Contents tagged with Interchange Regulation

  • Top five factors impacting a merchant's effective real rate to accept card payments

    December 10, 2014
    A number of factors can influence your effective real rate.

    Understanding your effective real rate is the key to identifying the most cost-effective payment services provider. Your effective real rate measures the total cost of all processing fees and can be calculated by dividing the total merchant charges and fees over a given amount of time by the total bank card sales volume over that same amount of time. The only way to ensure you have the best effective real rate is to understand what factors into determining this rate.

    Here are the top five factors impacting real rate:

    Your industry: Merchants have different real rates depending on their industry. For example, retail, hospitality, education, the restaurant industry and B2B sales all have different real rates. 

    Card types accepted: There are a growing number of card types in the … more

  • Why businesses need to stay on top of credit card processing fees

    August 28, 2014
    Businesses need to monitor their credit card processing fees to ensure they don't pay anything unnecessary.

    If you accept card payments, then you know all too well the need to manage your merchant account and the card processing fees being billed. While some merchants "set it and forget it" never opening a merchant statement, others tend to believe every offer that crosses there desk - neither of which is your best strategy.

    A recent article from Internet Retailer profiled baby product company Uppababy. The company started in 2006 to sell strollers and is now present in 12 countries, selling multiple versions of strollers and car seats. The company is partnered with several major retailers including Amazon and Bed, Bath and Beyond, as well as a number of smaller boutique retailers.

    Their wholesale business transactions are mostly conducted in a "card-not-present" sales environment and they … more

  • Examining the murky waters of credit card swipe fees

    July 16, 2014
    Credit card swipe fees can be very costly for small businesses.

    This blog has been covering the ongoing issues, both legal and regulatory, surrounding credit and debit card fees and rules for some time. Recently, NACS featured a guest column from Jeff Miller, the president of Miller Oil Co. and the NACS chairman from 2010 through 2011. He wrote about how swipe fees are really hurting businesses.

    Card fees (or swipe fees in retail environments) represent the cost that businesses pay in order to accept cards and process these payments from approval code through settlement of funds to their business bank accounts.  While these fees vary depending on the provider, most of the underlying costs are largely regulated either by the Fed or by the card companies themselves, who publish Interchange in the public domain and are set the same for all banks … more

  • Denver experiments with waiving credit fees, sees boost in card payments

    May 05, 2014
    Denver experimented with waiving credit card fees and saw plastic payments increase.

    There are many things that go into the swipe fees that credit card agencies and banks charge, that trickle down to the merchants and consumers. One that doesn't get enough press is the role that states and cities can play in setting caps or eliminating them altogether.

    An article from The Denver Post recapped an experiment recently conducted by the city of Denver. Over the first two months of 2014, swipe fees were waived for most plastic payments that were made for city charges. Previously, there was a standard 2.5 percent convenience fee on credit and debit cards for property and excise taxes, court fees (which have an in-percent $3 flat fee) and traffic fines.

    During this time frame, the use of credit and debit card payments increased tenfold or more when compared to … more

  • Interchange cap debated in Washington

    January 30, 2014
    The 21-cent debit-interchange cap that was put into effect in 2011 is being debated in Washington.

    The anti-trust settlement and ensuing quagmire of legal action involving MasterCard, Visa and several major retailers has garnered headlines when it comes to payment swipe fee regulations, but there is another interesting debate brewing.

    A recent article from PYMNTS recapped the current conversation about the 21-cent debit-interchange cap that was put into effect in 2011. Last summer, a federal judge overturned the ruling decision, stating that the amount was too high.

    On January 17, parties on both sides of the debate laid out their feelings in front of a three-judge panel in Washington D.C. The appeals court is still mulling the information.

    "Nearly four years after the law was passed, debit-swipe fees are still far higher than they should be, and banks are raking in … more