CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Credit Card Processing

Small Tickets – The Durbin Downside

by Ben Dwyer

How are businesses with small tickets an unexpected (or expected, depending on whom you ask) casualty of the Durbin Amendment? Let’s take a look. Interchange is Complicated What the Durbin Amendment Did Small Ticket Interchange Before Durbin Small Ticket Interchange After Durbin Proof in Numbers Durbin Reconsiderations Interchange is Complicated The fees that businesses pay…

Now that we’ve had a chance to see actual post-Durbin processing volume, data shows that most businesses save significantly on debit volume thanks to the Durbin Amendment. The only exception to this is businesses with small tickets, or those on tiered pricing. Small ticket merchants have seen costs increase because of Durbin, and merchants on tiered pricing allow their processors to pocket their Durbin savings.

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Case Studies

[Case Study] CardFellow Ensures Business Receives Durbin Savings

by Ben Dwyer

We caught a processor in the act of pocketing Durbin savings, and we saved the business 43% when all was said and done. As this success story shows, a low rate is just the start of savings. A competitive pricing model and fair terms produce savings, too.

One small business finds out just how helpful CardFellow can be when it comes to saving you money on processing fees.

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Credit Card Processing, Legal

Charging Customers a Credit Card Fee at Check Out

by Ben Dwyer

It’s important to note that credit card convenience fees are different than credit card surcharges. In 2013, businesses won the ability to charge customers a surcharge for paying with a credit card. Seven states still prohibit surcharging, and surcharges are still not allowed on debit transactions. Read more about the settlement and surcharging in CardFellow’s…

In some cases, your business can charge customers a convenience fee for using a credit card, but there’s a maze of rules, exceptions and even state laws to navigate to ensure you stay compliant with the terms of your merchant processing agreement.

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Credit Card Processing

NABU Fee – Network Access Brand Usage

by Ben Dwyer

Mastercard charges the NABU fee on all authorized or refunded credit and signature debit Mastercard transactions. The fee is currently set at $0.0195. Mastercard Assessment Fees Network Access Brand Usage (NABU) Fee Locating the NABU Fee How to Lower Your Costs Mastercard Assessment Fees Assessment fees, such as the NABU fee, are charges incurred as…

If you accept Mastercard at your business, chances are you’ve seen a Network Access Brand Usage (NABU) fee on your credit card processing statement.

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Credit Card Processing

PIN Debit vs. Signature Debit

by Ben Dwyer

So which is cheaper, PIN debit or signature debit? A rough rule of thumb is that PIN debit transactions are cheaper for businesses with larger average transactions. Signature debit is cheaper for businesses with smaller average transactions. Signature Debit / Offline Debit PIN Debit / Online Debit Which method is cheaper? Durbin Amendment Cap Chargebacks…

A debit card can be processed as either a signature or PIN-based transaction and your business will incur different charges depending on which method you use.

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Press Releases

CardFellow Offers Free Lifetime Monitoring to Ensure Lowest Rates

by Ben Dwyer

CardFellow’s free lifetime statement monitoring is just one of many benefits to using CardFellow.com. The credit card processing comparison website helps businesses lower their fees by an average of 40 percent and then monitors their statements to ensure rates remain as low as possible. CardFellow Lifetime Statement Monitoring CardFellow.com, a leading merchant account comparison Website,…

CardFellow.com offers a monitoring service to ensure businesses keep the low rates they obtain through the online credit card processing marketplace.

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Credit Card Processing

MasterCard Cross Border Fee

by Ben Dwyer

Mastercard charges an assessment fee called a “cross border fee” on all transactions acquired in the United States that involve a credit card issued outside of the United States. For example, if a cardholder uses their Canadian-issued Mastercard to make a purchase from a business in Michigan, the business will be assessed a cross border…

Mastercard’s Cross Border Fee is one of many possible assessment fees. If you accept Mastercard at your business, you may see a cross border fee on processing statements.

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Credit Card Processing

Less Discount Paid Means Less Money for You

by Ben Dwyer

“Less Discount Paid” Defined “Less discount paid” is the term that credit card processing services use to indicate the amount of money that has been in fees throughout a given month. In order to determine the total amount paid in processing fees for a given month, you have to add “less discount paid” to the…

The phrase “less discount paid” on a processing statement can be confusing. It actually means the amount that you’ve paid in processing fees already.

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Credit Card Processing exposed