MerchantRateCheck
Negotiable
0.15% + 5¢ (best-in-class) to 1.50% + 25¢ (poorly-negotiated tiered)

Processor Markup

The percentage and per-transaction fee your processor adds on top of interchange and assessments. The only piece of your processing cost that's truly negotiable.

Your processor's markup is the only part of your effective rate that they actually keep. Everything else (interchange, assessments) is passed through to the card networks and issuing banks. On interchange-plus pricing, the markup is shown explicitly — usually expressed as 'interchange + X% + Y¢'. On flat-rate pricing (Stripe, Square), the markup is hidden inside one bundled rate. On tiered pricing (Clover, many bank programs), the markup is hidden across three tiers (qualified, mid-qualified, non-qualified) with no clear breakdown.

A fair small-business markup is 0.20%–0.40% plus 8¢–15¢ per transaction. Anything above that, you're overpaying. Anything below 0.15% + 5¢ is essentially wholesale and only happens at very high volume or via membership/subscription pricing.

Example calculation

A $100 sale with interchange of $1.61 and assessments of $0.16. If your processor's markup is 0.30% + 10¢, your processor keeps $0.40. Total cost to you: $2.17.

Who charges it
Your merchant services provider (the processor or ISO).
Typical range
0.15% + 5¢ (best-in-class) to 1.50% + 25¢ (poorly-negotiated tiered)

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Industries most affected

RestaurantRetail StoreContractorE-commerce

Frequently asked questions