What Are Your Minimum Credit Card Processing Fees?

MOTB

Hey everyone,
Getting customers to pay via credit cards is obviously good, especially when it is easier on the cash flow. How are you all managing to ensure that the processing companies are not out of control when charging you for their services. I have been noticing small increments, standard charges and new charges appearing on my statements. Here is what my charges look like:

VDBT 2.3% of each charge
Minimimum Billing Adjustment (this just appeared on a slower month)
NQS Market Data .94
Per transaction fee .20 (god knows why this is here on top of the 2.3%)
PCI Comp $10 per month for extra security which just started
Statement Fee $7.50 (up from $6.00 last month).

Something you should do is call your credit card processing company and ask them "What is the minimum fee I will be charged if I do not process any credit cards in a month?" They must telll you.

Your credit card company will be looking to raise fees anyway they can, and disquise it under "new features, new security measures, etc...." but they are simply looking to get more charges in place before the new laws kick in the make it harder for them to continue to randomily increase rates. My minimum was less then $10 a month and just shot up to $32.50. I thought about it and my processing company just picked up and extra $270 per year with over tens of thousands of customers. So one blink of an eye and they pick up $2.7 million in extra fees becuase they can do so since it is hard to change providers.

They have the nerve to tell me that they need to charge me an extra $10 per month (up from $0) in order to ensure my transactions are secure. Imagine a line item on statements for me to pay for my own security. Wouldn't it be nice it contractors could put line items on their estimates charging for satisfication? Oh brother.

This stuff really annoys me when there is absolutely nothing but a way to rip us off

wireaudio

I use paypal and i'm happy. They charge more for merchants that do under $3000/mo in credit cards (such as me), but i can live with it.
Charges are simple, and terminal is virtual, as in, i can use it on my laptop anywhere i have internet access, and phone anywhere i have signal.
The cost is similar to your cost, except the percentage.

Cost: Monthly fee: $30 straight up, no hidden fees.

For sales between $0.00 USD - $3,000.00 USD, cost is 3.1% + $0.30 USD
For sales between $3,000.01 USD - $10,000.00 USD cost is 2.7% + $0.30 USD
For sales >$10,000.01 USD - cost is 2.4% + $0.30 USD

They offer better rates for premium customers, and if you have a web site and have the $30 plan for Web Site Payments Pro, virtual terminal is free with that.

I know the percentage is 0.8/0.4/0.1 higher compared to what you have, but i have the Web Site Payments Pro and it comes with it, so i save $30 to begin with. The 0.3 usd charge per transaction is a fee for terminal access (.20 in your case). This fee gets charged every time you authorize a card, doesnt matter if you do the transaction or not.

SalesMGR1011

Seems about like industry standards, the PCI compliance fee is a joke. Some companies charge it some don't. I have been reselling cc processing on the side for a while and you can definitely do better than that. Do you swipe the cards or manually enter them? What types of cards do you normally take?

MOTB

I am not a contractor, but a service provider to contractors providing business solutions. So in my particular case, it is the customer who is entering their credit card information without my involvement (when they are electing to upgrade from the Free version). But I do agree that the PCI charge is a joke no matter how it is sliced and diced, but I just can not randomly change and have to suck it up as one of those things completely annoying and unfair in the relationship.

RenaissanceR

My basic fee per month for MC/VISA/DISCOVER is $22.95 per month. American
Express charges an additional fee of $5.95 per month. I ended up purchasing a wireless terminal vs leasing one, as in the end, leasing would cost more for the terminal. And leasing meant a refurbished terminal vs buying a new "latest and
greatest" version outright.

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BMAN

I use Pay Pal through my website, I pay 2.9 across the board, no other fees. Customer goes to my site and clicks tab "make a payment" all set. I get an email on my bberry that tells me I have money! I like that!