Interchange-Plus Pricing
Interchange-plus pricing is the most transparent and typically the most cost-effective pricing model for merchant services. It separates the actual card network cost from the processor’s markup — so you see exactly what every transaction costs and exactly what your processor charges on top.
1:00See every penny. Pay less.
What Is Interchange-Plus? — Merchant Account Explained
Interchange-plus pricing is a merchant services model where you pay two clearly separated components on every card transaction:
A typical interchange-plus rate looks like: Interchange + 0.25% + $0.10. On a standard Visa credit card, the interchange might be 1.65% + $0.10, so your total cost would be 1.90% + $0.20. On a basic debit card with 0.80% interchange, your total drops to 1.05% + $0.20. Every card type costs what it actually costs — nothing more.
Learn more about interchange fee data from the Federal Reserve.
How Does It Work?
This model separates your processing cost into three visible layers — so you can verify every charge on your statement:
Why Card Type Matters Under Interchange-Plus Pricing
Under flat-rate pricing, you pay 2.6% or 2.9% for all three. Under interchange-plus pricing, you pay the actual cost for each card type.
MID: ****4821
Every cost visible. Nothing bundled.
Interchange-Plus vs Flat-Rate — Cost Comparison
The savings from switching to interchange-plus pricing scale directly with volume. Here is the interchange plus vs flat rate difference at common monthly volumes:
| Monthly Volume | Interchange-Plus ~2.1% eff. rate | Square 2.6% + $0.15 | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 | Annual Savings vs Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000/mo | $380 | $560 | $700 | $2,160/yr |
| $50,000/mo | $950 | $1,400 | $1,750 | $5,400/yr |
| $100,000/mo | $1,900 | $2,800 | $3,500 | $10,800/yr |
* Use the Effective Rate Calculator to calculate your specific savings. Interchange-plus typically starts beating flat-rate around $10,000–$15,000 per month in card volume; below that, flat-rate’s simplicity can outweigh the savings. Interchange-plus typically starts beating flat-rate around $10,000–$15,000 per month in card volume; below that, flat-rate’s simplicity can outweigh the savings. See also: how flat-rate payment processing works and why it costs more at volume. For specific problems merchants encounter with Square, Stripe, and PayPal, see PayPal payment processing problems.
Case Study — Retail Business Switches to Interchange-Plus
The savings came primarily from debit card transactions — which cost 0.80% interchange versus Square’s flat 2.6%. With 40% of transactions on debit, the difference was substantial. The switch took less than a week and had zero impact on the customer checkout experience. For a full side-by-side breakdown, see Square vs merchant account. If you are still evaluating whether a dedicated merchant account makes sense at your volume, read do I need a merchant account.
What to Expect When You Switch
Brookside reviews your current processing statement, calculates your effective rate, and produces a side-by-side comparison showing exactly what interchange-plus pricing would cost at your volume. No obligation at this stage.
Most standard accounts are approved within one to three business days. Brookside reviews any questions before you sign anything.
New terminal hardware ships same or next day after approval — pre-configured and ready to process out of the box. For a full walkthrough of the transition process, see how to switch payment processors without losing a day of sales.
Your first interchange-plus pricing statement arrives at month end. Brookside walks through it with you — explaining each interchange category and confirming the markup is applied correctly.
Compare Interchange-Plus to Other Pricing Models
Frequently Asked Questions
A good interchange plus rate is a low, transparent markup over the wholesale interchange the card networks set — commonly well under 0.30% plus $0.10 per transaction on top of interchange. The lower and clearer the markup, the better; any rate bundled into a single flat number is hiding the markup rather than showing it.
Interchange plus is almost always cheaper and clearer than tiered pricing. Tiered pricing sorts transactions into qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified buckets and marks each up opaquely, while interchange plus passes the true interchange through and adds one visible markup — so you see every cost instead of a bucketed average.
Under interchange plus, your rate is the interchange set by Visa and Mastercard plus a small fixed markup, so it tracks your actual card mix; a flat rate charges one blended number regardless. On most business card mixes, interchange plus rates come out lower because you are not subsidizing the processor’s averaging.
Interchange-plus pricing passes the actual card network cost to you directly — plus a fixed processor markup stated separately on every statement. You see exactly what Visa or Mastercard charges on each transaction and exactly what your processor charges on top. Nothing is bundled or hidden.
Any business processing more than $10,000 per month. At that volume, the savings from paying actual interchange rates — rather than flat-rate or tiered blended rates — typically outweigh any per-transaction fees. Businesses with high average tickets and a mix of card types see the largest benefit.
Flat-rate charges the same percentage on every card — which means you pay premium rewards card rates on every debit card transaction. Interchange-plus charges the actual rate for each card type. Debit cards and standard credit cards qualify at significantly lower interchange rates, so interchange-plus is almost always cheaper at volume above $10,000/month.
See What Interchange-Plus Would Save at Your Volume
Send your current processing statement. We calculate your effective rate, show you what interchange-plus pricing would cost at your volume, and quantify the annual savings before you commit to anything.
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