Every time a customer taps a card, the fee you pay splits three ways. Two of those slices are fixed for everyone. Only one is negotiable — and knowing which one is the entire game of getting a fair rate.
The three layers of every card fee
- Interchange — the largest slice, set by the card networks and paid to the customer's bank. It varies by card type: a basic debit card costs far less to accept than a premium travel-rewards card. Nobody can discount interchange — not us, not anyone.
- Network fees — small assessments paid to Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Amex. Also fixed.
- Processor margin — what the processing company adds on top. This is the only negotiable layer, and it's where padded quotes hide.
Why "one low rate" can mislead
Flat-rate pricing (one blended percentage for everything) is simple, but the flat number has to cover the most expensive cards — so on every cheap debit tap, the spread between true cost and your flat rate is pure processor profit. Convenient early on; expensive at volume.
Interchange-plus: the transparent version
Interchange-plus pricing passes the true interchange through at cost and adds a small, stated margin on top. Your statement shows exactly what the banks took and exactly what the processor took. It's the pricing structure we quote because it's the one you can audit.
Or make the fee someone else's line item
Fee programs — dual pricing, cash discount, compliant surcharging — shift the card cost to the price the card-paying customer sees, typically 3–4% depending on your card mix. Run correctly, your processing cost drops to zero or near it. Here's how the programs differ.
Related: How to read your processing statement and 7 ways to lower your processing fees.