| Level | Discover | Mastercard | Visa | American Express |
| 1 | All merchants processing 6 Million or more card transactions annually on the Discover® network. OR Any merchant that Discover, in its sole discretion, determines should meet the Level 1 compliance validation and reporting requirements. OR All merchants required by another payment brand or acquirer to validate and report their compliance as a Level 1 merchant. | All Third Party Processors (TPPs) OR All Staged Digital Wallet Operators (SDWOs) OR All Digital Activity Service Providers (DASPs) OR All Token Service Providers (TSPs) OR All 3-D Secure Service Providers (3-DSSPs) OR All AML/Sanctions Service Providers OR All Installment Service Providers (ISPs) OR All Data Storage Entities (DSEs) and Payment Facilitators (PFs) with more than 300,000 total combined Mastercard and Maestro transactions annually | Merchants processing over 6 million Visa transactions annually across all channels or Global merchants identified as Level 1 by any Visa region | 2.5 million or more American Express Card transactions per year (or if you’ve been selected a Level 1 by American Express) |
| 2 | All merchants processing between 1 Million and 6 Million card transactions annually on the Discover network. | All DSEs and PFs with 300,000 or less total combined Mastercard and Maestro transactions annually OR All Terminal Servicers (TSs)3 | 1 to 6 million Visa transactions annually across all channels | 50,000 to 2.5 million American Express Card transactions per year (Service providers: less than 2.5 million transactions) |
| 3 | All other merchants | 20,000 to 1 million Visa e-commerce transactions annually | Level 3 Designated: Less than 50,000 American Express Card Transactions per year and has been designated by American Express as being required to submit validation documents. (merchants only; does not apply to service providers). American Express will contact these designated merchants and provide them details for reporting their security status by submitting PCI validation documents. Level 3: Less than 50,000 American Express Card transactions per year (merchants only; does not apply to service providers) | |
| 4 | Merchants processing less than 20,000 Visa ecommerce transactions annually and all other merchants processing up to 1 million Visa transactions annually | Level EMV: 50,000 or more American Express Chip-enabled Card transactions per year with at least 75% made on an EMV-enabled (Chip-enabled) terminal capable of processing contact and contactless American Express transactions |