As a merchant, you can expect to pay a range of processing fees every time customers use their credit or debit cards to buy whatever you’re selling.
The full list of these credit card processing fees is extensive. The most important are interchange fees, which represent up to 90 percent of all processing-related charges that appear on your monthly merchant statement.What is an interchange fee? How does it work?
Credit Card Interchange Rates Defined
Interchange fees are transaction charges that your acquiring bank pays to the customer’s card-issuing bank every time plastic is used within your store. These fees are designed to help the card issuer cover processing costs, fraud protection and risk management.
How Credit Card Interchange Rates Are Calculated?
Interchange fees are set by the credit card associations (i.e., Visa, Mastercard), and they usually have two components:
-
A percentage fee based on the transaction amount (e.g., 2 percent)
-
A fixed fee that remains unchanged (e.g., $0.10)
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding interchange fees, especially among merchants who spend billions every year to cover these costs. Reforms like the Durbin Amendment are designed to make these charges more transparent and manageable.
If you have any questions regarding your processing fees please call (888) 255-2901 or visit AllayPay.com/quote
