Merchant Service Charge
Merchants who accept Visa cards pay a Merchant Service Charge (MSC) to their acquiring bank.The MSC is set by negotiation between acquiring banks and merchants, and not by Visa.
The fees you pay may reflect factors such as the level of risk in your industry sector, and the costs associated with handling retail accounts of different sizes.
In return for paying the MSC, your acquiring bank will provide you with a range of services that typically includes:
- Payment guarantee
- Connectivity to the Visa network
- Terminal hardware and software
- Decals and signage
- Customer support
Interchange – a fee between banks
Interchange is the fee paid by your acquiring bank to the cardholder’s bank after every Visa transaction. Merchants do not pay interchange and it should not be confused with the MSC.Interchange has been designed to helps banks share the costs of issuing Visa cards and the cost of signing up merchants to accept those cards. It enables cardholders, merchants and their banks to participate in the transaction process.
Interchange – further information can be found on this page, in our About Visa section.
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