2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more additional descriptive fields retrieved from the data warehouse include at least one field containing data selected from the group comprising a classification code related to the respective merchant location's line of business, a merchant location city, a merchant location zip code, a flag related to whether the merchant location has a taxpayer identification number, a merchant location taxpayer identification number, a flag related to whether the merchant location has an acquirer-defined merchant location identification, an acquirer-defined merchant location identification, a flag related to whether the merchant location is part of a group of merchant locations that are considered in the aggregate, a label related to a group of merchant locations with which the individual merchant location is considered in the aggregate, and an identifier applied to the merchant location by a third party service provider.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more additional descriptive fields retrieved from the data warehouse include at least one field containing data selected from the group comprising a classification code related to the respective merchant location's line of business, a merchant location city, a merchant location zip code, a flag related to whether the merchant location has a taxpayer identification number, a merchant location taxpayer identification number, a flag related to whether the merchant location has an acquirer-defined merchant location identification, an acquirer-defined merchant location identification, a flag related to whether the merchant location is part of a group of merchant locations that are considered in the aggregate, a label related to a group of merchant locations with which the individual merchant location is considered in the aggregate, and an identifier applied to the merchant location by a third party service provider. 3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the classification code is derived from a hierarchical classification, and the comparing determines whether the respective merchant classification codes are identical, are related by being in the same branch of a hierarchy, or are unrelated.