What is Interchange?It’s the underlying cost of a credit card sale. There are many entities involved whenever you process a credit card transaction. First, there is the acquiring bank, who Dharma represents. Dharma and other MSPs are referred to as Merchant Service Providers. As you will discover merchant services are varied, but the [...]
Credit CardsMastercard credit cards are issued to customers not by Mastercard, but by an issuing bank. These credit cards will have varying terms/rewards, as every bank is different. The below guide is a handy reference to see how cards are typically classified. Note that issuing banks have a lot of [...]
Credit CardsVisa credit cards are issued to customers not by Visa, but by an issuing bank. These credit cards will have varying terms/rewards, as every bank is different. The below guide is a handy reference to see how cards are typically classified. Note that issuing banks have a lot of [...]
Most in-person merchants will qualify for Visa’s CPS Retail rate structure. CPS stands for “Custom Payment Service”. The CPS classification is typically known as the best basic rate structure offered by Visa, and CPS requirements are often the “minimum” qualification requirements for more advanced interchange rates. Read all about CPS here. In a [...]
Standard rates are the worst rates that you can receive on Visa cards. Typically, you’ll receive Standard rates when your sales don’t meet any of the basic qualifications. This can include not submitting AVS data, not settling your sales on time, or failing to submit otherwise required data, based on [...]
“EIRF” is an acronym for “Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee” – and it’s a card-type you’d prefer not to receive, if possible. This is the rate category that many cards will “downgrade” to. Some business types (like restaurants) will auto-downgrade to EIRF for many card types, and an EIRF classification can [...]
Visa has a special rate category specifically designed for nonprofits. Not all nonprofits will qualify – but if you’re classified with the MCC of 8398, or as a “Charity or Social Service” organization, then you’ll qualify for far-reduced interchange rates. Qualifications Only Charitable and Social Service organizations are eligible (MCC [...]
Hotels, Lodging merchants, and auto-rental merchants have special interchange rates from Visa. Because these merchants often take “extended authorizations” where transactions may be altered later on, there are different requirements. Visa allows for a longer authorization time-frame for these merchant types, but you’re required to submit additional information to take [...]
Visa has incredibly low interchange rates for merchants who are classified as a Utility. As these payments are considered “low risk” from a processing perspective, the interchange rates reflect that. You’ll see that many of the rates have no percentage fee, and just a flat, per-transaction fee. Qualifications Must be [...]
Qualifications Must be classified as a School (MCC 8220, 8211, 8299), Government Entity (MCC 9399, 9211, 9222), Insurance Sales (MCC 6300, 5960), Fuel Dealer (MCC 5983), Child Care Services (MCC 8351), or Direct Marketing Subscriptions (MCC 5968). Eligible for debit only are Charities (MCC 8398) and Telecommunications (MCC 4814) Authorize and settle [...]