Pricing
Pricing rules for interchange are based on many variables and can be very complicated to explain, but there are three main components to calculate the cost in all credit card transactions. And of these three components, each is made up of two fees: a percentage of the sale fee and per item fee, which often takes the form of a fee per authorization.
Other factors influencing interchange rates can include:
- Card brand (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex)
- Card type (credit, PIN debit, Durbin debit, etc.)
- Card program (rewards, business, purchasing etc.)
- Business type accepting card (retail, restaurant, lodging, etc.)
- Method of acceptance (face-to-face, card-not-present, ecommerce, etc.)
- Transaction size (small ticket, large ticket, etc.)
- Settlement time (from time of authorization)
- Authorization amount vs. Settled transaction amount
- Additional data elements passed (AVS, Level 2, Level 3, etc.)
