Glossary/Fees & Costs
Fees & Costs

Network Assessment

Small percentage fees charged by Visa, Mastercard, and other card networks on every transaction, separate from interchange and non-negotiable.

In addition to interchange, Visa and Mastercard charge their own assessment fees on every transaction processed on their networks. These are often called "dues and assessments" on your statement.

Current rates (approximate): Visa charges 0.14% on credit and 0.13% on debit transactions. Mastercard charges 0.1375% on credit. American Express charges 0.165% on OptBlue transactions. These numbers update periodically and vary slightly by transaction type and volume tier.

Assessments are non-negotiable, the same for every processor. On IC+ statements they appear as a separate line item. On tiered pricing they are folded into the qualified rate.

While assessments are small individually, they represent a meaningful portion of total processing costs at volume. On $1 million in Visa credit volume, assessments alone are approximately $1,400/year.

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Fees & Costs
One-line definition
Small percentage fees charged by Visa, Mastercard, and other card networks on every transaction, separate from interchange and non-negotiable.
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