Interchange is the fee paid by the merchant's bank (acquirer) to the cardholder's bank (issuer) every time a card transaction is processed. It's set by the card networks — Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express — not by your processor. Interchange is the largest component of your processing costs, typically 1.5–3.3% of each transaction.
Several factors determine the interchange rate you pay on every transaction.
Debit vs credit vs rewards vs corporate. Rewards and corporate cards carry higher interchange rates.
Swiped, dipped, or tapped (card-present) vs online or keyed (card-not-present). CNP transactions cost more.
Your MCC classifies your business type. Different categories have different base interchange rates.
Some interchange categories have tiered rates based on the dollar amount of the transaction.
Providing address verification and card verification data qualifies you for lower rates. Missing data triggers downgrades.
Rates vary by card network, card type, and merchant category. These are representative examples.
| Network | Card Type | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | Debit (regulated, card-present) | 0.05% + $0.22 |
| Visa | Credit (consumer, card-present) | 1.51% + $0.10 |
| Visa | Credit (consumer, card-not-present) | 1.80% + $0.10 |
| Visa | Rewards Credit (card-present) | 1.65% + $0.10 |
| Visa | Corporate (card-not-present) | 2.70% + $0.10 |
| Mastercard | Debit (regulated, card-present) | 0.05% + $0.22 |
| Mastercard | Credit (consumer, card-present) | 1.58% + $0.10 |
| Mastercard | Credit (consumer, card-not-present) | 1.90% + $0.10 |
| Mastercard | Rewards (card-present) | 1.73% + $0.10 |
See how a merchant processing $50K/month saves real money with interchange-plus pricing.
Interchange is hidden inside one bundled rate — you never see the actual cost.
Save $400/month — $4,800/year
Actionable steps to reduce the interchange fees you pay on every transaction.
Your processor doesn't control interchange — the card networks do. But your processor controls the markup. With interchange-plus pricing, you see the exact interchange cost plus a transparent markup. With flat-rate pricing, interchange is hidden inside one bundled rate — and you're almost always overpaying.
See how much you could save with transparent interchange-plus pricing from ClickWerxs.