Crane Processing
Two providers can price the very same sale in completely different ways. Neither one is hiding anything. They are built differently — and this page explains all three, including the ones we would talk you out of.
A five-minute read · No sign-up · No rate quoted
Before anyone quotes you anything, a card sale has already collected three separate charges. Only one of them is set by the company selling you the account.
Goes to the bank that issued your customer’s card. Set by Visa and Mastercard, published openly, and identical for every provider.
Go to Visa and Mastercard themselves. Also set by them, also the same for everyone.
The only part anyone in payments competes on. It is the only number a quote actually decides.
Proportions above are illustrative. The first two costs are public and nobody in payments sets them — including us.
Interchange is not one number. This is what the card networks charge you on a single $100 sale, before any provider adds a cent — and it changes with the card in your customer’s hand.
| The card they tap | Relative cost | Costs you | = Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulated debit | $0.43 | 0.43% | |
| Everyday debit | $1.11 | 1.11% | |
| Standard credit | $1.77 | 1.77% | |
| Premium rewards | $2.56 | 2.56% |
The rate on your statement is just the blend of whatever walked through the door that month — and on $50,000 of card volume, every 0.10% is $50.
Same sale, same terminal, different card — and no business chooses which one walks in. Figures are published card-present interchange plus network fees, before any provider markup. Illustration.
Almost every price has two parts: a percentage of the sale, and a flat fee on every transaction. The percentage scales with the sale. The cents do not — which is why a convenience store and a furniture store should not be shopping the same way.
Two providers can quote you the same percentage and the per-item fee still decides the deal. If your average sale is under about $20, read that line first. Illustration using a 10¢ per-transaction fee.
Everything above is the cost. What follows is the choice — whether that cost reaches you bundled into one number, itemised with the markup on its own line, or passed to the cardholder at checkout.
| Flat rate | Interchange-plus | Surcharge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | Your provider absorbs the whole card-cost range and quotes one bundled number. | The card cost passes through at cost. The provider’s markup is printed as its own line. | A fee is added at checkout so the cardholder covers the cost of paying by credit card. |
| What you pay | The same on every card, cheap or expensive. | Card cost plus a fixed markup that does not change with the card. | Little to nothing on credit. Debit is different and still costs you. |
| Statement | Short and easy to read. | Longer, itemised, and checkable against published interchange. | Shows the fees collected as well as the fees charged. |
| Fits when | You want one predictable number and a simple bill. | Your volume is steady and you are willing to read the detail. | Your customers accept a checkout fee and your state and card brands allow it. |
| Watch for | You pay the same on the cheap card as on the expensive one. | Your monthly total moves with your card mix. | Rules vary by state and by card brand, signage and receipt requirements apply, and debit cannot be surcharged. |
Surcharging is not available in every state and is not the right fit for every counter. We will tell you if it is not.
The first two models price the same card cost in opposite ways. This is the whole difference, drawn to the same scale as the $100 sale above.
one bundled price
card cost, then a separate markup
The cheap card is cheap again under interchange-plus, and the gold band is the same on both. Illustration.
You cannot tell from the headline rate, and anyone who answers before seeing your numbers is guessing. It comes down to three things.
Small tickets get eaten by per-transaction fees, whatever the percentage says.
Heavy debit leans interchange-plus. Heavy rewards cards narrow the gap.
The markup matters more the more you run through it.
Most people guess wrong on the card mix — and it is the one thing already sitting on last month’s statement.
Text us your average ticket and your monthly volume — two numbers you already know — and we will send back what each model actually costs you. No statement needed to start.