What is Wholesale Pricing?
Wholesale also known as Interchange Fees is the rates set by the credit card companies themselves. Every card has a different rate associated with it, so interchange rates vary from 0.05% to 3.1%. Everyone must pay interchange regardless of size or volume.
Every time a customer swipes, dips, or taps their card, these parties are involved:
- The issuing bank: This is the institution that issued your customer’s credit card.
- The credit card network: This is typically one of four major companies—Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express—though there are others involved in international transactions.
- The receiving bank: This is the bank that receives the funds from the issuing bank and deposits those funds in your business bank account.
- The payment processor: This is the middleman between the issuing bank and the receiving bank. Depending on your business, your payment processor could be a merchant service provider or a payment gateway.
Interchange Fee
The interchange rate is a fee that the issuing bank charges the receiving bank every time a customer uses their credit card. The network for each card determines their own charges, which vary based on a few aspects, like:
NETWORK (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover) | CARD TYPE (Debit and Credit Card) | HOW THE PAYMENT IS PROCESSED (Swipe the credit card or punch in its number, online and mobile payments, and card-not-present transactions.) | HOW RISKY THE CARD NETWORK (Merchant’s business and industry) |
The Assessment Fee
Assessment fee comes directly from the card network. The network charges a fixed fee, on top of the interchange rate, for every transaction.
ASSESSMENT FEE + INTERCHANGE FEE = WHOLESALE FEES
Average credit card interchange and assessment fees
Payment Network | Average Interchange Fees | Assessment Fee |
| Visa | 1.15% + $0.05 to 2.40% + $0.10 | 0.14% |
| Mastercard | 1.15% + $0.05 to 2.50% + $0.10 | Transactions under $1,000: 0.1375%; $1,000 or more: 0.01% |
| Discover | 1.40% + $0.05 to 2.40% + $0.10 | 0.13% |
| American Express | 1.43% + $0.10 to 3.15% + $0.10 | 0.15% |
Here is a recent breakdown of average costs for four major networks:
- American Express – 2.5% to 3.5%
- Discover – 1.56% to 2.3%
- Mastercard – 1.55% to 2.6%
- Visa – 1.43% to 2.4%
Wholesale Fees are non-negotiable. This fee is the same no matter what processor you’re using.
The rates, however, vary depending on the type of card and transaction. Reward cards will have higher interchange fees. Debit cards have much lower interchange fees than credit cards. Swiped transactions have lower fees than keyed-in transactions.
Need help figuring out your rates?
If you’re having trouble identifying the information we’ve outlined above, feel free to send us your merchant statement and our payment consultants will analyze it for you.
Get in touch with the Swipe Card 247 team — we’re happy to assist you.
