When it’s time for your business to go shopping for lower interchange costs.
Interchange fees are some of the most confusing (and necessary) elements of running a business. Every bank involved in a credit card transaction – from the customer’s bank who issued the card to your business’ bank – takes a little percentage from the transaction.Lower your interchange costs: Providing extra security information like the CVV (the 3 digit number on the card’s back) or the AVS are also ways to lower credit card acceptance costs. AVS stands for address verification system and both of these prove that the card was present.If you have frequent high-end transactions (usually over $5000), you might qualify for high ticket programs offered by the card processors. Take advantage of interchange rules by making sure that your business is categorized correctly by the processor. If you’ve started to add different kinds of transactions that might change the industry category, make sure to contact your processor to see if there’s a different rate that might apply. Another thing to check is the qualification level to see if it can be eliminated entirely. These rates are set via tiered pricing by th e processors, and can vary from processor to processor – even for the exact same transaction!There are a lot of rules to review, but swiping cards when possible, and capturing additional security information on each transaction are both important steps to take. Also, review how your processor has your business categorized and ask about the qualification level for each transaction. If you’re not satisfied that you’re getting the lowest interchange rate, do some shopping of your own.