“Card not present” or CNP refers specifically to any transaction that is not swiped (for magnetic stripe cards), dipped (for EMV chip cards) or tapped (for contactless payment methods like Apple Pay.) If you don’t physically run a card through a machine using one of those methods, the card is considered “card not present.”
If you run a hotel, car rental agency, or passenger transportation business (such as an airline or cruise line) these interchange categories will typically apply to your debit or prepaid card-not-present transactions. These categories do not apply to card present transactions or to businesses outside of these industries, nor do they apply to credit cards.
In the past, Visa had credit CPS categories, including for hotels and car rentals, but does not have such categories in their published interchange table as of 2023.
If you’re new to interchange, start with our explanation of how interchange fees work.
- CPS Car Rental, CPS Hotel, and CPS Passenger Transport Interchange Rates
- General Interchange Qualification
- CPS Car Rental and Hotel CNP Interchange Qualifications
- CPS Car Rental and Hotel E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualifications
- CPS Passenger Transport CNP Interchange Qualification
- CPS Passenger Transport E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualification
CPS Car Rental, CPS Hotel, and CPS Passenger Transport Interchange Rates
There are multiple interchange categories for these industries, but most have the same rate for the same card type. Below, we’ve grouped the interchange categories together by industry.
All of the rates below come directly from Visa’s published interchange schedule and are subject to change at Visa’s discretion.
CPS Hotel and Car Rental – Debit, and Prepaid
For hotels and car rental agencies taking card not present transactions (such as online or by keying in card details), the following interchange categories and rates may apply to non-rewards cards.
| Volume Rate | Per-Transaction Fee | |
| CPS Hotel and Car Rental Card Not Present, Debit |
1.70% | $0.15 |
| CPS Hotel and Car Rental Card Not Present, Prepaid | 1.75% | $0.20 |
| CPS / E-Commerce Preferred Hotel and Car Rental, Debit | 1.70% | $0.15 |
| CPS / E-Commerce Preferred Hotel and Car Rental, Prepaid | 1.75% | $0.20 |
However, it’s important to note that this is not a finite list. If a transaction doesn’t meet the requirements for a category listed above, it will “downgrade” to a more expensive category. We’ll cover rewards cards and downgrades later in this article.
CPS Passenger Transport – Debit, and Prepaid
In card-not-present transactions for passenger transportation businesses, the following interchange categories may apply.
| Volume Rate | Per-Transaction Fee | |
| CPS / E-Commerce Preferred Passenger Transport, Debit |
1.70% | $0.15 |
| CPS / E-Commerce Preferred Passenger Transport, Prepaid |
1.75% | $0.20 |
| CPS / Passenger Transport Card Not Present, Debit |
1.70% | $0.15 |
| CPS / Passenger Transport, Prepaid |
1.75% | $0.20 |
Passenger transport is also subject to additional interchange categories, such as downgrades.)
Downgrades
When a transaction doesn’t meet the requirements for its target interchange category, it will “downgrade” to a more expensive category. In a sense, downgrades are a penalty rate for missing the qualifications of a less expensive category. Downgrades are not completely avoidable, but if you have a lot of them, it’s worth investigating.
General Interchange Qualifications
For all of these interchange categories, there are requirements a transaction must meet. Some requirements are the same across all categories, while others are category-specific. First, let’s take a look at the requirements that are the same across all categories. The transaction must:
- Take place at an eligible business
- Be “card not present”
- Pass 1 valid electronic authorization
- Have a matching Merchant Category Code (MCC) for authorization and settlement
Eligible businesses include car rental agencies (with MCCs 3351, 3441, 7512), truck / trailer rental agencies (MCC 7513), hotels (with MCCs 3501, 3833, or 7011), airlines (MCC 3000, 3299, 4511), or railways (MCC 4112.)
In addition to these general criteria, individual categories have their own requirements. Let’s take a look at those by industry.
CPS Car Rental and Hotel Card Not Present Interchange Qualifications
The additional qualifications for CPS Car Rental and CPS Hotel CNP interchange are the same. They include:
- Settlement date within 2 days of the checkout / car-return date
- Include a rental agreement number (car rental) or folio number (hotel)
- Include the start date (rental) or check-in date (hotel) and the duration of the rental / stay
- Provide an indicator for no shows / extra charges, if applicable
On statements: You must see these categories listed on monthly processing statements as CPS CARNP, CPS HTLNP. The debit categories may be called CAR NP D, CAR CNPDR, HTL NP D, or HTLCNP D R. The “D” indicates “debit” while the “R” specifies regulated debit. Prepaid categories may appear as CARCNP PP or HTLCNP PP. However, your processor may choose to use other names.
CPS Car Rental and Hotel E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualifications
The qualifications for the e-commerce preferred category for car rentals and hotels are the same as the CNP interchange above, with one addition. To qualify for E-Commerce Preferred interchange, the transaction must:
- Verify the CVV number
- Include an Ecommerce Indicator of either “5” or “6”
Ecommerce indicators refer to the use (or lack of use) of the Verified by Visa 3D Secure anti-fraud program.
A “5” indicates that the business accepting the card successfully authenticated it via 3D Secure. A successful authentication is only possible when both the card and the bank that issued the card participate in the Verified by Visa program and the cardholder authenticated the transaction.
A “6” indicates that the business accepting the card attempted authentication as a 3D Secure transaction, but either the cardholder or the bank that issues the card does not participate in the Verified by Visa program. The “6” indicates that the transaction was not successfully authenticated with 3D Secure, but that it wasn’t the business’s fault.
On statements: These categories are sometimes shortened to ECOM PFCAR and ECOM PFHTL. The debit categories may be called ECM PF C D and ECMPFCD R for auto rental, or ECM PF H D, ECMPFH DR for hotels. The “D” indicates debit, while the “D R” indicates regulated debit. For prepaid, you may see ECMPFCPP or ECMPFHPP. However, processors can use alternate names or abbreviations if they prefer.
CPS Passenger Transport CNP Interchange Qualification
In addition to the general interchange criteria discussed earlier, a transaction must be the following requirements for CPS Passenger Transport:
- Transaction date and authorization date must match
- Transaction must include a ticket and sequence number, as well as itinerary information
- Have a settlement date within 8 days of the transaction date
On statements: You may see this category listed under different names. For credit, it may be CPSAIR CNP. Debit may appear as CPSAIRDCNP or AIR CNP DR, with the former indicating unregulated debit and the latter regulated debit. For prepaid cards, look for AIR CNP PP. Keep in mind that your processor has final control over how the categories will be listed on your statement.
CPS Passenger Transport E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualification
This category has largely the same criteria as the CNP for passenger transport, with the addition of:
- Requiring validation of the CVV number
- Requiring an e-commerce indicator of “5” or “6”
As noted elsewhere, ecommerce indicators refer to attempting to authenticate a transaction through the Verified by Visa program. A “5” indicates a successful Verified by Visa authentication. A “6” indicates that the authentication was not successful, but that the business attempted that authentication. It failed either because the cardholder or the bank doesn’t participate in the Verified by Visa 3D Secure program, thus successful authentication was not possible.
On statements: These categories might show up on your monthly processing statements as ECOM PF PT. Debit categories may appear as ECM PF P D or ECMPFPD R, with the category ending in “R” delineating regulated debit. For prepaid, you may see abbreviations such as ECMPFP PP or other names at your processor’s direction.
