I had planned to write this post several months ago but we have been so incredibly busy that I had to put this on the back burner. So finally, here is a summary of the key changes that occurred in October to Interchange from Visa, MasterCard:
Master Card
Change #1 – MasterCard will no longer require [...]
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% + [...]
Watch this video to learn about changes to Interchange coming in October and why, if you have a merchant account with tiers (qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified), it is time to switch your account to an Interchange Plus price model.
Check back here in the next few days for more specifics on the coming changes to Interchange.
If you would like to lower your merchant account fees by switching to a “straight pass through” account go here, fill out the short form and we’ll have you saving money in no time.
If you would like us to analyze your current merchant account and show you how much a “straight pass through” merchant account [...]
By John Robinson, of Cocard Synergy
For the remainder of this discussion, I’ll discuss interchange fees and then a little about the fees to the merchant account provider. The assessment fees paid to the associations, both being small and not negotiable, can wait for another day.
Interchange fees usually make up roughly 80% of the fees you [...]
By John Robinson, of Cocard Synergy
For the really short answer, check out Who Gets Your Merchant Account Fees?
Here’s the plain ‘ol short answer:
Originally these fees were created to cover the cost of processing for your customer’s bank (the “issuing bank ”), and to make small profit for the bank giving you your money (the “acquiring [...]
Adam J. Levtin , a professor Georgetown Law School, recently wote a real easy to understand article about who all the fees assocated with a merchant account go to at CreditSlips . Here is an excerpt:
"Here’s the deal. You purchase $100.00 of goods at a merchant on a credit card. The merchant receives $100 minus [...]
The Biggest Chunk: The Issuing Bank (the bank that “issued” your customer’s their credit card)
This part of your fees are called “Interchange.” Depending on the type of business, size of transaction and type used these fees range between 1.03% and 2.70% plus transaction fees of $0 to $0.15.
Next: Visa or MasterCard (the associations)
These are called [...]
By John Robinson
I just came across something I’m sure you’ll all love: the potential for merchants as a group to negotiate interchange fees with the Visa and MC member banks! There’s a bill being looked at by the Judiciary Committee Antitrust Task Force called “U.S. House of Representatives bill 5546 [...]
Rules. It seems like we have more rules in our lives every day doesn’t it? I am writing this post to make you aware of some more rules. These rules are for merchant accounts and if you don’t follow them you will you will be fined! Well maybe [...]
I have been seeing competing merchant account providers raising their rates because Visa and MasterCard are making some adjustments to interchange rates. So what is really going on? Are the interchange rates really increasing? Here is what I know:
Visa
Effective April 2008 Visa is raising their "Signature Preferred – card [...]
by John Robinson
We know you’re successful business people. (I mean, you’re reading StraightPassThrough.biz, right?) And this means you probably have a pretty good idea who your customers are.
But what if you could use your processing statement to really market to specific customer groups? What if your statement was a powerful sales [...]
A downgrade occurs when a transaction fails to meet certain pre-defined criteria from Visa or MasterCard, and an additional charge is added to the discount rate for processing the transaction.
by John Robinson
Debit or Credit?
If you’re a brick-and-mortar merchant, do you accept PIN-based debit? If not, you may be missing out on a tremendous opportunity to reduce your bottom line. If so, you may not be aware of several ways to improve on that reduction, as well as a few pitfalls you should avoid.
Debit? What [...]
Each month I review my client’s merchant account statements. I want to make sure they are saving at least as much money I promised and are having their transactions qualify for the lowest rates.
I just got off the phone with a new client of mine; a winery in St. Helena, CA. They are [...]
