10 Things Supermarkets Need to Know about Merchant Accounts

Do you or one of your clients operate a supermarket? Is so, there are a few things you should know that could result in some significant savings on merchant account fees. Here is the list:

1. Visa has lower Interchange rates for consumer cards used at a supermarket:

TRANACTION TYPE	RETAIL	SUPERMARKET
Swiped Consumer Card	1.54% + $.10	1.24% + $.05
Swiped Debit Card (Less than $19.41)	1.03% + $.15	1.03% +$.15
Swiped Debit Card (More than $19.41)	1.03% + $.15	Flat $.35

2. MasterCard has lower Interchange Rates for consumer cards used at a supermarket:

TRANACTION TYPE	RETAIL	SUPERMARKET
Swiped Consumer Card	1.58% + $.10	1.48% + $.05
Swiped Debit Card (Less than $19.41)	1.05% + $.15	1.05% +$.15
Swiped Debit Card (More than $19.41)	1.05% + $.15	Flat $.35

3. Discover has lower Interchange Rates for consumer cards used at a supermarket:

TRANACTION TYPE	RETAIL	SUPERMARKET
Swiped Consumer Card	1.62% + $.10	1.40% + $.05
Swiped Debit Card	1.02% + $.16	1.02% +$.16

4. Pin Based debit network fees are lower for supermarkets; here are a few examples:

DEBIT NETWORK	RETAIL	SUPERMARKET
Interlink	.75% + $.15 (Capped at $.50)	$.24
Star	1.25% + $.03 (Capped at $.45)	$.24
Pulse	.65% + $.10 (No cap)	$.21

5. If a merchant account for a supermarket is not set up with Interchange Plus pricing the merchant will not receive these special, supermarket rates. In other words if the merchant account has rate tiers such as “qualified”, “mid-qualified” and “non-qualified” then they are not receiving the benefit due them.

6. To received these lower supermarket Interchange rates the merchant account must be set up with very specific details when it is created. So make sure you are using a merchant account provider that has experience in this area.

7. The acceptable MCC Code required for these rates is 5411.

8. Some banks still require supermarket merchants to register with Visa and/or MasterCard as supermarkets. To do so questionnaires must be filled out with questions like, “how much of the floor space is used for perishable items?” And “How many register lanes do you have?” If you are asked to complete these registrations ask the person you are working with at the merchant account provider if you will pass the tests for certification. If you don’t you may waste a lot of time filing out forms and fielding questions from Visa and MasterCard.

9. If you do not want to go through the process of being certified keep searching for a different merchant account provider that does not require the registration, there should be plenty of them out there.

10. Supermarkets often have fairly sophisticated Point of Sale Software they are using. Make sure your POS Software is certified with the merchant account provider you are planning to use. I have seen many occasions where a supermarket chose POS software only to find out they would have to switch merchant account providers in order to use the new software.

BOTTOM LINE: If you are a supermarket know that you should be receiving lower rates than other retail merchants and find someone who knows how to set you up correctly to recieve these better rates.

If you have any questions about supermarket Interchange rates or anything else to do with merchant accounts feel free to contact me anytime.

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