How Much Do Credit Card Companies Charge Merchants Per Transaction

Pin Debit Network Transaction Fees

Debit networks such as NYCE, STAR and ACCEL maintain computer networks to route transaction information among businesses and banks. A debit network charges an interchange fee and a switch fee to route transaction information over its network.

Contrary to popular belief, PIN debit transactions incur more than just a flat fee.

Debit networks charge a fee that consists of a percentage, a flat transaction fee, a switch fee, and an annual fee. In fact, debit network fees are;very similar in structure and complexity to the interchange fees charged by Visa and MasterCard.

Debit network fees vary by merchant category code, transaction size and a few other less common variables. Some debit networks cap the maximum fee that a business pays, while many have no cap.

The networks fee category for general PIN debit transactions is listed below along with a maximum fee, if any. The following is accurate as of August;2016, but keep in mind that PIN debit fees change often. Check with your processor or acquirer for the most recent information.

Unregulated PIN Debit Network Fees The fees in the table below are apply to transaction that do not fall under the Durbin Amendment cap.

All transactions that do fall under the Durbin cap carry a rate of 0.05% and a transaction fee of $0.21 .

Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies: Top 5 Options For Small Businesses

In order to find the cheapest payment processing, consider what your business needs, then explore the variety of providers available to you. Theres no one provider that offers the cheapest credit card processing, but rather, the most affordable solution will be particular to your business and the cheapest credit card processing for you may not be the cheapest for someone else.

Keeping this in mind, there are payment processing companies, including both merchant account providers and payment service providers, that stand out as some of the best and most affordable options for small businesses. Here are some of the top providers you might consider:

Average Credit Card Assessment Fees: Around 014%

The assessment fee is the payment network’s cut, and it’s a much smaller portion of each transaction.

American Express is once again the most expensive payment network, but this time around, Discover has the lowest rate, at least for transactions under $1,000. For transactions of $1,000 and over, Mastercard is the clear winner. That being said, the differences in assessment fees between each payment network are minuscule.

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Are Flat Rate Or Interchange

These are the two most popular pricing models. Wondering whether you should choose a flat rate or interchange plus provider?

Unfortunately, the answer is different for each business. It depends on your total monthly transactions as well as the individual transaction amount. That’s not all, though. You also have to figure in any monthly merchant service fee or other add-on fees merchant services provider charge.

In general, interchange plus works for most businesses. Flat fee pricing is usually better for low-volume businesses or those with smaller average ticket size.

Don’t forget

What Does Interchange Have To Do With Merchant Account Fees

Most discussions about the costs of credit card processing hinge on one particular category: interchange. This is primarily due to the fact that this wholesale fee makes up the majority of the cost of processing cards. Card association fees, also known as assessments the other main wholesale cost make up a non-trivial chunk as well, but its considerably smaller than the interchange portion.

The interchange fee is strictly a wholesale fee. It uses the formula financial risk charge + fixed business costs. As the formula relates to risk, the interchange fee can be different depending on your industry. Lower-risk industries get a lower interchange fee, while higher-risk industries get a higher interchange fee.

To further complicate matters, the card associations set the interchange fee, and each card association can assign a different risk value, even to the same industry. In other words, the interchange rate for, say, a shoe shop might be different if a customer uses a Visa card instead of a Mastercard card. This happens if Visa and Mastercard have simply decided differently on how much risk they wish to take on for the footwear industry.

Common Interchange Rate Examples

Now, lets scrutinize the four main pricing models in detail.

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The Best Credit Card Processing Companies Of 2021

• Best for Large Volumes: Stax by Fattmerchant
• Best for High-Risk Merchants: PaymentCloud

With transparent pricing and volume-based discounts, Helcim helps you scale your business.

• CRM and inventory management tools included

• Many options to get support

• Volume-based discounts

• Online approval makes it easy to sign up

• Only one plan to choose from

• Only one type of hardware

Helcim has been in business since 2006, expanding from a payment processor to a financial technology company offering various business solutions. With no monthly fees and a fee schedule that rewards you for higher volumes, Helcim is a great choice with plenty of options for small business owners, which is why its our best overall winner.;

The company is a Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant service provider that uses top-notch security practices typical with financial technology companies.;;

Business owners use Helcim to accept payments like:

• Visa
• JCB
• Pin debit cards

It takes about five minutes to sign up for a Helcim account, and you dont need any hardware to get started. Simply download the payments app to start accepting payments. For in-store transactions, order the Helcim Card Reader for $299, which connects with smartphones, desktops, or tablets.;

While Helcim integrates with QuickBooks and WooCommerce, the real benefits come from its extra services. You can turn any device into a workhorse using cloud programs from Helcim, including:;

• Point of sale system
• Customer management
• Inventory management
• Payments app

How Do Merchant Providers Work

Merchant providers are the go-between service that connects everything behind the scenes. Providers connect to the credit card network, thousands of issuing banks, and your banking services. To ensure the utmost security, most credit card processors are PCI-compliant and use advanced encryption methods.

To select the right credit card processing services, its essential to review your current or projected credit card payment volume and where customers pay . Then compare companies by looking at how much youll pay for processing while assessing customer support and extra services.;

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American Express Fee Processing Is Often Higher

If you have interchange-plus pricing, in addition to debit card rates being lower, you may also notice that American Express rates are higher. To explain this, lets first zoom out: American Express cards arent actually credit cards. They are charge cards. This means, in most cases, customers are paying their balance in full each month and American Express is not collecting interest from customers in the same way traditional credit card issuers do.

Additionally, other credit card associations will allow other banks to issue credit cards using their brand name. American Express doesnt do this and instead operates on whats called a closed-loop or closed network.

Closed network: Where a bank functions as the credit card association and the issuing bank.

This closed network gives American Express a lot more freedom to set interchange rates. Essentially, American Express charges rates that are as high as the market will allow. In this scenario, having a flat-rate merchant account that charges the same fee regardless of card type works in your favor.

Are Credit Card Surcharges Legal

The short answer is yes, it is legal for a merchant to impose a surcharge. A Supreme Court ruling in 2017 protected surcharges as a form of free speech from merchants. Retailers can also require a minimum purchase amount when you use credit cards. Before the Supreme Court ruling, merchants won the right to;add surcharges or checkout fees in a 2013 class-action lawsuit against card issuers and banks.

Part of the reason why surcharges have been allowed is that businesses themselves are charged when they accept credit cards. These fees on businesses generally range from 1% to 3% of every transaction . Businesses may also pay per-transaction costs. In some industries, such as those that rely on small purchases, its hard to make a profit when customers pay with a credit card.

However, there are limitations to how merchants impose these fees. If merchants decide to use credit card surcharges, they must:

• Clearly disclose the fact that there is a surcharge;before;the transaction
• Display the credit card surcharge on the receipt
• Keep surcharges below 4% of the transaction, or the amount of the fees the merchant pays to the credit card companies, whichever is less

Surcharges are only allowed for;credit card;purchasesnot;debit card;transactions. Even if you sign for the debit transaction , it still shouldn’t come with a surcharge as long as you used a debit card.

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How We Chose The Best Credit Card Processing Companies

To narrow our credit processors list to only seven, we looked at dozens of reputable merchant providers. To make our top list, providers had to be PCI-compliant and accept all standard credit cards. For providers servicing high-volume accounts, 24/7 customer service was a must.

However, we know business owners need more than just one more service. Integrations with your software are key, which is why we looked at processors that offer syncing capabilities with your CMS, accounting, and POS systems.;

We narrowed our list further by assessing total cost differences between companies with subscriptions or transaction fees while balancing out the benefits of extra services or software options, like inventory management software. Furthermore, we combed through data to uncover details about processing times and ease of setup.

Who Pays When Merchants Are Victims Of Credit Card Fraud

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list ofour partnersandhere’s how we make money.

You, the consumer, typically arent liable for , but someone pays the tab.

So who foots the bill when a thief uses your credit card or its number to illegally buy stuff? The short answer is its typically the merchant where you bought something or the bank that issued the credit card. It depends on the circumstances.

Heres who pays when a thief illegally uses your credit card or its number to buy goods or services.

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This Begs The Question: Based On Credit Card Charges For Small Businesses Whats The Best Credit Card Machine To Use

This is a complicated question. Ultimately, the best credit card device for one company might not be suitable for another one.

To filter down your options, ask yourself the following questions. They can help you narrow down your choices in order to determine which one is a good fit for your company.

For a comprehensive lesson on ways to find an ideal credit card machine, review the card machine tabs in the menu. It is quite thorough and goes over everything from mobility to support.

• Is the location you reside in fixed? POS systems are connected physically to static terminals, which are the cheapest options out there. Portable terminals communicate over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to connect with a POS system. For transactions to be processed on the road, mobile POS devices are available that are compatible with a designated app on tablets and smartphones.
• How frequently are payments processed? Many credit card machines include rental agreements that span multiple years. They sometimes come with a service charge minimum each month, as mentioned earlier. For businesses with a regular flow of customers, such devices will be suitable. If your company has trading patterns that are irregular, though, consider options like SumUp and iZettle, which let you pay per transaction.

Lowest Fees: National Processing

This budget-friendly service offers low prices for processing with its no-frills approach.

• You may get hit with a early termination fee

• No equipment prices on website

• ACH/eCheck processing fees arent listed

Established in 2007, National Processing earns good reviews among small to medium business owners for its reliable service and pricing transparency.;

With its $10 per month plans, you can process payments with a low fee per transaction, making it a clear winner for the lowest fees.;

National Processing is PCI-compliant. The company accepts all primary payment forms, including:;

National Processing partners with Clover to provide a full range of Clover equipment, such as:

• Clover Go: Comes free with a contract and works with your phone
• Clover Flex: A portable all-in-one register and printer;
• Clover Mini: A small POS system;
• Clover Station: A full-size POS system

With no minimum monthly fees, an interchange-plus rate system, and a transparent pricing model, its easy to figure out how much credit card processing will cost. For each plan, youll pay the monthly charge, interchange rate, and transaction fees:;

• $10 per month Restaurant plan: 0.14% plus $0.07
• $10 per month Retail plan: 0.18% plus $0.10
• $10 per month e-Commerce plan: 0.29% plus $0.15
• $59 per month Subscription plan: 0% plus $0.09
• $199 per month Subscription Plus plan: 0% plus $0.05

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How Credit Card Processing Works Step By Step Guide

Step-1: Cardholder uses the credit card to make a payment either at a point of sale terminal or at an e-commerce website.

If it is a POS terminal, which is nothing but the cash counter at a retail store, you will find a card reader. Your card will be swiped to fetch the information. In e-commerce websites, where you cannot physically use your card, the merchant uses a payment gateway to collect the information.

Popular payment gateways in India include PayPal, Square, Stripe, which typically manage complex routing of data on behalf of the merchant and authorise e-commerce transactions.

Step-2: The card reader or the payment gateway then pass the transaction information through a secure connection to the payment processor

Step-3: The payment processor, which is responsible for collecting and transmitting information to other stages, sends the payment information to credit card network with which the card is associated. The popular credit card networks are Visa, American Express and MasterCard.

Step-4: The card network then passes the information to the customers bank- the bank which issued the credit card. It is also called issuing bank.

In case the bank finds insufficient funds in the account or the credit limit on the card has been reached or when the purchase is not legitimate, it declines the transaction.

Step-6: The card network transmits the authorisation response to the payment processor which in turn forwards the same to the payment gateway or the card reader.

Where Do Your Credit Card Processing Fees Go

For wholesale fees, these are:

The card issuer . This is any bank that provides credit or debit cards to consumers . The card issuers set the rates for the interchange fees you pay.;

The card associations. These arenetworks of banks responsible for processing transactions made with a specific brand of card . Card associations take their cut in the form of assessments fees, a wholesale cost youll hear more about soon.

are collected by:

The credit card processor . This is the entity in charge of handling debit and credit card transactions on behalf of your business. Your merchant account provider levies these fees to cover its own wholesale costs, pay for third-party services, andmake a tidy profit.

The payment gateway. This is a piece of software that helps verify, secure, and authorize the transaction. While some processors provide in-built payment gateways, most have to outsource. This costs money, and you can bet those processors are passing that check straight on to you!

So, now you have a rough idea of the shape that credit card processing fees will take when theyre applied, and who that money is going to when it leaves your account.;

But what are those fees, exactly and how much will they set you back?

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What Are Credit Card Processing Fees

At the most basic level, credit card processing fees are the cost that a business owner pays to accept credit card payments. However, there are several pieces involved in determining this overall cost, including transaction fees, flat fees, and incidental fees. Generally, the average credit card processing fees range from 1.7% to 3.5% per transaction. Ultimately, though, the cost your business pays to process credit cards will depend on the payment processor you choose.

Deciding to accept credit cards as a form of payment is a key step for business growth. After all, you likely pay for most of your ownexpenses with your credit card, and you should let your customers do the same. But learning how to accept credit card payments at your point of sale or online can get complicated, and youâll need to understand the various business credit card fees involved in this process.

Keep More Of Your Money

There are lots of ways to pay less in fees and keep more of your dollars in your own pocket instead of in the pockets of credit card companies. For starters, know that the majority;of cards out there charge no annual fee, making that fee easy to avoid.

You can keep your interest costs low by favoring cards with low interest rates and ones that don’t impose a “penalty APR ” of up to nearly 30% when you pay a bill late.

Paying bills on time and not exceeding your credit limit will save you from being charged penalty fees, and avoiding cash advances will save you even more. These kinds of actions can also beef up your credit score — which can yield all kinds of financial benefits, such as low rates for car and home loans. A strong credit score can also get you approved for a top-notch credit card offering great benefits.;

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