Flat vs tiered vs interchange-plus pricing

Flat (blended) rate

One rate for most cards, sometimes plus a few cents per sale. Easy to read and often fair for a small business with low volume. Network rate cuts do not flow through on their own.

At a small average sale, such as a CA$5 coffee, the few cents per sale in an interchange-plus price add up, and a published flat rate with no per-sale fee can cost less.

Tiered

Transactions are sorted into qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified tiers, each with its own rate. The processor decides which cards land in which tier, which makes tiered statements hard to compare.

Interchange-plus (cost plus)

You pay the card network's interchange and network fees at cost, plus a fixed markup, for example a percent plus a few cents per sale. Network rate cuts reach you automatically. This is the easiest plan to compare between processors, which is why FeeHound's fair range is built this way.

How to compare quotes

Ask every processor for the cost per transaction table the Code requires (Annex B), for each card type you accept, and the full list of fees (Annex C). Compare the markup, the monthly fees and any terminal rental or lease separately.