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Old May 16, 2011 | 12:15 pm
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Originally Posted by emeraldtx
I don't quite get this comment. I have a small business & I take credit cards. The percentage-fee I pay is the same, regardless of whether it's a "rewards" card or not. Amex has a % (high!), as does Visa/Mastercard, Discover... but they're not broken down further into 'rewards' or not. Am I missing something here?
Here is an example. MasterCard itself charges different "interchange rates" based on the type of card used. Check out this PDF: http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchan...d_Criteria.pdf

Just one example, the base rate for a "value" category card for a particular merchant type might be 2.95%, whereas a "high value world" card would be 3.25%, a spread of 0.3%.

What may be happening, in your example, is your processor is offering you a flat (highest?) rate, bundled into the overall fee you're charged, rather than breaking out a differentiation and passing along the 0.3% spread.
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