10 ms·

I seriously doubt the retailer pays different fees depending on th card. That sounds bizarre.

inferiorhuman 8y ago
The merchant absolutely pays different fees depending on the card. A Visa platinum card will cost more for the merchant than a basic, non-rewards card. Regardless of scale, different types of merchants also pay different fees.
- deleted 8y ago
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oasisbob 8y ago
It's going to depend on how the retailer's contract with their merchant account works. Your mom and pop store may just pay a higher rate, and a high txn fee and call it a day. Simple contract. For a large retailer like Kroger, there's no way in hell they're leaving all the interchange discounts on the table.
function_seven 8y ago
They do. https://www.helcim.com/us/visa-interchange-rates/ https://www.helcim.com/us/visa-interchange-rates/
- timr 8y ago
  Those are the rates paid by the processor to the bank. They're not the rates paid by the business to the processor. Per VISA's website: "Merchants do not pay interchange reimbursement fees—merchants negotiate and pay a “merchant discount” to their financial institution that is typically calculated as a percentage per transaction." https://usa.visa.com/support/small-business/regulations-fees.html https://usa.visa.com/support/small-business/regulations-fees... It seems logical that VISA doesn't want merchants to be able to determine per-card costs, since this keeps merchants from trying to optimize their fees.
  - function_seven 8y ago
    Visa might not want that, but the merchant provider I linked to offers it as "Interchange+ Pricing" > Our cost-plus pricing helps you save. Thet's Helcim's model. They charge whatever their own cost is, plus a margin. And you can bet that any merchant as large as Kroger won't accept a flat rate or fee for their transactions. They want to pay as little as possible.
mehrdadn 8y ago
See the sibling reply, the statement led me (probably like you) into thinking that merchants can be charged differently based on every minor aspect of the card, where they seem to say it's only different depending on the broad classification of the card in that interchange (regular "Visa" vs. "Visa Rewards Signature" for example).

The merchant absolutely pays different fees depending on the card. A Visa platinum card will cost more for the merchant than a basic, non-rewards card. Regardless of scale, different types of merchants also pay different fees.

deleted 8y ago
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oasisbob 8y ago

It's going to depend on how the retailer's contract with their merchant account works. Your mom and pop store may just pay a higher rate, and a high txn fee and call it a day. Simple contract. For a large retailer like Kroger, there's no way in hell they're leaving all the interchange discounts on the table.

function_seven 8y ago

They do. https://www.helcim.com/us/visa-interchange-rates/ https://www.helcim.com/us/visa-interchange-rates/

timr 8y ago
Those are the rates paid by the processor to the bank. They're not the rates paid by the business to the processor. Per VISA's website: "Merchants do not pay interchange reimbursement fees—merchants negotiate and pay a “merchant discount” to their financial institution that is typically calculated as a percentage per transaction." https://usa.visa.com/support/small-business/regulations-fees.html https://usa.visa.com/support/small-business/regulations-fees... It seems logical that VISA doesn't want merchants to be able to determine per-card costs, since this keeps merchants from trying to optimize their fees.
- function_seven 8y ago
  Visa might not want that, but the merchant provider I linked to offers it as "Interchange+ Pricing" > Our cost-plus pricing helps you save. Thet's Helcim's model. They charge whatever their own cost is, plus a margin. And you can bet that any merchant as large as Kroger won't accept a flat rate or fee for their transactions. They want to pay as little as possible.

mehrdadn 8y ago

See the sibling reply, the statement led me (probably like you) into thinking that merchants can be charged differently based on every minor aspect of the card, where they seem to say it's only different depending on the broad classification of the card in that interchange (regular "Visa" vs. "Visa Rewards Signature" for example).