The Tricks
What Merchant Service Providers Don’t Want You to Know
Your transaction fee should be lower on Interchange Plus pricing: Visa and MasterCard’s Interchange already carries a built in transaction fee of 10 cents on average. The merchant services provider does need to charge a transaction fee on top of it to cover their own costs. On 3 tier pricing, the merchant services provider needs to charge a transaction fee that is large enough to pay for both Visa and MasterCard’s cost as well as their own costs.
Essentially a 10 cent transaction fee on Interchange Plus = a 20 cent transaction fee on 3 Tier. As the merchant, you are paying the same amount at the end of the day.
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Beware of unnecessary monthly fees: You may be charged a monthly fee, statement fee, wireless or gateway fee, or other logical fees that have actual costs associated with them. Make sure to pay close attention to your monthly fees. They can add up and offset any savings you thought you were getting on your rates. If the charge sounds bogus, there’s a good chance it is. One of the worst I have seen in my experience was a restaurant being charged a “Maximum Value Fee: $35″. Maximum Value Fee? Think about that one…..
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If you’re on Interchange Plus pricing, stay with it : If you’re looking for a better deal and you’re currently on Interchange Plus pricing, make sure the better deal is also on an Interchange Plus pricing model. You want to be comparing apples to apples. There is no precise way to compare savings if you change over to 3 tier and you weren’t on it before. If you’re on 3 tier now, you can stick with that or make the change.
Essentially a 10 cent transaction fee on Interchange Plus = a 20 cent transaction fee on 3 Tier. As the merchant, you are paying the same amount at the end of the day.
————–
Beware of unnecessary monthly fees: You may be charged a monthly fee, statement fee, wireless or gateway fee, or other logical fees that have actual costs associated with them. Make sure to pay close attention to your monthly fees. They can add up and offset any savings you thought you were getting on your rates. If the charge sounds bogus, there’s a good chance it is. One of the worst I have seen in my experience was a restaurant being charged a “Maximum Value Fee: $35″. Maximum Value Fee? Think about that one…..
—————
If you’re on Interchange Plus pricing, stay with it : If you’re looking for a better deal and you’re currently on Interchange Plus pricing, make sure the better deal is also on an Interchange Plus pricing model. You want to be comparing apples to apples. There is no precise way to compare savings if you change over to 3 tier and you weren’t on it before. If you’re on 3 tier now, you can stick with that or make the change.
