Credit card processing fees for small business, line by line

Most merchants know their "rate" but not their effective cost. The rate is only one of six charges on a typical statement. Here is what each layer is, who collects it, and which ones you can actually do something about.

The six charges on your statement

Interchange

1.5% – 2.5%

Goes to the customer's card-issuing bank. Non-negotiable, varies by card type — rewards cards cost you the most.

Assessments

0.13% – 0.15%

Paid to Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover on every transaction.

Processor markup

0.2% – 1%+

The only truly negotiable layer. Flat-rate providers bundle it into a single 2.6% – 2.9% rate.

Per-transaction fee

$0.10 – $0.30

Flat cents per sale. Brutal on small tickets — a $4 coffee can lose 10% to fees.

PCI / statement / gateway

$5 – $40 / month

Recurring account fees that appear whether or not you process anything.

Chargeback fees

$15 – $100 each

Charged even when you win the dispute.

What that adds up to

Card volume	Monthly fees	Annual fees
$10,000 / month	~$320	~$3,840
$40,000 / month	~$1,300	~$15,600
$100,000 / month	~$3,200	~$38,400

Estimates at a blended 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction with a $35 average ticket.

Three ways to cut the bill

1. Renegotiate the markup. Ask for interchange-plus pricing. Realistic saving: 0.2% – 0.5%.
2. Surcharge or cash-discount. Moves the fee to customers where legal, with signage and registration requirements.
3. Take crypto at the counter. The card networks are never touched, so interchange, assessments, markup, per-transaction and dispute fees all go to zero on those sales.

Move a third of your volume off cards

A $40,000/month business saves more than $400 a month doing exactly that. The terminal is $499, once.

Order your terminal