ALERT: Your Payment Processing Costs May Be Increasing in 2021

Mar 29th, 2021

Banks and processors have started notifying their clients of increases and policy changes that as a merchant may affect your bottom line in 2021. Our information indicates that depending on your bank or processor these changes may go into effect on April 1, 2021 but in some instances certain ones may have already been implemented. 

Some of the recent notifications we have seen include: 

• Increases between .04% and .75% on all card transactions

  • An increase of .35% on an annual volume of $1M = $3,500 in additional credit card fees

• Additional costs per transaction and authorization ($0.02 per) 

• The elimination in some cases of Net Billing (refunding negative interchange on refunds)

• Increases in other miscellaneous fees like the cost of getting a paper statement mailed to you

In addition, while Visa and Mastercard have postponed their scheduled Spring 2021 Interchange (mandated card-based fees) updates originally scheduled for April, it is our understanding that Discover and American Express may move forward with their own updates which could cost you additional monies. (Please note that sometimes when interchange fees are updated, some fees go up and some go down, not all updates to interchange will negatively affect you). 

Most merchants have received letters (see example below) from their banks and processors regarding these changes. In some instances, notification may have been included as messaging on their monthly statements.  As such, we believe it is your best interest to immediately take a few minutes to check your merchant statements and correspondence from your banks and processors for the last few months and see if you have any notifications from them on rate increases or net billing you might have missed. As stated above, some of these changes may already be in place. 

We understand that payment processing and all the costs surrounding can be complicated, so the Ascent team is here to help you understand not only these changes but also your current processing solution. 

If you need help: 

• Differentiating the optional processor increases from the mandated card-brand increases

• Understanding your current fees

• Calculating how any new changes will affect your bottom line

• Understanding Net Billing and how it works

• Reading and understanding your statement

• Calculating your effective rate

• Finding a better solution

Then please do not hesitate to reach out to our team. We are here to help. 

You can reach us directly at clientsuccess@ascentpaymentsolutions.com or fill out the form on the right-hand side of the page and one of our industry experts will quickly be in touch to lend a helping hand.