Credit Card Fees: Retail Merchant Services

Monday, September 17th, 2018

Are you interested in credit card fees? Hoe can you get approved for low-cost retail merchant services to grow your business without difficulty? This article will tell you about credit card fees and help you find the right merchant services provider in the UK.

Credit/Debit Cards and Their Fees

As of October 2017, 98.5 million debit cards were in use in the UK. In 2016, the total number of payment cards in circulation accounted for 164 million. Among them, 100 million were debit cards (+0.8%). Credit cards accounted for 59 million or -0.7%, and charge cards made up 5 million or -4.6%.

On the other hand, it’s important to note, that there’s increased use of contactless cards. This means cash is being overtaken as the most frequently used payment method in Britain.

In fact, the interest rate represents the main cost of a credit card. The interest rate is charged when the card is used to borrow money. After you receive your monthly bill, you can choose the amount of repayment. However, a minimum amount will be determined by your provider. If you fail to repay the full amount, the interest will be charged on the balance.

The European Commission has mandated a credit card interchange reduction from 175 basis points down to 30bp. What about the fact that merchant acquirers and processors would go on with their tariffs? UK regulators are now focused on merchant fees, which is the very dark and cloudy aspect associated with interchange.

Retail Merchant Services

On the one hand, complaints are rising about the costs to retailers of accepting card payments. On the other hand, the Payment Services Regulator (PSR) has recently announced a “Market Review into the supply of card-acquiring services.”

Since there’s a regulatory trend towards cost accounting, it’s interesting whether companies like Square that charge 1.75% for in-person payments, or 2.75% for online transactions, will meet the regulatory test in the UK.

Also, don’t forget about the incredible rise in contactless transactions, which has resulted in the closure of about 300 cash machines a month: people are more and more often turning to debit cards to make smaller payments. However, doing the same abroad can prove to be costly.

Research by Defaqto, a financial information company, reveals that small payments made via debit cards have been the most costly way to pay. Why? It’s simple: many debit cards impose a non-sterling transaction fee, which is basically under 3%, and a purchase fee.

With all this being said, it’s critical to work with only reputable payment processors to get the best rates and fees for payment processing. For this, you just need to turn to a respectable payment expert like Best Payment Providers in the UK that can help you get easily approved for retail merchant services from the right payment processor in the country.

Best Payment Providers offers free consultation and reviews contracts, rates, and fees to ensure you’re getting the best deal for your business. Also, taking into account the fact that integration requirements are as much important as fees and customer service, Best Payment Providers always checks providers’ integration process so to be sure you’re enjoying a smooth transition and onboarding process.

Finally, Best Payment Providers is dedicated to providing the most honest snapshot of the company at the time of writing, which is of utmost importance to merchants interested in a reliable credit card processor.