Recommended Session File Size

As stated above, a Session file is a group of batches. A batch is a set of transactions for a single merchant. Normally, you send in a single file which has one batch for each merchant. This works well when the overall number of transactions is small. The number of transactions you should submit in any individual Session or Batch depend on a number of factors, including whether or not you are an individual merchant or a presenter submitting transactions for multiple merchants. In general, you should keep the following recommendations and rules in mind when determining the number of transactions you submit in an Session/Batch file:

• A Batch should not exceed 20,000 transactions. If the number of transaction for a single merchant exceeds 20,000, you should create multiple batches for the same merchant, each batch containing not more than 20,000 transactions

• A Batch should not contain only one transaction, unless the merchant has only one transaction for the day

• A Session file must never contain more than 9,999 Batches

• A Session file must never contain more than 1,000,000 transactions across all Batches

• The total amount for any particular transaction type across the entire Batch can not exceed $99,999,999.99 (i.e., 10 digits)

• Always allow sufficient time between your submission time and your cut-off time for the processing of the Session. Larger files take longer to process