Card processing is confusing on purpose. Here's how it actually works.
Three places. Most of it is interchange, which goes to the bank that issued your customer's card. A small slice is network fees, which go to Visa, Mastercard, Discover or Amex. The rest is your processor's markup. The first two are the same no matter who processes your cards. Only the markup is up to your processor.
Buckets your processor invented. The card networks don't use them. There are hundreds of interchange categories; a tiered processor sorts them into three or four buckets, bills you the bucket rate, and keeps the difference. A rewards card that costs 1.65% at interchange can be billed at 2.49% as "mid-qualified." Nothing in the card network rules requires that.
Rewards and premium cards pay for their points and perks with higher interchange. Company cards cost more too. Keyed-in sales cost more than tapped or inserted ones because they carry more fraud. Debit cards from big banks are cheapest because federal law caps their price.
No. Interchange is set by the card networks and is the same at every processor. What you can control: tap or insert instead of keying, prompt for PIN on debit, and batch every night. Assay's dashboard shows how much each of those is worth to you.
Total fees divided by total card sales. It's the one number that lets you compare processors honestly. A typical brick-and-mortar store pays 1.6% to 2.0% in real card costs; anything far above that is processor markup.
If your POS supports Datacap (FasTrax and many others) or PAX POSLink, yes, with no software change: we ship terminals set up for it. If you don't use a POS, we ship a standalone terminal.
The application takes about 15 minutes. Most are reviewed within one business day. Terminals usually ship the next business day after approval.
Yes, once you're live with us. Check your current contract for an early termination fee first; the free statement assay will tell you whether switching still pays.
The next business day. Weekend sales arrive Monday. Fees come out of each day's deposit, itemized, so there's no surprise debit at month end.
Your EIN, the name, date of birth, SSN and home address of anyone who owns 25% or more, and a bank account for deposits. Federal rules require us to verify owners.
No term and no early termination fee. Leave with 30 days' notice.
No. Card data is encrypted inside the terminal and goes straight to the card networks. It never touches your POS or our systems.
We email you right away and show it on your Risk page with the deadline. You can fight it with your receipt and camera footage, or accept it. Keyed-in sales are the hardest to win, which is one more reason to tap or insert.
Card networks require us to watch for unusual activity, like a sudden jump in average sale or a run of refunds. If you expect a big day or a big order, tell us first and we'll note it on your file.