Who gets the money
The bank that issued the customer's card receives interchange, not the merchant's processor and not the card network itself. That's the same bank funding the customer's rewards points, credit line and fraud protection, and interchange is largely what pays for those things.
Why it varies so much
Interchange isn't one number — it's hundreds of categories published by each network, and the applicable rate depends on several factors at once.
- Card type: debit, credit, rewards, corporate or purchasing card
- How it was presented: tapped, dipped, keyed or entered online
- Merchant category code assigned to your business type
- Data submitted with the transaction, like an address match or order details
What this means for you
When a salesperson promises to beat any rate, they can only move their own margin — interchange and network fees are fixed. If a quoted rate looks lower than what interchange alone would cost, something else in the pricing structure is likely making up the difference, often in fine print or added fees.
The one thing you can influence
Keep transactions card-present wherever possible. A tapped or dipped card typically qualifies for a better interchange category than one keyed in manually, and at real volume that difference adds up to meaningful money over a year.
How interchange rates get published and updated
Visa and Mastercard release updated interchange tables roughly twice a year. These changes ripple through everyone's statements automatically — it's normal to see your effective rate shift slightly even if nothing about your business changed.
Debit vs credit interchange
Regulated debit interchange (for larger banks, under the Durbin Amendment) is capped and generally much lower than credit interchange. This is one reason debit-heavy businesses, like many quick-service restaurants, tend to see lower blended rates than credit-heavy ones.
Interchange optimization programs
Certain categories, like B2B, government, or supermarkets, can qualify for reduced interchange when specific data is submitted with the transaction (like a tax amount or purchase order number). This isn't something a merchant negotiates — it's built into how the POS or payment system submits the transaction.
Why 'we'll beat any rate' claims deserve scrutiny
Since interchange is fixed, any promise to beat a competitor's rate can only be about the processor's own margin, which is usually a small slice of the total. Big promises on this front are often marketing more than substance — the fee schedule and total statement matter more than one advertised number.