Lower Interchange Costs with Interchange Optimization

If you are a Business-to-Business (B2B) merchant, you can lower your processing fees through a process called Interchange Optimization.

What is Interchange?
Interchange rates refer to a fee that a merchant must pay with every credit and debit card transaction. Rates are set by card issuing companies in exchange for accepting the credit risk and processing the payment transactions through their payment networks. Every merchant pays Interchange, and accepting electronic cards is necessary in today’s virtually cash less society. But with Interchange Optimization, B2B merchants can qualify for lower interchange rates. 

A B2B merchant typically conducts transactions through a payment gateway, which is non face-to-face. B2B merchants are businesses that sell to other businesses. Examples of B2B companies include construction companies, building suppliers, hardware companies, schools, government municipalities, etc.  The average tickets for some transactions (such as a building supply or construction company), can start at $5,000. With tickets in that range and higher, realizing a lower interchange rate can help boost more profits.

With Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions, more risk comes into play because it is easier to commit fraud online.

Why Interchange Optimization is Beneficial
With Interchange Optimization, a B2B submits additional data with every payment transaction. Level II and Level III optimization are most commonly used.

Level III requires more information (such as tax rate, commodity code), to be submitted with each transaction. Why? The card brands take into account additional information being submitted as a more secure transaction. This lowers the risk of fraud.  

So How Can Your Business Accomplish This?
You can lower your interchange rates by employing a gateway/Virtual Terminal that includes Level II and Level III functionality.

MainStream has several products that include Level II and Level III interchange optimization – SwipeSimple, PayTrace, FluidPay, to name a few. Therefore, if you are a B2B merchant and would like to learn more information about how we can give you the tools to manage your Interchange and lower your processing cost, contact us today!

To learn more, go to our Contact Us page, check the “Other” option and enter your contact information. One of our representatives will be in touch with the best solution for your business! https://www.mainstreamms.com/contact