Often on merchant services or credit card processing statements, you will see a slew of mysterious and cryptic fees. These are known as Card Brand Fees or Card Association Fees. These are the fees that are paid back to Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. Depending on your merchant services statement, they can appear as different things, but are often labeled NABU fees (Network Access and Brand Usage Fees).
Interchange fees are split up between some of the money going to the card-issuing bank – like Chase or Bank of America – while the rest of the fees go to the card brand. Like all interchange fees, the card brand fees are not charged by Gravity Payments or any credit card processing company, but by the banks and card brands themselves. The credit card processor only collects the fees and passes them through to the card brand and bank.
Visa Fees
Credit Assessments
0.13% of credit card volume and $0.0195/transaction. For a $100 credit sale, Visa takes about 15 cents.
Fixed Acquirer Network Fee – Visa charges this flat fee based on how much volume you process per month.
International Acquirer Fee
This fee applies under identical circumstances as above – there is an additional 0.45% surcharge from Visa.
Zero Floor Limit Fee
This $0.20/transaction fee is assessed when a settled transaction can’t be linked to a proper authorization.
Misuse of Authorization Fee
This $0.09/transaction fee applies to all authorized transactions that do not have a matching settled sale.
Settlement Network Access Fee
This $0.0025/transaction fee is charged for all US-based settled transactions.
Mastercard Fees
Credit/Debit Assessments
0.12% of card volume and $0.0195/transaction for sales under $1,000. For a $100 sale, MasterCard takes about 14 cents.
Digital Enablement Fee
This fee is 0.01% of volume, and applies on Card-Not-Present sales for commercial cards, consumer credit cards, and signature debit cards.
Cross Border Assessment Fee (Foreign)
Any card you accept from outside the US that is settled in non-US dollars will be subject to a 1.00% international surcharge from MasterCard.
AVS Fee (Card-Present)
MasterCard assesses a $0.005/transaction fee for using Address Verification Services in a Card-Present environment.
Card Validation Code Fee
There is a $0.0025/transaction fee for all transactions that are submitted with the Card Validation Code (also known as Card Code Verification or CCV).
Acquirer License Fee
This 0.0045% fee is assessed on all processing volume.
Account Status Inquiry Fee
This rarely applied fee of $0.025/transaction applies when cardholder information (AVS, CCV) is verified without authorizing the sale.
Discover Card Fees
Credit/Debit Assessments
0.105% of card volume and $0.0185/transaction for all sales. For a $100 sale, Discover takes about 12 cents.
International Service Fee
This 0.55% fee applies to any cards you accept from outside the US, just like the International Processing Fee.
Amex Fees
Credit/Debit Assessments
0.15% of card volume is paid directly to American Express. On a $100 sale, this works out to 15 cents.
International Assessement
This 0.40% fee applies to any cards you accept from outside the US.
