Credit Card Merchant Fees: What are they and why do we charge them?
Merchant fees can vary widely depending on a number of factors, from the type of cards customers pay with, to the companies you choose to partner with and any add-ons or services you choose.
What are merchant fees?
Merchant fees are any fees assessed to the merchant by the card brands, the payment processor you choose to partner with, and any add-ons or services you select.
Ways merchant service providers charge you
The universal merchant account fees
Whether you're on flat, tiered, or interchange pricing, there are some merchant account fees that will always appear on your statement. It's just the way these systems are set up, and these are common across any merchant services provider you may use.
Authorization fee
When a transaction is being processed, there is an authorization token that is sent back and forth between the issuing bank (Chase, Citibank, etc.) and the acquiring bank (your business account). The token checks that the balance or credit is available for the requested transaction and either approves or denies the transaction.
There is a low fee that is charged on a per transaction basis for this, and you're charged it even if a transaction is declined.
Transaction fee
Merchant service providers use transaction fees to describe the per transaction fee they collect. Depending on your plan, it may also include the percentage applied or the authorization fee mentioned above.
Assessment fees
Assessment fees are charged by the cardmember associations for various expenses including fraud prevention and network operations, and merchant service providers often pass them along to their customers.
The rates per transaction are typically around 0.13% - 0.15%.
Scheduled fees
There are also various "flat" merchant account fees you may run into. These vary widely by amount.
Monthly or annual fee
Some providers simply charge a percentage of your transactional revenue for a fee, others charge monthly. That just depends on who you're working with and the way they run their business.
Monthly minimum fee
If a processor charges on revenue and you don't which a certain floor, they may charge you for not reaching it.
Processing commitment fee
Similar to the monthly minimum, if your contract states that you need to be transacting a certain amount a month and you fail to reach it, you may be charged a processing commitment fee.
Statement fee
This fee is charged to cover the printing and mailing costs for credit card statements. This fee can easily be avoided with online statements, which are typically free.
The internet is antiquating this fee, but if you get paper statements you may be charged for them.
Payment gateway fee
Some merchant service providers have their own gateways or with third-party services. Your MSP may or may not charge for this.
Situational merchant account fees
Also known as incidental fees, sometimes fees happen in certain scenarios depending on your contract.
PIN debit transaction fee
If you accept a transaction that requires a PIN verification, you may be charged for it.
Address verification system fee
If you have to verify a user's address for security reasons, this is typically $0.01 per transaction.
Retrieval request fee
When a customer doesn't recognize a charge on his credit card statement, he may flag it to his card issuing bank. This enlists the card issuer to investigate the transaction and request a copy of the receipt to corroborate the transaction. When the card issuing bank gets involved, providers charge a small fee to complete the request.
If a customer doesn't recognize a transaction and they flag it, you'll be charged because the issuing bank will have to collect receipts/evidence to corroborate the transaction. This fee is usually small.
Chargeback fee
Not only will you lose the revenue associated with a chargeback, but you'll also get hit with a processing fee.
Batch fee
If you settle a bunch of transactions at once, your provider may charge you a flat fee for that.
Cancellation or termination fee
If you terminate your agreement early, you may be charged.
Voice authorization fee
If you ever have to make a call to authorize a transaction, you'll be charged a small fee.
PCI non-validation fee
If you aren't PCI-compliant and/or your system isn't sending along that PCI verification to the participating banks in a transaction, you may be charged a PCI non-validation fee.
Application/setup fee
Some MSPs charge you to get set up. Make sure you read the terms carefully and choose an MSP who will have your back.