Overview

Credit card processing can be complex to explain. Harried business owners and managers often have limited time or patience to commit to understanding the subject. Even though credit card fees may reduce net margin by up to 3% or more. Even though credit card fees may cost more than the monthly rent.
Even though . . . well, you get the picture.

Worse yet, some in the industry have created a great big deception called "the rate" that many merchants have bought into. In fact, there are few things a sales agent likes to hear a business owner ask more than "What's your rate?".

So if you're a what's-your-rate kind of person, please take a few minutes to read through this section. The Players page will give you an overview of the industry participants. The Pricing page will tell you why qualification and markup are important, and why the discount rate alone is a bad place to focus your attention.

Note: We're talking primarily about Visa© and MasterCard© in this section. See the page on American Express & Discover to understand why these cards are, well, different.