Purchase Card transactions differ from standard card transactions in that they generate an ‘electronic VAT invoice’ which is passed to the Purchasing Card cardholder via your acquirer (bank). One of the key benefits of this is that in most instances you do not need to print and post a paper VAT invoice when you make a sale.

The use of Purchasing Cards for Business to Business settlements continues to gain momentum. And the introduction of the MasterCard One Card by the Royal Bank of Scotland, alongside the existing VISA and American Express Corporate Purchase Cards, paints an increasingly complex picture for both suppliers and middleware providers like ourselves. Additionally there are the forthcoming changes for VGIS.

Visa Purchasing Cards

Up until recent times, Visa Purchasing Card transactions have been processed using the Line Item Detail (LID) specification. However, Visa has now introduced Visa Global Invoice Specification (VGIS) which is their new mandated Visa Purchasing data format to replace Line Item Detail (LID) in the UK. The new VGIS format enables you to supply a much richer range of data to your customers i.e. delivery address, contact details etc.

Merchants operating from within the Republic of Ireland however are required to process using the Line Item Detail (LID) format.

MasterCard Purchasing Cards

MasterCard Purchasing Cards can be processed using the Line Item Detail (LID) Specification.

American Express Purchasing Cards

American Express Purchasing Cards can be processed using the Line Item Detail (LID) Specification.

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