Acquirer Markup
The processor's margin added on top of interchange and the only part of your processing cost that is negotiable.
Your processing bill has two layers. The first is interchange, set by Visa and Mastercard, non-negotiable and identical regardless of which processor you use. The second is the acquirer markup: the processor's fee for authorizing, settling, and supporting your account.
On an IC+ statement, the markup is visible. On tiered or flat-rate statements, it is buried inside blended rates. Either way, it is the only component of your processing cost that can actually be lowered through negotiation.
Typical acquirer markups for IC+ merchants: 0.10–0.35% + $0.05–$0.15/transaction for card-present retail. E-commerce and keyed-entry merchants typically pay 0.15–0.50% + $0.10–$0.20/transaction. Markups for merchants who have never been competitively bid often sit at the high end of these ranges or above.
When FT5 runs a competitive bid, we send your processing profile to 10+ processors simultaneously. The competition forces markups down. Clients typically see markup reductions of 30–60%.
Interchange is your floor. The markup is your negotiation. Most merchants have never had their account competitively bid, meaning they're paying whatever the original sales rep quoted.
See how your effective rate compares to what competitive IC+ pricing would cost you.
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