What is a merchant statement?
A merchant statement is the monthly report from the company that processes your card payments. It shows your card sales, the fees taken out, and the deposits sent to your bank. It is also called a credit card processing statement. The fees are usually on the later pages.
What is interchange?
Interchange is a fee that passes from your processor's bank to the bank that issued your customer's card. Visa's own page describes it as a transfer fee between acquiring banks and issuing banks. In practice the cost reaches you inside what you pay on each card sale.
See where it sits on a statement in the three parts of a card processing fee.
What are dues and assessments?
Dues and assessments are charges from the card networks themselves. Your processor passes them along. On an interchange-plus statement they are usually listed by name. On flat-rate or tiered statements they are folded into the rate, so you will not see them as separate lines.
Compare them with interchange and markup in the three parts of a card processing fee.
What is an effective rate?
Your effective rate is your total fees for the month divided by your total card sales for the month. If it is 3%, then $3 of every $100 you run through the card machine goes to fees. It is the number to use when you compare two statements or two quotes.
Work yours out in what is my effective rate, or try the card fee calculator.
What is a PCI non-compliance fee?
A PCI non-compliance fee is a monthly charge some processors add when you have not completed the yearly card-security checkup their agreement asks for. It comes from your processor's agreement. Ask what you need to send to stop it, and where it is written in your contract.
The PCI Security Standards Council publishes the standard. Its FAQ says whether a business must prove it meets the standard is up to the card brands and acquirers (the banks behind processors). An industry guide says these fees are charged by acquiring banks, not the card networks, and that finishing the validation your bank asks for is how they are cleared.
See the other fees to question in which fees are worth questioning.
Is surcharging legal in Georgia?
Yes, with limits. Georgia's Attorney General consumer protection office says merchants may add a surcharge to cover the card processing fee, but not more than the merchant pays to accept the card. The merchant must give notice before the sale and show the exact amount on the receipt. Card network rules also apply.
This is general information, not legal advice, and rules change. Check with your processor and an attorney before you add a surcharge. Visa's page says merchants must notify their acquirer 30 days before they begin surcharging. A surcharge is different from a cash discount.
Read surcharge vs. cash discount for the basics.
What is the difference between interchange-plus, tiered, and flat-rate pricing?
Interchange-plus lists network costs by name and adds a stated markup. Tiered sorts your sales into buckets, such as qualified and non-qualified, with a different rate for each. Flat-rate charges one percentage on every sale. Compare them by effective rate, because the headline rate does not show the monthly extras.
See how each reads on a statement in what the pricing models look like, or read credit card processing fees, explained.
What is dual pricing?
Dual pricing means a business posts two prices: a lower price for cash and a higher price for cards. The card price covers the processing fee. It is related to, but not the same as, a surcharge, which is added to a card sale at checkout. Rules differ, so check with your processor and an attorney.
What is a payment processor, and what is a gateway?
A payment processor is the company that moves card money from your customer to your bank. A gateway is the connection that passes each sale from your software to that processor. Some software lets you choose the gateway, and that choice is what makes it possible to change processors without changing software.
Can I keep my POS software and change my card processor?
Sometimes. If your software connects to outside payment gateways, you can often change processors and keep the software. If the software company is also your processor, you cannot change one without the other. Look up your software in our free tool, or read our guide, to see which kind you have.
Read how to lower card processing fees without changing your POS software, or use the software picker.
What is an early termination fee?
An early termination fee is a charge in some processing agreements if you close the account before the contract ends. Not every agreement has one, and the amount and the rules differ. Find the term and cancellation pages of your agreement before you talk about changing processors.
See what else to check in what to check before you change processors.
What does the free statement review include?
A person reads your latest statement with you, explains each fee in plain language, walks you through your effective rate, and tells you whether a different processor is even possible with your software. You decide what to do next, and there is no pressure to switch.
Start one at the free statement review.
How do I get my statement reviewed for free?
Send us a request through the free statement review, or call (833) 281-9898. Tell us how to reach you, and a person from Norvet MSP replies within one business day. We read your latest statement with you and explain each fee. You decide what to do next, and there is no pressure to switch.
Next you pick your industry and software, then tell us how to reach you. There is no file to upload.