If Swipe Fees Fall, Will Your Processing Bill?

Why this question is back

Swipe fees are in the news again. In October 2026 the Wall Street Journal reported renewed White House support for the Credit Card Competition Act, a bill aimed at more network competition for credit cards. Merchants hear that and assume their bill will drop. Whether or not the bill passes, and whatever card costs do in future, the same question decides what you pay: does your pricing pass the card cost through to you?

What a swipe fee is

When a customer pays by card, most of the fee goes to the bank that issued the card. That part is interchange, set by the card networks in published tables. The networks add their own assessment fees. Your processor then adds its markup for the service. Interchange changes by card type, how the card was taken and the kind of business. Our interchange guide explains how these pieces fit together.

Interchange-plus: the cost follows through

On interchange-plus pricing your statement lists the interchange and network fees for each card type, then the processor's markup on top, often a percentage plus a per-transaction fee. Because the card cost is shown at cost, a change in interchange shows up on your statement, in either direction. The markup is the part you negotiate. The trade-off is a longer statement that takes a few minutes a month to read.

Flat and tiered rates: one blended price

On a flat rate you pay one percentage, sometimes plus a per-transaction fee, for most cards. On tiered pricing your transactions are sorted into buckets such as qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified, each with its own rate. Both blend the card cost and the markup into one price. That makes the bill simple to predict, but it means a lower card cost does not have to change the rate you pay. If costs fall, the difference can stay with the provider unless your rate is changed.

Neither is always wrong

A flat rate can suit a very small or new business that values a simple, predictable bill. Interchange-plus usually gives more visibility as volume grows. The point is not to pick a side, it is to know which one you have and what that means. Look at your statement: if you see interchange listed by card type with a separate markup, you are likely on interchange-plus. If you see one rate, or qualified and non-qualified rates, you are on a blended model. Then work out your effective rate, total fees divided by total card sales, so you have a number to compare.

What changes for multi-location and enterprise operations

With several locations, pricing can differ by merchant ID, even under one brand, often because accounts were opened at different times. List each account's pricing model and markup in one place. Check your contracts for how pricing can change and how much notice you get. If you are on interchange-plus, confirm the markup is the same across locations of similar size. If you are on blended pricing at high volume, ask for an interchange-plus quote and compare effective rates on real statements, not sample rates.