There are over 270 Interchange categories that are set by MasterCard® and Visa®.

Most processors "simplify" the complexity of Interchange by bundling merchants' Visa/ MasterCard rates into three tier billing of Qualified/Mid Qualified/Non Qualified. The fact is that while this is simpler, it also means most merchants pay more than you should on most types of credit/debit cards.

Level Playing Field: Every Independent Sales Organization (ISO), Member Service Provider (MSP), Acquiring Bank and Processor are subject to the exact same Interchange fees.

For example, there are 25 (yes that is correct: twenty five) categories for VISA Debit Cards alone. The Interchange fees for VISA Debit Cards depend on many factors such as whether the card is used at a restaurant, a supermarket, a rental car company etc, whether the card's magnetic stripe is swiped through a terminal, whether the card is "key entered" into a terminal, whether the card is entered into a Shopping Cart on a Website using Address Verification for eCommerce, and whether the card is provided over the phone to a Mail or Phone Order merchant.

Rates we quote for eCommerce, Mail Order, Auction merchants processing between $20,000 - $50,000 per month:

If you currently process between $20,000 and $50,000 per month in Visa/ MasterCard sales, and would like to take advantage of these great rates and fees, please click here to APPLY NOW!

If you currently process more than $50,000 per month in Visa/MasterCard sales or have special processing needs, please complete our Statement Analysis Form and we will contact you promptly.

To truly appreciate the benefits of working with Merchant Focus featuring our unique Interchange-Plus pricing model with no monthly fees of any kind, you first need to understand what Interchange is!

Interchange is a term used in the bankcard industry to describe a fee that a merchant's processing bank (the "acquiring bank") pays a customer's card issuer (the "issuing bank") when merchants accept cards using networks such as Visa and MasterCard.

In a credit or debit card transaction, the issuing bank deducts the interchange fee from the amount it pays the acquiring bank that handles that credit or debit card transaction for a merchant. The acquiring bank, through the credit card processor such as Merchant Focus, then pays the merchant the amount of the transaction minus both the interchange fee and an additional, smaller fee for the acquiring bank and credit card processor.

Interchange fees are set by the credit card associations of Visa and MasterCard, and are by far the largest component of the various fees that processors deduct from merchants' credit card sales, representing up to 90% of these fees. Interchange fees have a complex pricing structure, which is based on the card brand, the type of credit or debit card, the type and size of the accepting merchant, and the type of transaction (e.g. eCommerce, Bricks and Mortar, Mail Order/Phone Order). Further complicating the rates schedules, interchange fees are typically a flat fee plus a percentage of the total purchase price (including taxes). In the United States, the fee averages approximately 2% of transaction value.

To simplify things, Merchant Focus basically add a small margin of revenue onto the basic Interchange fees charged by Visa and MasterCard* for our revenue and to cover risk. This billing structure sounds more complicated than it is.

You will only be billed by Established Merchants Only.com for your Visa/MasterCard transactions. As you know, American Express and Discover bill you separately.