Ben Dwyer began his career in the processing industry in 2003 on the sales floor for a Connecticut‐based processor. As he learned more about the inner‐workings of the industry, rampant unethical practices, and lack of assistance available to businesses, he cut ties with his employer and started a blog where he could post accurate information about credit card processing. As the blog gained in popularity, Ben began directly assisting merchants in their search for a processor. Ben believes in empowering businesses by providing access to fair, competitive pricing, accurate information, and continued support. His dedication to transparency and education has made CardFellow a staunch small business advocate in the credit card processing industry.
Interchange Fees
Standard is the most expensive possible interchange category for consumer cards. It means that you paid the maximum to process that transaction. Seeing a lot of “Standard” or abbreviations like “CONS STND” on your monthly processing statements? That indicates a problem with your transaction process. If you’re a CardFellow member, give us a call for […]
“Standard” is the second (and more expensive) of two “downgrade” interchange categories. It indicates that a business paid a “penalty” rate due to not meeting criteria for lower cost interchange categories.
Interchange Fees
The “CNP” stands for “card not present,” which tells you that these categories do not apply to transactions where you swipe a customer’s card. (It also does not apply to digital wallet payments – like Apple Pay – where a customer “taps” a phone or smart watch to a compatible credit card machine. Those payments […]
CPS / CNP prepaid is part of several interchange categories that dictate the fees a business will pay when accepting a Visa prepaid card online or by keying the card number into a machine.
Interchange Fees
Contrary to popular belief, debit cards do not incur flat fees. You’ll be charged a percentage of the total and a per-transaction fee, just like with credit cards. However, card-not-present (CNP) debit has more possible interchange categories. There are technically ten interchange categories for Visa CNP debit, but five of them are simply the “regulated […]
When a business accepts a Visa debit card online or by keying in card details, it will pay one of the Visa “card not present” debit rates.
Interchange Fees
Note that the debit categories only apply to signature debit. (Sometimes called “running as credit.”) PIN debit transactions do not receive interchange fees. Instead, they’re charged PIN debit network fees. If you’re looking for that info, check our article on PIN debit costs. CPS Retail Debit Rates Regulated Debit CPS Retail Prepaid Rates Criteria Cardholder […]
The terms “CPS Retail Debit” and “CPS Retail Prepaid” refer to Visa interchange categories that dictate part of the fee that businesses pay for certain debit and prepaid transactions.
Credit Card Processing
Depending on the app, you can expect features like inventory management, employee timeclock / tracking, or detailed reporting, as well as industry-specific functions. In fact, the right POS app can help you streamline everything from product ordering to employee time tracking. But which point of sale apps offer the best value? We’ve narrowed down our […]
Point of sale apps let you carry out more functions than simple cash registers or credit card readers.
Restaurants and Bars
While you may only be familiar with the main Grubhub name, the restaurant delivery app actually owns many other delivery apps. It purchased Seamless, Eat24, and others. Grubhub claims that you can boost revenue by up to 30% when you offer delivery through its app. But how does it all work, and is it really […]
Delivery apps have taken the dining world by storm, leaving many restaurateurs wondering, “Should I use Grubhub?”
Credit Card Processing, Legal
Update: 1/3/2020 I originally wrote about Worldpay’s questionable practice described in the article below back in May of 2019. Then, I spent a good deal of time helping the folks at Reuters understand what was happening in order to expose the deceptive billing tactic. Reuters published its article on the topic in August of 2019. […]
Several recent lawsuits have put the spotlight on a whole series of alleged schemes by processors to collect junk charges disguised as legitimate fees.
Credit Card Processing, Restaurants and Bars
Restaurant owners are in a great position to secure low cost credit card processing. Lower “risk” swiped transactions, low chargebacks, and the popularity of going out to eat make processors eager to sign restaurants as clients. At CardFellow, we help restaurant owners and managers find the right fit. Whether you need particular POS features, lower […]
Restaurants notoriously operate on thin margins, so ensuring that you’re not overpaying for credit card processing can help your bottom line.
