Pricing modelCredit cardsDebit cards
Flat Rate
YOU PAYYOU PAYBundled into your prices. One simple rate on every card — the fee hides in what you charge everyone.
Cost Plus
YOU PAYYOU PAYBundled into your prices — at the lowest markup. You pay true cost plus a small, disclosed margin.
Cash Discount / Dual Pricing
CUSTOMERS PAYCUSTOMERS PAYBuilt into the posted card price. Card customers pay the higher price; paying cash earns the discount.
Surcharge
CUSTOMERS PAYYOU PAYAdded at checkout — on credit only. Debit cards can never legally be surcharged, so every debit sale is still on you.
The hidden detail in "bundled" pricing: under flat rate and cost plus, card fees are baked into the prices everyone pays — so your cash customers quietly subsidize your card fees. That's the honest argument for cash discount and dual pricing: it moves the cost onto the people actually using the card.
Cost plus is the cleanest path — and the least profitable for the processor.
Which is exactly why it's rarely the program you're offered first. Whether it's right for you still depends on your margins and your customers — that's what the numbers below are for.Now see it with your numbers
Move the sliders — every dollar of fee lands on someone.
$40,000
$30
70% credit
True network cost (interchange + assessments) at this volume: —/mo. Everything above that is markup — and one of three parties pays it.
The right program is the one that's best for you and your customers — not your processor.
Every model above is legitimate when it's chosen for your margins and your customer base. The problem is when it's chosen for the blue bar.
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Show the math & assumptions
True cost assumes blended card-present interchange + assessments of 2.25% + 10¢ per transaction on credit and 1.20% + 10¢ on debit. Flat rate is modeled at 2.6% + 10¢. Cost plus is modeled at interchange + 0.25% + 8¢. Surcharge is modeled at 3% added to credit transactions only — debit cards can never legally be surcharged, so debit is billed to the business at cost plus. Cash discount / dual pricing is modeled as a card price 3.99% above the posted cash price, with the program covering the merchant's processing cost. Monthly fees, equipment, and PCI fees are excluded from all four models for an apples-to-apples comparison. Your actual interchange depends on your card mix and industry — which is exactly what the free calculator on our home page estimates. Surcharge rules also vary by state; some states cap or prohibit surcharging entirely.