CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Credit Card Processing, Legal, News

Visa, MasterCard Settlement & Your Business

by Ben Dwyer

Many large plaintiffs oppose the current Visa and MasterCard settlement, and the fight looks far from over. Update: December 13, 2013 — According to the Wall Street Journal, a judge cleared the swipe-fee settlement. Earlier this month, Visa, MasterCard and several of the nation’s largest banks settled an antitrust suit with a group of seven…

Visa, MasterCard and several of the nation’s largest banks settled an antitrust suit with a group of seven million retailers. 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.

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Credit Card Processing

Debit Card Transaction Fees

by Ben Dwyer

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 Cost section if…

Contrary to popular belief, PIN debit transactions incur more than just a flat fee, often making signature debit transactions cheaper to process. Understanding the ins and outs of debit card transaction fees will ensure you’re not losing hard-earned money pennies at a time.

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Credit Card Processing

What is a POS WATS fee?

by Ben Dwyer

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…

A pos wats or pos wat fee is a communication fee that is charged each time a business’s credit card equipment dials the processor’s toll-free 800 number to get or give information.

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Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Transaction Fees

by Ben Dwyer

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? Authorization…

More often than not, credit card transaction fees contribute more to cost than credit card processing rates.

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Credit Card Processing

Merchant Category Code: Reporting & Rates

by Ben Dwyer

We will discuss the finer points of MCCs below. What is a merchant category code? How are merchant category codes used? For HSA and FSA Card Acceptance For Consumers Why are merchant category codes important? Can I get set up with a different MCC to get lower rates? MasterCard Merchant Category Codes Merchant Category Code List…

Originally created in 2004 to streamline 1099 reporting, merchant category codes are now used for a number of different purposes. Of particular importance to businesses is a merchant category code’s impact on interchange fees charged by issuing banks.

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Credit Card Processing

Acquiring Bank — Where the Money Comes From

by Ben Dwyer

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…

An acquiring bank is a registered member of a card association such as Visa, MasterCard or American Express that provides businesses and individuals with the ability to accept credit, debit and prepaid cards as payment for goods or services.

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Credit Card Processing

What is a Monthly Minimum Fee?

by Ben Dwyer

A merchant account monthly minimum fee really isn’t a fee by itself — it’s more like a benchmark.

A monthly minimum fee is one of the more confusing credit card processing fees because it’s not really a fee at all. A monthly minimum is more accurately described as a benchmark that may result in a fee, rather than as a fee by itself.

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Credit Card Processing

Basis Points – The Basis for Fees

by Ben Dwyer

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…

The term basis point is thrown around a lot in the credit card processing industry, but many sales people fail to realize that most people aren’t quite sure exactly what a basis point is, or what it means in terms of credit card processing fees.

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Credit Card Processing exposed