The suit, which dates back to 2005, accuses the card networks and banks of conspiring to fix interchange fees that businesses pay to process credit and debit cards. The settlement is seen as a victory by many fighting for interchange reform, but at least three plaintiffs in the case feel it doesn't go far enough. Update: December 13, 2013 -- Acco...

Unnecessarily high debit card transaction fees are an easily correctable source of significant losses for many businesses. Understanding debit card transaction fees and the difference between signature debit and pin debit transactions will save your business thousands in processing fees. Feel free to jump down to the Signature Debit Vs Pin Debit...

Credit card processing statements are full of confusing acronyms and opaque fees. We can help you figure out what they are and how to lower your costs if your fees are adding up to an expensive processing solution. What is a POS WATS Fee? As mentioned above, the pos wats fee is a fee you'll see each time the credit card equipment dials the processo...

A common and costly mistake when shopping for credit card processing services is to focus on a processor's rate while paying little attention to transaction fees. The financial impact of this mistake is especially damaging for businesses with a low average sale amount. What's the difference between a transaction fee and a processing rate? Each ti...

Since interchange is the largest portion of credit card processing fees, it's worthwhile to dig into the effect of MCC on interchange. I'll go through the finer points of MCCs below. What is a merchant category code? A merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit number assigned to a business by an acquiring bank or institution when the busines...

An acquiring bank is named for the role it plays in credit card processing. Acquiring banks accept or 'acquire' credit card transactions from banks that issue credit cards to consumers, called issuing banks. An acquiring bank maintains a merchant account for each business it services. A merchant account is an open line of credit that allows the ac...

This article explains what a basis point is, how to calculate fees using basis points, and finally the role basis points play in credit card processing — specifically having to do with a processor's markup. What is a basis point? A basis point is a unit of measurement that is equal to 1/100 of one percent, or 0.01%. A basis point expressed numer...

But there are other factors that make Square a good choice, leaving PayPal behind. So, which one is right for your business? Here's how the two compare. Just looking for the facts on Square? Check out our Square review. NOTE: In April 2023, PayPal Here was discontinued and became PayPal Zettle or Zettle by PayPal. We're leaving this comparison he...

A cardholder's issuing bank sends a retrieval request to the processing bank. Then the processing bank sends the request to the business. At this point a processor will assess a retrieval fee. A retrieval request does not involve the refund or reversal of a transaction. A reversal is only initiated if a chargeback occurs. Since retrieval fees ar...

Intuit is best known as the maker of the popular QuickBooks accounting software, and as the provider of the GoPayment mobile processing application. If the company's credit card processing keeps going as it is, Intuit will also become known for exorbitant credit card processing charges and excessive downgrades. In this article, we'll briefly rev...