Interchange-plus vs flat-rate pricing: how to compare the two in a high-risk offer

The two pricing models

Visa’s published US interchange tables, with rates effective 18 April 2026, describe the arrangement from the network’s side: merchants do not pay interchange reimbursement fees; they pay a merchant discount to their financial institution, which can include a variety of processing services and is typically a percentage rate per transaction. Both pricing models are ways of setting that merchant discount.

Why interchange varies from one sale to the next

Interchange is not one number. Visa’s tables set different rates by card type, by how the payment is taken and by whether the transaction meets the programme’s requirements. The table below takes one $100 online (card-not-present) purchase and works out the interchange Visa publishes for five different cards or outcomes.

For debit cards, a federal rule applies. Regulation II, as shown in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations on 21 October 2026, limits the interchange a covered issuer may receive on a debit transaction to 21 cents plus 0.05% of its value (12 CFR 235.3), plus up to 1 cent for fraud prevention (12 CFR 235.4). Issuers that, with their affiliates, hold less than $10 billion in assets are exempt (12 CFR 235.5), which is why Visa lists exempt debit separately. The Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation II page lists a proposal to lower the cap; the regulation’s text opened on the same day still sets the figures above.

Scroll the table to see all columns.

The same $100 sale can therefore carry anything from 27 cents to $3.25 of Visa interchange, before the provider adds anything. Visa’s tables also list card-not-present incentives that lower some credit rates and require the transaction to meet Visa’s qualification rules.

A worked example: which costs less depends on the card

The two offers below are invented for illustration only; they are not typical quotes or any provider’s prices. Offer A is a flat rate of 3.5% plus $0.20 per transaction. Offer B is interchange plus a 1.0% markup plus $0.20 per transaction. Card-network fees are left out of Offer B to keep the arithmetic visible; in a real comparison, ask whether they are inside the markup or charged on top.

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In this illustration, Offer B costs less on three of the five cards and more on the other two. Across a real month, the answer depends on how your sales split between those cards, which only your own history or a fair estimate can show. That is why the effective rate matters: total fees divided by total card sales for the same period. Zolution’s guide to reading a processing statement shows how to work it out.

Comparing a flat rate with an interchange-plus offer

• Turn the markup into an all-in estimate: ask the provider for an estimated total rate on your expected sales and the basis it used, such as the card mix and average sale value.
• Compare the fixed amount per transaction separately: on small sales it can matter more than the percentage.
• Ask whether card-network fees are inside the markup or charged on top, and how they will appear on the statement.
• Check what the pricing covers: refunds, chargebacks, cross-border cards and currency conversion can be priced separately under either model.
• Keep reserves and payout timing beside the price: a lower rate with a larger reserve or a longer settlement delay is a different offer, not a cheaper one.

In Zolution, each proposal states its pricing model as either a flat rate or interchange plus a markup. A markup is never shown as if it were the total; the provider may add an estimated all-in rate with the basis it used (a provider estimate, not a promised total), and sorting offers by rate uses the flat rate or that estimate, never the bare markup. An interchange-plus offer without an estimate sorts last, so ask for one if you want to compare it.

Questions to ask a provider about its pricing

• Is this offer a flat rate or interchange plus a markup?
• If interchange-plus, what is the markup as a percentage and as a fixed amount per transaction, and what is your estimated all-in rate on my expected sales?
• What card mix and average sale value is that estimate based on?
• Will interchange and network fees be shown as separate lines on my statement?
• Which other fees apply under this pricing, and can the pricing change during the agreement?

Zolution is a free marketplace (Zolution Standard membership costs nothing). Offer terms are provider-declared and the provider decides. Zolution processes no payments, holds no funds and approves nobody.

Questions, answered