Advanced Rate Comparison Calculator

Purpose: This calculator allows a merchant to get a thorough idea of what fees they will be paying on a monthly basis with four different providers based on the basic fees associated with accepting credit cards. It is meant to be comprehensive. For a basic calculation of your potential fees use the Basic Rate Comparison Calculator.

		Offer #1	Offer #2	Offer #3	Offer #4
Qualified Trans /Month: Mid-Qual Trans /Month: Non-Qual Trans /Month: Average Ticket:
	Discount Rate:
	Qualified Transaction Fee:
	Mid-Discount Rate:
	Non-Discount Rate:
	Mid/Non Qualified Transaction Fee:
	AVS Fee:
	Watts Fee:
	Statement Fee:
	Club Fee:
	Monthly Minimum:
	Setup Fee:
	Application Fee:
	Annual Fee:

Qualified Rate: This is the percentage rate you have been quoted as paying for your transactions that are swiped or keyed in and all requirements are met. It will be around 1.69% for retail businesses and 2.30% for Mail Order/Telephone order/Internet businesses.
Qualified Transaction Fee: This is the fee you will pay every time you process a transaction at a qualified rate. For a retail business this can vary from 10¢ - 25¢ and for Mail Order/Telephone order/Internet businesses it can be from 22¢ to 35¢. Mail Order/Telephone order/Internet businesses need to include their AVS fee, if any, to their transaction fee since it is always charged on every transaction.
Mid-Qualified Rate: This is the percentage rate you have been quoted as paying for your transactions that not all conditions are met to qualify for the lowest rate. This is typically because a retail business didn't swipe a card or accepted a business card or reward card. Does not apply to Mail Order or Internet Businesses.
Non-Qualified Rate: This is the percentage rate you have been quoted as paying for your transactions that not any conditions are met to qualify for the lowest rate. This is typically because a retail business didn't swipe a card and did not do AVS. For Mail Order or Internet businesses, not doing AVS on any transaction will cause a sale to become non-qualified.
Mid/Non Qualified Transaction Fee: This is the fee you will pay every time you process a transaction at a mid or non-qualified rate. It typically costs around 10¢ more then a qualified transaction fee.
AVS Fee: This fee is charged to a merchant whenever they do an address verification on a credit card sale. Mail Order and Internet businesses must do this on every transaction. Typically does not apply to retail merchants.
Watts Fee: This is another name for a transaction fee that is ometimes charged in addition to the standard transaction fee.
Statement Fee: This is the monthly fee you will pay for having your merchant account. It covers the merchant account statement you will receive every month and usually customer support as well. This is typically around $10.00.
Club Fee: This is amonthly fee that is sometimes charged to a merchant if they wish to receive terminal supplies, customer support, or technical support.
Monthly Minimum: This is a fee that you are charged if you do not incur enough fees each month. It is added on to whatever fees you are charged for the month. It typically is $25 per month.
Setup Fee: This fee is paid if your merchant account is approved. You do not have to pay it if your application is declined.
Application Fee: This is a fee you pay just for handing in an application for service. Even if your acount is declined you must pay this fee.
Annual Fee: This is a fee you pay each anniversary of your account setup. It typically is between $35 and $100.
Qualified Transactions Per Month: This is the number of transaction you expect to process each month by credit cards only at a qualified rate.
Mid-Qualified Transactions Per Month: This is the number of transaction you expect to process each month by credit cards only at a mid-qualified rate.
Non-Qualified Transactions Per Month: This is the number of transaction you expect to process each month by credit cards only at a non-qualified rate.
Average Ticket: This is how much your average sale price is. To determine this take your monthly sales volume and divide it by your monthly number of transactions.