TouchSuite is a payment processor and ISO that works with both traditional and high-risk merchants, and it does not publish one universal rate, because no honest processor can. Your actual card-acceptance cost is built from three layers: interchange (set by Visa, Mastercard, and other networks), network assessment fees (also set by the networks), and the processor's own markup. On top of those, monthly and incidental fees add to the total. This article explains each layer, shows you how to calculate what you genuinely pay, and gives you a checklist for comparing quotes side by side.
When a customer taps a card, four parties take a share: the card network, the issuing bank, the acquiring bank, and the processor. The charge that appears on your merchant statement is not a single fee, it is the sum of several separate costs that most processors bundle into one line.
Understanding each piece matters because they respond differently to negotiation, volume, and the way you run your business. Interchange is largely non-negotiable. The processor markup is. Network assessments sit in between. Incidental fees are often buried.
Interchange is the fee the merchant's acquiring bank pays to the cardholder's issuing bank on every transaction. It is the dominant cost in almost every merchant statement.
Visa publishes its U.S. interchange schedule and Mastercard publishes its own. Both show that the rate is not one universal percentage. It varies by:
For consumer debit cards issued by large banks, a separate federal framework applies. The Federal Reserve's Regulation II sets a cap on covered debit interchange and requires that merchants have access to at least two unaffiliated routing networks. That statutory cap does not apply to credit cards or to debit cards issued by exempt institutions.
The practical takeaway: interchange is a cost you inherit from the networks. You can influence it by optimizing how you accept and submit transactions, but you cannot negotiate it away.
On top of interchange, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex each charge their own assessments, sometimes called network fees or dues and assessments. These are separate from interchange and go directly to the card brand, not the issuing bank.
Visa's published schedule lists multiple assessment categories that can apply depending on transaction type, volume tier, and whether the card is domestic or cross-border. These are small percentages per transaction but meaningful at volume.
Processors are required to pass these costs through to merchants. When a quote shows a very low markup, confirm that assessments are listed separately and not absorbed in a way that obscures the real total.
The processor markup is what your acquiring bank or ISO charges for handling authorization, settlement, risk management, and service. This is the layer where quotes differ and where negotiation is possible.
Markup can be expressed as a percentage of transaction volume, a fixed per-transaction fee (called a transaction fee or auth fee), or both. A common structure is a percentage-plus-per-transaction format, such as 0.20% plus $0.10 per transaction on top of interchange and assessments. The specific numbers vary by processor, merchant risk profile, volume, and business type.
High-risk merchants, those in verticals with elevated chargeback rates, regulatory complexity, or reputational sensitivity, generally pay higher markups than standard-risk merchants, because the underwriting exposure is greater. That is a market reality, not a processor-specific policy.
Beyond interchange, assessments, and markup, most merchant agreements include recurring and situational fees. Read each line:
None of these appear in a headline rate. They are the reason effective rate is a more honest benchmark than the percentage a salesperson quotes on a call.
Flat-rate pricing charges one percentage on every transaction regardless of card type or method. Square and Stripe use this model. It is simple and predictable. It also means you pay the same rate on a basic debit card as on a premium rewards card, which costs the processor far less to handle. High-volume merchants often overpay on flat-rate.
Interchange-plus pricing (also called cost-plus) passes interchange and assessments through at actual cost and adds a fixed markup on top. The statement shows what the network charged and what the processor charged separately. This model is more transparent and usually cheaper for merchants who process significant volume or have a card mix weighted toward debit and standard consumer credit.
Tiered pricing groups transactions into qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified buckets, each with a different rate. The processor decides which bucket each transaction falls into. It is simple in appearance but opaque in practice, mid-qual and non-qual rates can be substantially higher than the qualified rate the processor quoted.
Effective rate is the total dollar amount you paid in processing fees divided by your total card sales volume, expressed as a percentage.
Pull the number from your monthly statement. If your statement does not show a clear total-fees line, add every fee line including interchange, assessments, markup, gateway fees, and monthly fees. Divide that sum by your gross card sales for the same period.
Your effective rate is the honest benchmark. It accounts for card mix, transaction methods, and all the fees the headline rate does not show.
This is a constructed example to illustrate the math. Real costs depend on your card mix, business type, acceptance method, and the specific agreement. Treat these numbers as illustration only.
Suppose a retail business processes $50,000 in card sales in a month. Assume a blended interchange rate of 1.70% on that volume, network assessments of 0.13%, and an interchange-plus processor markup of 0.25% plus $0.10 per transaction on 800 transactions.
Cost layer | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Interchange | $50,000 × 1.70% | $850.00 |
Assessments | $50,000 × 0.13% | $65.00 |
Processor markup (%) | $50,000 × 0.25% | $125.00 |
Processor markup (per-transaction) | 800 × $0.10 | $80.00 |
Monthly account fee | Flat | $25.00 |
Total fees | $1,145.00 | |
Effective rate | $1,145 ÷ $50,000 | 2.29% |
A flat-rate processor quoting 2.6% on the same volume would cost $1,300, which is $155 more per month in this scenario. A tiered quote showing a "qualified rate" of 1.79% might look cheaper until mid-qual and non-qual transactions inflate the actual total.
Use this checklist when evaluating competing quotes:
A quote that answers all of these questions in writing is a quote you can evaluate honestly. One that answers only the rate is not a complete comparison.
TouchSuite is registered as an ISO with Wells Fargo Bank, Citizens Bank, Esquire Bank, and FFB Bank. It handles merchant-account applications for both in-person and online businesses, including standard and high-risk verticals such as CBD and hemp, credit repair, firearms and ammunition, nutraceuticals, telemedicine, vape and e-cigarettes, and vitamins and supplements.
For in-person merchants, TouchSuite offers Clover and Epos Now POS systems, GRUBBRR self-order kiosks, and payment terminals from Verifone, Valor PayTech, Ingenico, and PAX. For online merchants, it supports integrations including WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, Authorize.net, and NMI. Accounting and ERP teams working in QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Xero, Odoo, or Zoho can find platform-specific payment workflow support, including Level 2/3 data submission and reconciliation.
TouchSuite is not the right fit for every business. If you want self-serve sign-up with instant approval and flat-rate simplicity, Stripe or Square may be faster to start. TouchSuite is better suited to merchants who need specialized underwriting, verticals like CBD, firearms, telemedicine, or nutraceuticals, integrated ERP or accounting payment workflows, fraud screening and chargeback management via NoFraud, or businesses that fall outside what a self-serve processor will board.
TouchSuite states it has served more than 50,000 clients over more than 20 years. That is a company-reported figure. What you can verify directly is whether the product set, underwriting scope, and pricing structure fit your business after a real conversation.
If the categories above match your situation, the concrete next step is to speak with a TouchSuite payment specialist. Bring your most recent processing statement, your monthly volume, and the checklist above. That gives the conversation a basis in your actual numbers rather than a generic rate sheet.
Start a merchant-account application or speak with a specialist at TouchSuite.com.
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