Processing cost reduction
Pay the card schemes, not a markup you cannot see
Most businesses pay 30 to 40% more to accept cards than they realise. The overpayment is rarely one big fee. It is a dozen small ones, buried in a blended rate nobody breaks down. We break it down, then we take it back.
Where the money goes
Six places a processing bill hides cost
Every card payment carries three layers: the issuing bank's interchange, the card scheme's fee and the acquirer's markup. Only the last one is really negotiable, and it is the one blended pricing is built to hide.
- Blended rates. One percentage for every card hides the markup. A consumer debit card and a corporate credit card cost the acquirer very different amounts, and you pay the same for both.
- Scheme fees passed through at a margin. Visa and Mastercard fees should be passed through at cost. Often they carry a markup of their own.
- Cross-border and FX charges. Selling abroad adds cross-border fees and a currency spread. Local acquiring and settling in the right currency remove most of both.
- Wrong MCC. A merchant category code that does not match your business raises interchange and declines at the same time.
- Minimums, monthly fees and gateway fees. Small line items that add up, and are the easiest to remove in a renewal.
- Reserves and payout delays. A rolling reserve is a cost of capital. It can often be reduced or released once the history supports it.
How we do it
From statement to signed terms
Audit
Your pricing taken apart line by line, to find your effective rate by card type and market.
Benchmark
Your pricing against what 120+ clients in your vertical and volume band actually pay.
Reprice
A move to Interchange++ where it pays, with scheme fees at cost and one visible markup.
Negotiate
With your current provider first. With 50+ alternatives ready if they will not move.
Verify
We check what you are actually charged against the new terms, so the saving is real and stays real.
Results
- ~20%
- typical cut in processing fees
- $1B+
- processed for clients
- 2 weeks
- to first findings
- $0
- cost to your business
Questions
About cost reduction
What is Interchange++ pricing?
Interchange++ (IC++) passes the card-issuing bank's interchange fee and the card scheme's fee through at cost, and adds the acquirer's markup as a separate, visible line. Blended pricing hides all three inside one rate, which is where most overpayment sits.
How much can a business save?
Our clients typically cut about 20% from their processing fees. The saving depends on volume, card mix, markets and how the current contract is priced.
What do you need to start?
A 30 minute call about your volumes, markets and providers. Nothing confidential is needed to start, and first findings usually come back within two weeks.
Will we have to switch provider?
Not necessarily. Renegotiating with benchmark data often gets most of the saving. We recommend a switch only when the numbers justify it.
Find out what your payments could do
A 30 minute call is enough to see where approvals leak, what you are missing and where you overpay. Nothing to prepare, nothing confidential to send.