What percentage do credit cards charge the merchant?
Posted on May 31st, 2010 by admin
I think its 1% to 5% that a credit card company makes from the merchant when I use my credit card.
True or False?
Higher or Lower?
Will the new laws that are trying to get passed lower this?
I know credit card companies make billions in profits from merchants like walmart in credit card processing fees.
The people that really make the credit cards happy are the ones that charge everything under the sun on the card – charging up possible 1,000 a month easily and pay in full
By reducing the merchant fees, will credit cards not like those customers anymore since it will be less profit from them.?
I can ask tough questions and always get amazing answers. Thank you so far.
you are somewhat incorrect.
merchant fees are negotiable. they usually involve a fixed amount per transaction plus a percentage. high volume merchants, like walmart, can negotiate lower fees. fees also tend to be lower for debit cards used in debit mode(enter your pin instead of sign).
credit card companies(mostly banks) absolutely hate people who pay off their balances in full every month, like me. as they get no chance for any additional interest earnings when i fail to carry a balance.
May 31st, 2010 at 5:50 am
It depends on their level of sales, type of business, number and level of charge backs and the average ticket size.
There are two componets to the charge:
1. Interchange which is paid to visa/mastercard/amex/discover and is revenue shared amoung the banks,
2. The merchant bank that is doing the transaction usually a fee as a percentage but sometimes a flat fee
In my experience it runs from 1.5% to 5%.
References :
May 31st, 2010 at 6:19 am
The percentage varies according to the business. I had a shop in the 1980’s when the CC companies charged me 4 1/2%
References :
May 31st, 2010 at 7:05 am
you are somewhat incorrect.
merchant fees are negotiable. they usually involve a fixed amount per transaction plus a percentage. high volume merchants, like walmart, can negotiate lower fees. fees also tend to be lower for debit cards used in debit mode(enter your pin instead of sign).
credit card companies(mostly banks) absolutely hate people who pay off their balances in full every month, like me. as they get no chance for any additional interest earnings when i fail to carry a balance.
References :
regularly screwing card issuers for rewards.
May 31st, 2010 at 7:54 am
your percentage is about right because the higher percentage is for merchant with smaller sales volume, or at higher risk sale sectors, which become less profitable to the credit card companies, and higher percentage is also for credit card companies like american express that offer more incentives to the credit card holders. For my MBNA credit card, they offer me 5% cash back for my grocery and gasoline purhases for first 6 months, and 3% afterwards, and 1% for other purchases. That is a lot that the NBNA has to pay out to credit card holders, with the average 3% it charges the merchants, although NBNA hopes the credit card holders dont pay their bills on time so that they will be additional interest income.
References :
May 31st, 2010 at 8:20 am
As others have said it varies from visa to master card discover and Amex.
The interchange rates are published and easily found online for both visa and mastercard:
Visa Rates
http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/Interchange_Rate_Sheets.pdf
Master Card:
http://ctlr.msu.edu/download/cashiers/MCICApr10.pdf
Depending on the type of company it might be smart to work out a interchange deal as opposed to a 3 tier rate systems i.e qualified, mid and non qual.
There are a few companies that offer small to medium sized companies the same great rates as large corporations.
Credit card companies will always be making money even if they reduce fees as the industry is heavily credit card based and they always find new angles to make more revenue.
References :
http://www.prestigemerchantservices.com