmitting those enriched data fields, we equip merchants with other tools for saving on processing costs. 

Merchants can, for example, implement surcharging (within regulatory limits) and pass the majority of credit card processing fees directly onto their customers. But be sure to consider positioning surcharges as alternatives to requiring check or cash payments, which customers are increasingly keen to move away from.  

Otherwise, Versapay is equipped to accept all sorts of alternative payment methods, so merchants can easily encourage their customers to use lower-cost payment methods like ACH and EFT to offset rising credit card processing fees. 

Provided you transmit complete and accurate enhanced data on eligible credit card transactions, you can achieve processing savings despite Visa’s stricter data requirements. And by focusing on integration, data quality, and proactive support, Versapay helps merchants navigate the challenges of CEDP and rising payment costs. 

• If you already use Versapay integrations — Review your ERP systems and your current versioning, as well as the data your finance teams enters into invoices and customer records, and ensure it’s thorough and accurate.
• If you’ve built your own payment integration — Audit your current data submission processes and update them to meet CEDP standards to ensure your integration passes all required fields correctly.
• For all merchants — Review your current B2B credit card transaction volumes, assess your enhanced data submission capabilities, and identify any gaps in your Level III data collection processes. 

Visa’s CEDP initiative is actively changing the payments landscape, and with the right preparation and partner, you can stay ahead and maintain optimal interchange rates.

Take control of how you get paid, and talk with a Versapay expert today