Below is a list of some of the most popular MSPs.Ī discount rate applies to all the credit card processing fees a merchant must pay to their merchant service provider with each transaction. Below we detail the major costs that influence the price you get quoted, and tell you which ones you have power to negotiate. When shopping around for MSPs, sometimes referred to as acquirers, you will want to collect as many price quotes as possible. For a fee, they are the ones that handle processing of all credit card payments for your business - everything from collecting interchange fees to managing the transfer of funds between the merchant's bank and the credit issuing bank. These MSPs act as middlemen between the merchant and the credit issuer.
This section outlines some common practices by payment processors, which you should be aware of before beginning to shop comparatively.Ī note about accepting credit card payments: In order to accept credit cards as a form of payment, most businesses will need to sign up with a merchant services provider. In many cases you will be required to pay a monthly fees to your MSP, as well as cover the cost of card readers. Other Costs & Fees - Accepting credit card payments comes with some additional costs to consider.With this issuer, they tend to be more expensive than what other networks charge, especially when it comes to processing returns. Amex's unique position also makes them work a little differently when it comes to credit card processing fees. American Express Processing Fees - American Express is a special case, as it is the only card network that is also a card issuer.These sections give an overview of what factors can impact these fees. This involves all the fees which are paid to card issuers and networks via interchange fees and assessment fees. The Discount Rate - The percentage of a sale that goes towards paying credit card processing fees is referred to as the discount rate.We outline and describe some of the costs that contribute the most in the sections below. In reality, much more goes into processing fees for a business and individual fees will highly vary based on a number of factors. *While those are values we generally see, it is an estimated average.