Essentially, it applies under the same circumstances as the Cross Border Fee (domestic). One or both fees can apply to the same transaction. Mastercard currently sets the APSF at 0.85%.
Assessment Fees
A non-negotiable component of credit card processing costs, “assessment fees” go directly to the credit card companies. You’ll pay these fees (through your credit card proessor) for every credit card payment you accept at your business. Mastercard’s Acquirer Program Support Fee is one (of many) Mastercard assessment fees.Acquirer Program Support Fee
As of 2018, Mastercard sets its Acquirer Program Support Fee at 0.85% of the transaction amount. It will be charged to transactions acquired in the United States and settled in US dollars but paid for with a Mastercard that was issued in a country other than the United States. Since you typically won’t know in advance if a customer’s card was issued in another country, you may not realize you’ll be charged the fee until you see it on your processing statement. Some processors will charge you the Mastercard-set rate for assessment fees, while others will “pad” them with a markup. If you want to see if you’re paying the true cost set by Mastercard, you’ll need to locate the fee on your monthly credit card processing statement and do the math. CardFellow clients will not need to check assessments, as we’ll do that for you. If you have questions about your assessment charges or anything else on your processing statements, feel free to give us a call to discuss it.Locating the Fee on Processing Statements
If you’ve been charged the Acquirer Program Support Fee and have a processor that provides detailed statements, you’ll be able to locate the fee in the Mastercard fees section. However, not all processors will provide assessment-level details. In particular, businesses that use flat rate companies (such as Square, Stripe, or PayPal) will not be able to see the rates charged for assessments. For everyone else, you’ll need to look for the fee name or abbreviations. Different processors may refer to the fee by different names. For example, in the statement snippets below, one processor calls it the “ACQ Support Fee” while another refers to it as “MC ACQ POS Program Support.”
In both cases, however, we can see that the processor charges the fee at Mastercard’s rate with no additional markup. The processor lists the charge of 0.0085 in both statements and multiplying the rate times the transaction volume equals the total charge listed.
As shown in the first snippet, the processor charged the fee on $1,075.50 for a $9.15 total charge to the business. 1075.5 x 0.0085 = 9.14175, which rounds to $9.15.
In the second snippet, the processor charged the on $10,116 for a $85.99 total charge to the business. 10116 x 0.0085 = 85.986, which rounds to $85.99.
In both of these cases, the business pays Mastercard’s rate for the Acquirer Program Support Fee with no “padding."
Finding the Lowest Cost Credit Card Processor
Since assessments are non-negotiable, that’s not where you’ll want to focus your energy when choosing a credit card processor. If lowering your costs for credit card acceptance is a priority, price comparison tools can help. CardFellow offers a free, no-obligation price comparison tool that lets you see your actual costs with offers from multiple processing companies. Give it a try!
Ben Dwyer began his career in the processing industry in 2003 on the sales floor for a Connecticut‐based processor. As he learned more about the inner‐workings of the industry, rampant unethical practices, and lack of assistance available to businesses, he cut ties with his employer and started a blog where he could post accurate information about credit card processing. As the blog gained in popularity, Ben began directly assisting merchants in their search for a processor. Ben believes in empowering businesses by providing access to fair, competitive pricing, accurate information, and continued support. His dedication to transparency and education has made CardFellow a staunch small business advocate in the credit card processing industry.
