Can you offer cash discount or surcharging?

Yes, in categories and states where it is allowed. We will tell you whether your category and state qualify and whether the math actually helps.

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Credit card processing where every fee is on the statement.

Interchange-plus pricing. No bundled tiers. No padded interchange. We read your current processor statement first, find the hidden fees, and tell you in plain English what changes when you switch.

Send Your Statement Call Jim · 417-294-1882

What you get

Interchange-plus pricing, all fees disclosed
Wholesale-cost transparency on every transaction
No 36-month contract lock-in
Cash discount and surcharge programs where allowed
Next-day funding on qualifying volume

The audit

We start with your statement, not a quote.

Most processors quote a "rate" before they have ever seen your business. We do the opposite. Send us your most recent processor statement and within two business days we mail back a written line-item audit. Effective rate, hidden fees, monthly markup, downgrades. You decide whether the math is worth a switch.

Effective rate

Total monthly fees divided by total volume. The single number every owner should track. We calculate it for you on the audit.

Hidden fees

"Service charge", "regulatory fee", "PCI fee", "batch fee", "monthly minimum". Most are negotiable. Some are pure markup. We mark each one.

Downgrades

When a transaction falls out of "qualified" tier and bumps to mid-qualified or non-qualified, your rate jumps. We count the downgrades on your statement.

Pricing models

Three programs, plain English.

Program

Best for

Heads up

Interchange plus (standard)

Most retail, restaurant, services. Wants transparency.

Slightly more line items on the statement — the trade for clarity.

Cash discount

High average ticket, owner-operator, B2B-leaning.

Must comply with cardholder agreements and clearly post pricing.

Surcharge (allowed states)

Categories and states where surcharging is permitted.

State and brand rules apply. We confirm eligibility before setup.

FAQ

Credit card processing FAQs.

What is interchange-plus pricing?

It is the transparent merchant-services pricing model: you pay wholesale interchange (set by Visa/Mastercard) plus a fixed processor markup. Every fee is on the statement. No game.

How is this different from tier pricing?

Tier pricing buckets transactions into 'qualified / mid-qualified / non-qualified' tiers. The processor decides the bucket. Most rewards cards and B2B cards land in the most expensive bucket. Interchange-plus removes the bucket game entirely.

Will my customers see any difference?

No. Their checkout experience is identical. The pricing model change is on your statement only.

Why interchange-plus is the only honest pricing model

Card processing breaks into two parts: the interchange fee that the card networks charge (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex), and the markup that the processor adds. Interchange is the same no matter who you process with — Visa charges Visa's rate. The processor markup is where the entire industry's pricing games live.

The pricing games to avoid

Tiered pricing. Your transactions are bucketed into "qualified", "mid-qualified", and "non-qualified" tiers. The buckets are defined by the processor, not the card networks. Cards mysteriously qualify for the cheapest tier rarely and the expensive tiers often.

Bundled pricing. One blended rate that hides whether you're being charged interchange-plus a markup of 0.10% or 1.50%. Looks simple. Often expensive.

Hidden fees. PCI compliance fees, monthly minimums, batch fees, AVS fees, statement fees, IRS reporting fees, gateway fees. Some are legitimate; some are pure margin. The statement audit identifies which is which.

What interchange-plus actually looks like

The statement shows the interchange charge (Visa's actual fee for that card type) on one line and the processor markup on another. The markup is a fixed basis-point figure that does not change based on what kind of card the customer presented. That's the whole point: predictable, auditable, comparable across competing processors.

The switching mechanics

You stay on your current processor while we set up the new one in parallel.

Go-live day: the old processor terminal stops accepting at the same moment the new one comes online. Customer-visible downtime is zero.

Existing recurring or stored-card customers may need to be re-vaulted on the new processor; we handle the conversion paperwork.

Most switches complete 5-10 business days from signed agreement.

Frequently asked

Will my chargeback rate change?

No. Chargebacks are decided by the card networks, not the processor. The processor only changes how you're billed.

Can I keep my recurring billing tokens?

Usually yes through a token migration the processors coordinate. Sometimes not, depending on the source processor — we tell you on day one.

Do you handle high-risk merchant processing?

We refer to specialists. Steele Solutions does not write standard card processing for adult, firearms, CBD, or other high-risk categories where the underwriting is non-standard.

What is a surcharge program?

A program where the customer pays a small surcharge (typically 3-4%) on credit-card transactions to offset processing costs. Legal in most states with disclosure requirements. We can set this up but it's a strategic choice, not always right.