Interchange

Where interchange fits

Every card payment carries three types of cost:

• Interchange: paid to the bank that issued the customer's card.
• Network (assessment) fees: paid to the card network, such as Visa or Mastercard.
• Processor markup: what your processor charges for its service.

Interchange is usually the largest of the three, and it's the same no matter which processor you use.

What affects interchange rates

• Card type: debit, credit, rewards or business cards
• How the card is accepted: in person, online or keyed in
• Your merchant category code
• The size of the transaction and the data sent with it

Interchange and pricing models

Under interchange-plus pricing, you pay the actual interchange plus a fixed markup, so you can see each part. Flat-rate pricing bundles everything into one rate. Learn more on our pricing page, read our guide to interchange fees and processing rates, or compare offers with the processing fee calculator.