Everything You Need to Know About Interchange-Plus Credit Card Processing

OK, new month, new pricing model. This time it is an interchange-plus type of pricing model and I wanted to share the most essential things about it. The new pricing model is now available to all card acceptors, regardless of whether they accept credit cards in brick-and-mortar retail stores or in virtual e-commerce and direct marketing environment.

Most merchants place processing cost at the very top of their lists of factors used when examining and evaluating a merchant account proposal. It is of course totally understandable, as most of us do just the same when selecting vendors for whatever types of services we may need.

Yet, offering low acceptance cost is the only way a payment processor can be competitive in today's environment and it is also the biggest reason why our company has introduced an interchange-plus credit card processing model now.

The model is really incredibly simple. It works by adding the processor's cost to the interchange rate, set by the Credit Card Associations for each payment card transaction. By keeping the mark-up as low as possible, the processor guarantees that it remains competitive and that the merchant gets the lowest processing rate in the process.

So let's summarize. The merchant's processing cost is the sum of whatever the processing bank (e.g. UniBul Merchant Services) charges and whatever the issuer charges. With the interchange-plus credit card processing model, the rate the processor assesses remains exactly across all transaction types, guaranteeing that the business does not overpay for any special types of transactions. The final cost will still vary by transaction, though, as the fees charged by the issuer will vary by card type.

Here are some of the benefits of our new pricing model:

• 98% merchant approval rate for qualified applicants.
• Application decision as soon as within hours of submission.
• Processing of all American and the major European and Asian credit, check and debit card brands.
• PayPal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments, eChecks and eBillme third party payment options.
• Funds deposited directly into your checking account in as little as 24 hours.
• Chargeback and risk management programs to help minimize your fraud exposure.
• Robust chargeback management capabilities.
• Risk management services to minimize your fraud exposure.
• Unlimited batch capacity.
• Comprehensive web-based reporting and statements.
• No downtime during the switch from your current processor.
• Online client center to put all of your account information at your finger tips for a more efficient account management.
• Fast transaction authorizations.