8. Missing Interchange Savings Opportunities
In a vast majority of the cases, Interchange represents the largest fee component a merchant will pay with respect to the two major credit card brands. There are virtually hundreds of Interchange rates, and it is up to the merchant and its processor to insure that the merchant obtains the best possible rates. Sadly, reporting under many bundled fee arrangements include minimal provisions for Interchange qualification. Reports utilizing proprietary qualification tiers offer little in the way of real information.
It is virtually impossible to optimize your Interchange qualification without constant access to a reporting platform that specifically accounts for Interchange costs. While many merchants do not automatically receive these reports, merchants should know that the reports may be available by special request. Making this request is worth the effort of a phone call. A fairly descriptive Interchange report would take on the following form:
Figure 4. An example of a detailed Interchange report.
