There was once a time that interchange plus pricing was only available to merchants who had a high volume of business. Times have changed and things have evolved. Interchange plus pricing merchant accounts are now available to all merchants, no matter how big or small the business may be. However, this type of merchant account may not be best for your business. Before you choose what’s best for your business, learn the facts.
One way to determine if this type of merchant account may work best for you is to determine the number of “Non-Qualified†transactions that you normally see on your statements. Non-Qualified transactions are transactions that don’t meet set Visa/MasterCards criteria for that particular merchant. Examples may be a retail transaction with card not present, or a number manually entered instead of swiping the magnetic stripe on the card.
If this number is high, then an interchange plus pricing merchant account just may be a good choice for you and your business. If you accept a lot of non-traditional credit cards that end up being downgraded to the “Non-Qualified†category, this type of merchant account can end up saving you a significant amount of money.
With a interchange plus pricing merchant account, the rates are directly determined by the Visa/Mastercard Interchange rate. These are a predetermined set of rules set by Visa/MasterCard that will affect the amount you are billed per charge. Thus, instead of being billed bundled rates for “Qualifiedâ€, “Non-Qualifiedâ€, and “Mid-Qualified†charges, you will be billed per charge, per Visa/MasterCard rules, along with a small mark-up from your merchant account provider.
Many merchants are choosing to switch to interchange plus pricing merchant accounts as their sales change and come from a variety of locations and sources. It may seem more confusing upfront; yet many businesses are saving notable amounts of money by doing so. If you are considering switching merchant accounts, you should first do some research. Talk with your merchant account representative. Make sure that you have all of your questions answered. Then choose the service right for you.