A chicken in every pot! A car in every garage! Interchange optimization for every credit card transaction!
Wait, how's that again? Interchange optimization?
Actually, yes.
Yes, if you are an Independent Software Vendor with clients who accept credit cards. Because interchange optimization is what your clients not only want but absolutely need.
Ask what you can do for your clients!
Interchange optimization is important because interchange fees are the foundational expense of credit and debit card transactions. The merchant’s acquiring bank pays the cardholder’s issuing bank, directly impacting how much your clients pay for every transaction.
The card associations like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express set interchange fees. The associations charge these fees to the financial institutions that process card payments.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about interchange fees. That's because of the complexity inherent in how these fees are applied. Each card type, transaction sales channel, and business category may have its own rate, which varies based on data quality, risk, timing, and more.
Interchange optimization—The best choice for the new generation of Independent Software Vendors!
Understanding and navigating the complexity of interchange fees is crucial for you as an ISV. You want your clients to have the fastest, most efficient, and secure processing system while also helping them reduce costs. With interchange optimization, your platform helps clients qualify for the lowest possible rates based on transaction details. That's what makes interchange optimization an essential component of your software designs.
The right payment processor—that's the winning ticket!
While payment processors don’t set interchange rates, they do influence qualification by correctly assigning the Merchant Category Code (MCC) per card brand and by managing how much detail is sent with each transaction. However, not all processors know how to properly set up the factors that enable a business to get the best rate. A strong relationship between the processor and acquirer is also critical to ensure the business is set up correctly from the start. Without gaining the best rate, your clients could end up paying thousands of dollars more in fees than they need to.
This is why it is crucial that you set up your customers with the correct payment processor and acquirer. Not all payment processors offer interchange optimization. Some only provide a flat rate for all card transactions. Flat rates can be easier to manage initially, but as the business expands, it becomes essential to optimize your credit card transactions to benefit from lower rates.
That's where Qualpay comes in.
Qualpay offers built-in tools that help ISVs and their merchants unlock interchange savings, including:
- Card type identification: Knowing whether a card is commercial, corporate, rewards, or government-backed is key to routing transactions for the best rates.
- MCC intelligence: We are experts at selecting the correct Merchant Category Code (MCC), including per-brand MCC mapping, to optimize classification.
- Channel-specific payload review: During integration, Qualpay works with you to ensure that each sales channel sends the right transaction fields—like tax amount, invoice number, and product detail—to support Level II and Level III data submission.
- Support for surcharging, service, and convenience fees: Understanding whether a particular MCC, card type, and ZIP code allow surcharging, service, or convenience fees is critical. We simplify this process by equipping you with the knowledge to navigate varying rules by card brands and states, ensuring compliance and transparency.
A platform everyone can get behind!
Businesses require an all-in-one payment processing platform to navigate the intricacies of interchange rates and their impact on transaction costs.
By combining the payment gateway, merchant account, and processor in a single unified system, an all-in-one payment processing platform and API tools can ensure a seamless data flow. That seamless flow ensures transactions qualify for the best interchange rate available—every time.
