- Credit card processing cost is the sum of card network interchange and assessments plus the processor markup, and it varies by card type, transaction size and pricing model. A quick way to find your own cost is total monthly processing fees divided by monthly card sales, which gives your effective rate.
- Fees feel high because several parties take a share: card networks, issuing banks through interchange, and the processor through its markup. With one processor, pricing tends to stay fixed until you renegotiate or switch. It keeps processors competing on every transaction.
- Card mix (rewards and corporate cards usually cost more), card-not-present risk, average ticket size, chargeback history and the processor markup all move the total. Merchants control the markup most directly. Routing each transaction across competing processors targets that markup without changing card mix or checkout.
- The Avendo Services Fee is 10 cents per transaction, billed to the payment processor rather than to the merchant. This is available on the pricing page. Merchants still pay their processor for processing, including card network interchange and assessment fees.
- Multiply annual card volume by the rate reduction you want to test. At $10,000,000 in annual card volume, every 0.25 percentage point equals $25,000 a year. The calculator on this guide does that math. It is an estimate only; real savings depend on your card mix and the offers processors make.
- With a single processor, fees can change after signing and the only leverage is renegotiating or leaving. One public BBB complaint about Worldpay reports a merchant cancelled because fees kept escalating despite emails saying they would stay constant. Transaction-level routing keeps several processors competing, so pricing is tested on every charge.
