Credit card payment processing fees, explained line by line.
Every credit card payment processing fee is really three or four fees stacked together — interchange, scheme fees, the processor margin and any ancillary items. BazPay runs interchange++ pricing: every settled charge shows each component on its own row, so you know exactly what you paid and to whom.
Built for merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand: e-commerce sellers, subscription software firms and professional-services businesses. Direct regional acquiring, named MID with the schemes, published margin schedule.
Why transparent card processing fees beat a blended headline rate
A blended rate hides the components that actually change with your traffic mix. Four properties keep the pricing conversation honest.
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Interchange++ transparency, not a blended headline rate
Every settled card charge shows interchange (paid to the issuer), scheme fees (paid to the network) and BazPay's own margin as separate lines. Finance teams reconcile against the source, not against a monthly summary that hides the mix.
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No aggregated MID diluting your cost profile
You board on your own named MID with the schemes. Your interchange bracket reflects your traffic — the mix of card types, regions and MCC — not an aggregator's average across every merchant they route.
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Published rate schedule
The rate structure lives on the pricing page and is confirmed during boarding. There is no bespoke-only pricing tier that hides the number behind a sales call before a merchant can compare.
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Fees decrease with the right choices, not the loudest sales pitch
Encouraging card-on-file with network tokens, claiming SCA exemptions, and routing shoppers to lower-cost local methods where they prefer them — all real levers on the interchange++ statement. A processor that hides fees hides the levers too.
The four components on a settled card charge
Every online payment processing fee on a card charge breaks down into these components. BazPay names them individually on the statement rather than blending them into one rate.
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Interchange
Interchange (to the issuer)
The largest component on most card charges. Interchange flows from the acquirer to the issuer under the card scheme rulebook. It varies by card type (debit vs credit vs commercial), region (regional intra vs regional inter vs cross-border), MCC and transaction context (card-present vs card-not-present, authenticated vs not).
- Card type
- Region
- MCC
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Scheme fees
Scheme fees (to Visa/Mastercard/CB)
Charges levied by the card scheme itself for use of the network — assessment fees, cross-border fees and various small line items that add up. Fully passed through on interchange++.
- Assessment
- Cross-border
- Adjustments
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Margin
Processor margin (BazPay)
The margin BazPay charges on top of interchange and scheme fees for acquiring, gateway, tokenisation, fraud engine, 3-D Secure 2 orchestration, dispute defence and settlement. Named on every settled row.
- Acquiring
- Gateway
- Support
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Ancillary
Ancillary fees (where applicable)
Chargeback fees per dispute case, refund handling where the scheme charges an ancillary fee, and any per-payout or corridor-specific SEPA Instant/SWIFT charge — each listed on its own line.
- Chargeback fee
- Refund handling
- Payout
Interchange sits between the acquirer and the issuer — see the issuing and acquiring explainer for the two sides of the transaction. Method mix affects the total: bank rails cost differently to cards, see Single Euro Payments Area processing and open banking.
Where each fee lands in the payment lifecycle
Six stages sit between the shopper's card entry and the reconciled ledger row on your side. Each stage either applies a fee or exposes one that has already been calculated.
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Authorise
The card charge posts to the acquirer with the 3-D Secure 2 result bound. Authorisation itself carries no interchange yet.
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Capture
Capture triggers clearing. The interchange rate is determined at this point based on card type, region, MCC and authentication result.
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Scheme clearing
The scheme moves the funds. Interchange is calculated and passed to the issuer; scheme fees are levied by Visa or Mastercard.
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Settle
BazPay's acquirer receives the settled funds. Interchange, scheme fees and BazPay's margin appear as separate lines on your interchange++ statement.
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Payout
Funds land in your local settlement account via SEPA or SEPA Instant on approved corridors. Any per-payout fee is itemised on the payout webhook.
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Reconcile
Export the statement or ingest the signed settlement webhook. Every fee line ties back to its source charge for full traceability.
Interchange++ vs a blended rate — where the gap lands
Interchange++ and blended pricing can produce similar totals at the end of the month for a stable traffic mix. They diverge fast when the mix changes — refunds, chargebacks, cross-border cards, commercial cards. The comparison below shows where the gap opens.
| Dimension | Interchange++ (BazPay) | Blended headline rate |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Interchange++ per settled charge | Blended headline rate |
| Interchange visibility | Named per charge | Absorbed into blend |
| Scheme fees visibility | Named per charge | Absorbed into blend |
| MID structure | Named MID per merchant | Shared aggregated MID |
| Refund fee treatment | Reversal or retention shown on the row | Netted into monthly summary |
| Chargeback fee | Per case on the statement | Monthly line, not per case |
| Rate discoverability | Rate schedule on the pricing page | Bespoke, sales-call only |
Full rate structure on the pricing page. Buyer's shortlist on payment processors. Reporting depth on real-time analytics.
Features that make fee data usable
Every capability below ships on the standard integration. The point of interchange++ is only realised if the fee data reaches your finance stack — so the reporting surface matters as much as the pricing model.
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Interchange++ statement
Downloadable per-charge breakdown with interchange, scheme fees, processor margin and any ancillary fee named on its own row.
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Per-charge fee metadata
The settlement webhook payload carries the fee breakdown so your ledger can post interchange, scheme and margin separately for finance accuracy.
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CSV and API export
Export any settlement view as CSV or pull it via API for your data warehouse. No lock-in behind a proprietary reporting UI.
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Refund fee treatment
Where the scheme reverses interchange on a refund, that reversal appears on the refund line. Where it does not, the merchant sees the retained fee explicitly.
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Chargeback fee visibility
Every dispute case with a scheme chargeback fee appears on its own line in the statement, not buried in a monthly deduction.
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Real-time analytics
See approval, decline and fee data within seconds — spot a rate-changing product mix before the next scheme cycle closes.
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Named MID reporting
Fees attributed to your own MID with the schemes. No aggregator pool blurring the interchange bracket you actually earn.
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Signed settlement webhooks
HMAC-signed, replay-protected settlement events push fee breakdowns into your accounting stack automatically.
Fee breakdown on the signed settlement webhook
Every settled charge carries an itemised fee breakdown. The signed
charge.settled webhook pushes interchange, scheme fees and processor
margin as separate numeric fields — verify the HMAC signature, post each line to your
ledger and close the row.
BazPay-Signature: t=1717257600,
v1=8b3f1c...9d2e
{
"id": "evt_02H9",
"type": "charge.settled",
"data": {
"object": {
"id": "ch_5F9k",
"amount": 4990,
"currency": "EUR",
"fees": {
"interchange": 34,
"scheme_fees": 5,
"processor_fee": 22
}
}
}
}Numbers above are illustrative field layout — real values depend on your interchange bracket, scheme cycle and negotiated processor margin. Full schema in the API reference.
Where interchange++ fee reporting earns its keep
The four merchant profiles below rely on line-item card fee reporting to make finance work. Each uses the same signed settlement webhook and interchange++ statement.
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Finance teams reconciling monthly
Interchange++ statements let CFOs and finance analysts tie every settled row to its source charge, refund or dispute — no black-box deduction to explain to auditors.
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Merchants comparing processors
A published rate schedule and named fee components make apples-to-apples comparison possible against any other acquirer running interchange++. Blended rates hide the comparison.
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Merchants growing across regional markets
As traffic mix changes (more commercial cards, more cross-border, more MIT-exempt renewals), interchange++ shows the change immediately in the settlement stream.
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Subscription businesses
Network tokens keep card-on-file alive after issuer reissue and MIT exemptions apply to renewals — both real interchange++ levers, not vendor magic.
Out of scope for BazPay: adult, gambling, CBD, nutraceutical, forex, CFD, crypto-exchange, debt-collection and MLM. BazPay is not a merchant of record and does not act as a card issuer.
Compliance context for fee reporting
Fee transparency is a finance and audit concern as much as a pricing one. Interchange++ statements are the evidence trail auditors ask for; they align with what the scheme rulebooks describe and what a merchant's own ledger should be posting per settled charge. Card handling itself runs inside a PCI DSS Level 1 environment so the underlying data is trustworthy.
- PCI DSS Level 1
- Annual assessment on the acquiring and gateway environment
- Merchant SAQ A
- Hosted fields and gateway vault keep card data out of your stack
- Authentication
- 3-D Secure 2.2 with automatic exemption logic on every card charge
- GDPR
- In-region data residency; DPA on request
- Interchange++ statement
- Line-item breakdown per settled charge, exportable
Questions merchants ask about card processing fees
What is the average credit card payment processing fee, and can BazPay quote one?
There is no single average card processing fee that applies to a real merchant. The actual number depends on card type (debit vs credit vs commercial), region (regional intra vs regional inter vs cross-border), MCC, ticket size, authentication result and mix of methods. That is exactly why BazPay uses interchange++ instead of a blended headline rate — the pricing page publishes the margin schedule, and boarding confirms your merchant profile against the interchange brackets that will apply.
Who offers the lowest payment processing fees?
"Lowest" claims are usually blended-headline marketing. A processor claiming the lowest rate at 1.4% may still be more expensive than an interchange++ processor at interchange plus 0.3% if your traffic mix skews to debit and regional intra cards. Compare on interchange++ terms — the underlying interchange is the same for every acquirer on the same rulebook; the meaningful comparison is the margin and the scheme-fee treatment.
How are online payment processing fees structured on BazPay?
On BazPay the fee for every settled card charge splits into three named components: interchange (paid to the issuer), scheme fees (paid to the network) and BazPay's processor margin. Ancillary fees — chargebacks, some refund cases, payout corridors — each land on their own line. The statement is exportable per charge and pulled by signed settlement webhook into your accounting stack.
Does BazPay support ACH payment processing fees?
ACH is the United States bank-transfer rail. BazPay is a regional acquirer and does not process ACH. The regional equivalent is SEPA Instant (Credit Transfer, Direct Debit and Instant Credit Transfer), which BazPay uses natively for inbound bank-rail payments and for merchant payouts. If your book is US-heavy and depends on ACH, BazPay is not the right fit — see Single Euro Payments Area processing for how the regional side works.
Where can I see the lowest online payment processing fees BazPay charges?
The current schedule of BazPay margin and any ancillary fees lives on the pricing page. Interchange and scheme-fee components are pass-through per scheme rulebook — they are not set by BazPay and vary per charge as described above. Boarding confirms the exact schedule for your merchant profile.
Which merchant types can access this pricing model?
Merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand: e-commerce sellers, subscription software firms, professional-services businesses and digital publishers. BazPay does not board adult, gambling, CBD, nutraceutical, forex, CFD, crypto-exchange, debt-collection or MLM merchants — those verticals fall outside our underwriting policy regardless of pricing model.
How do refunds and chargebacks affect the fees I see?
When you refund a card charge, the scheme reverses interchange in most cases, and BazPay reflects that reversal on the refund line. When the scheme does not reverse interchange (some cross-border scenarios), the retained fee is shown explicitly rather than netted silently. A scheme chargeback fee, where the case triggers one, lands on its own line so it never surprises the monthly close.
How can I lower my effective processing fees?
Real levers on interchange++ include: card-on-file with network tokens (keeps saved-card charges qualifying for the right interchange bracket after issuer reissue), SCA exemptions (fewer challenges, but full liability shift on the ones that fire), method mix (routing shoppers to local payment methods where they prefer them can lower the blended per-transaction cost), and per-MCC review during boarding. BazPay's platform surfaces each lever explicitly rather than absorbing them into a blend.
Compare on interchange++ terms, not headline rates
Share your business model, monthly volume and existing statement. A named engineer will walk your interchange bracket and confirm the margin schedule for your merchant profile inside one working day. See also pricing, payment processors and payment acceptance.