Frequently Asked Questions

Credit and debit card transactions typically process within 24-48 hours. ACH transactions can take 3-5 business days to process.

You can accept all payment types, including credit and debit cards, ACH payments, mobile payments, and online payments. We also can provide you with the ability to take e-wallet payments (e.g., Venmo, Cashapp) and offer buy-now-pay-letter (BNPL) options (e.g., Klarna, Afterpay, Sezzle, etc.).

Most businesses receive their funds the next business day. Some high-risk businesses (e.g., cannabis dispensaries, international merchants, etc.) may be placed on a three- or five-day funding period when their account is set up, but they can transition to a faster funding time after several months.

Interchange rates are the fees that are charged and deducted by the customer’s issuing bank from a transaction. These fees are set by the card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, etc.).  The rates are updated semi-annually (April and October) and vary based on the card type (credit/debit), industry classification (retail/restaurant/etc.), card program (rewards/traditional), and whether the transaction is considered “card present” (CP) or “card not-present” (CNP).  These charges can range anywhere from 0.05% + $0.22 to 3.3% +$0.10.  On average, these fees are around 1.6% to 2.6% for Visa/MC/Discover and 2.3% to 3.5% for American Express.  Here is a link to Visa’s Interchange rates, Visa USA Interchange Reimbursement Fees and Mastercard’s interchange rates, S. Region Interchange Bulletin (mastercard.us).

Dues and assessments are the fees imposed by the card brands (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) for facilitating transactions on their networks. On average, these total around 0.15% to 0.25% of the overall transaction.  

Traditional pricing is where the merchant pays the processing fees that are deducted from each transaction. For example, on a $100 sale, the merchant may receive $97.50 after paying the applicable processing fees.  The processing fees include the cost for the issuing bank’s interchange fees, dues and assessments, and the merchant’s acquiring bank processing fees.

Common traditional pricing models include interchange-plus, tiered pricing, and flat rate.  Interchange-plus pricing takes the pass-through expense of the underlying interchange fees and dues and assessments and applies a mark-up by the merchant’s acquiring bank.  This is the most transparent pricing approach because it reflects the true fees for each transaction.

Cash discount is a differential pricing strategy whereby the merchant marks up its listed or advertised prices to include the card fees above and then offers its customers a discount if they pay by cash or some other non-card alternative form of payment. It is a way for businesses to pass on the cost of processing to customers.   

Dual pricing is another differential pricing strategy that also allows businesses to pass on the cost of processing to customers. It differs from cash discount because, with dual pricing, the merchant displays TWO prices for each item: a card price (which incorporates the fees and costs for processing) and a cash price (which includes no such costs).  The customer can then choose how he/she wants to pay.     

Surcharging is a third differential pricing strategy that also allows businesses to pass on a portion of the cost of processing to customers. It differs from the two other strategies because, with surcharging, merchants include a line item fee on credit card transactions (only) at the point of sale that cannot exceed 3%.  A customer can avoid this fee by paying with a debit card.