Tiered Credit Card Processing Rates
Tiered Credit Card Processing is a standard setup for many new businesses. Your credit card processing rates will fall into one of 3 categories: Qualified, Mid-Oualified, or Non-Qualified. Typically, a new business is set up on a 3 tier or 4 tier credit card processing rate. Tiered credit card processing rates may be implemented for any business type whether it is retail, restaurant, MOTO, or internet. Essentially, this keeps the processing rates simple, thus, avoiding any confusion when conveying interchange pricing to the merchant. Your business type and volume will determine the appropriate pricing program for your establishment. Usually, restaurants and larger volume businesses utilize interchange plus pricing. Contact a bankcard specialist for more information.
Qualified Rate
This pertains to a card transaction that qualifies for an acquiring bank's standard discount rate. These are standard consumer credit and check cards issued from various banks and credit card companies utilized during a swiped transaction on a point of sale terminal or through a point of sale software. The credit card processor will identify the card type and qualify the transactions for the lowest possible rate. When speaking to a merchant account provider or credit card processing company, the qualified rate is most commonly quoted to the merchant when inquiring about pricing.
Mid-Qualified Rate
This is a credit card transaction that does not qualify for the lowest quoted credit card processing rate. Usually, this type of transaction is manually, key-entered with the consumer present, or the use of AVS. Under the rules and regulations of Visa and MasterCard, certain types of cards within Visa and MasterCard can also result in a mid-qualified transaction. This is commonly referred to as downgrading a transaction, which in turn, has the merchant paying a higher rate. Unfortunately, it is difficult for a merchant to identify these types of cards which is why it is best to review your statement monthly and consult with your POS specialist to obtain a thorough understanding.
Non-Qualified Rate
This type of credit card transaction will qualify at the highest rate possible. Usually, this pertains to a transaction that is manually entered in a non-AVS MOTO environment, or a batch that was not submitted within 48 hours. Under the rules and regulations of Visa and MasterCard, certain card types within Visa and MasterCard can also result in a non-qualified transaction. Business credit cards and corporate cards usually fall into this category and can be much higher than your lowest qualified rate. A bankcard specialist can educate you on this process and help you avoid the common mistakes business owners make when processing these types of credit card transactions.
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• Processing Rates
• Interchange Rates
• E-Commerce Gateway
• Credit Card Terminals
• Merchant Application |
