Interchange-Plus, Disclosed in Writing
We price on interchange-plus. That means the card brands' interchange and assessments pass through to you at exact cost, and our margin is stated as a fixed markup you can read on the proposal and verify on every statement afterward.
We publish a model rather than a single teaser rate, because an honest rate depends on your card mix, average ticket, monthly volume, and whether transactions are card-present or card-not-present. Any provider quoting one number before seeing your statement is quoting the number that sounds best, not the number you'll pay.
What Is Actually Negotiable
Roughly 80–90% of your total cost is interchange and assessments, which are identical for every processor on earth. Nobody beats those. The competitive layer is everything else:
- Processor markup — stated in basis points, fixed for the life of the account
- Monthly account, statement, and batch fees
- PCI compliance program fees and non-compliance penalties
- Gateway and per-transaction gateway charges for online volume
- Equipment — purchased outright or placed, never a multi-year lease
The Effective Rate Is the Only Fair Comparison
Divide total fees by total volume for the month. That percentage is your effective rate, and it is the only figure that lets you compare a flat-rate provider against a tiered plan against interchange-plus.
Most merchants we review are between 2.8% and 3.6% effective. Well-priced retail accounts generally land meaningfully below that; card-not-present and high-risk accounts sit above it because their underlying interchange genuinely is higher.
Fee Structures to Watch For
Tiered pricing lets the processor decide which bucket each transaction falls into, and those definitions can be changed without your involvement. Flat-rate pricing overcharges on regulated debit, where true interchange can be a fraction of a percent. Multi-year equipment leases frequently cost several times the outright price of the terminal and are usually non-cancellable.
None of these appear on our proposals. Our contracts have no long-term commitment and no early termination fee.
Cost-Offset Options
If your goal is eliminating processing cost rather than reducing it, a compliant cash discount or surcharge program passes the card fee to customers who choose to pay by card, within card brand rules. These programs have specific signage, disclosure, and calculation requirements — implemented correctly they work well, and implemented sloppily they draw brand fines.
How Our Quote Works
Send two full statements. You get back a written side-by-side: your current effective rate, our proposed interchange-plus pricing applied to your actual transaction mix, every recurring fee itemized, and the projected monthly savings. No obligation and no cost — and if we can't beat what you have, we'll say so.