Issuer Limit

An issuer limit is a dollar amount that determines whether a transaction is processed by STIP or by the issuer.

BASE I routes transactions with amounts equal to or greater than the issuer limit to issuer processors for authorization decisions. BASE I routes transactions with amounts less than the issuer limit to STIP for processing. When the issuer is not available, transactions with amounts above the issuer limit are also processed in STIP.

NOTE

Certain rules for specific card programs can override the issuer

Issuers specify separate issuer limits for all MCGs, including Other Purchase and Other Cash.

Zero Issuer Limits

Issuers can establish zero issuer limits to have BASE I always forward all applicable transactions to the issuer, when the issuer is available. BASE I overrides zero limits and sends transactions to STIP when the following conditions apply:

• Issuer-unavailable conditions

• Timed-out requests

• Issuer-available conditions such as MOTO

Issuer Limit Exception Rules

Issuers can establish issuer limit exception rules for the following transactions:

International—If the issuer wants to receive all international transactions, BASE I resets the issuer limit to zero.

Key-Entered—If the transaction is not an account verification or address verification request, and the issuer wants to receive all key-entered transactions, BASE I resets the issuer limit to zero.

Mandatory Minimum Issuer Limits

Regions determine whether their issuers must use MM Issuer Limits.

For some Visa card transactions, the V.I.P. System overrides an issuer-specified issuer limit with Visa mandatory minimum (MM) issuer limits to facilitate a higher level of cardholder and merchant service. Both PCAS and PACM use the same set of MM issuer limits.

MM issuer limits apply to the following transactions:

T&E—The issuer can also specify limits for these transactions, and BASE I uses the greater of the two limits.

e-Commerce—The lower of the mandated or issuer-specified issuer limit is used. The Advice limit is forced to zero.

MOTO—BASE I routes transactions below that threshold amount to STIP for the approval or decline decision. U.S.-region issuers must specify that all MOTO transactions be forwarded to them. (The issuer-available limit is zero.)

When MM Issuer Limits apply to low-risk T&E transactions, the greater value between any issuer-supplied Issuer Limit and the applicable Visa MM Issuer Limit is used. For high-risk transactions, such as MOTO transactions, the lower of the issuer-supplied Issuer Limit and the applicable Visa MM Issuer Limit is used. All other purchase or cash disbursement transactions use the greater of any issuer-supplied Issuer Limit and applicable Visa MM Issuer Limit.