Do You Know What All The Fees Are On Your Merchant Account

A lot of businesses owners do not understand all of the fees associated with their merchant account. If more business owners were familiar with the fees, they could save their business a lot of unnecessary expense.

It is very helpful for businesses to be aware of what they are being charged for in relation to their credit card processing fees. To better educate business owners about the fees that they will be charged to process their credit card transactions, you will find a list below of the most common fees. This is not a complete list of fees that may charged.

Discount Rate Fees - The discount rate fee will make up the majority of fees each month on your merchant account. This fee is calculated from the purchase amount and is a percentage of that amount. The fee percentage is typically around 2.5%. That percentage can change depending on how the card is processed (swiped, keyed, internet gateway).

Transaction Fees - The transaction fee is a fixed, per transaction fee. It is around 20-30 cents and is charged regardless whether the transaction was completed or not.

PIN Debit Fees - The PIN debit fee is associated with debit card transactions where a pin pad is used to enter a pin. It is a fixed fee that costs around 70 cents per every pinned, debit card transaction.

ACH or Daily Batch Fee - The ACH fee is the daily batch process fee. This is for processing of the daily transactions and then transferring the funds to your bank account. For most business owners, the merchants set this up as an automatic happening and it will all happen behind the scenes. However, there will still be a fee for this regardless if you are hands on or it is done automatically. The fee for this is anywhere from 5 cents to 50 cents.

Monthly Statement Fee - The monthly statement fee is for processing your monthly statement of the transactions and the fees. This fee provides you with a paper copy of your statement and 800 number help. This fee is usually $10 - $15 per month.

Internet Gateway Fee - The internet gateway fee is for the gateway provider that provides the internet tools and portal for you to process credit cards over the internet. Some gateway providers will charge you separately, but most will charge you through your merchant account. This is the largest single fee for those who use the internet to process credit cards. It can be as much as $30/month.