Wells Fargo has prepared an incredibly useful matrix that outlines the new interchange rates and highlights which fees have been adjusted. These changes are active as of October 13, 2017, and they can be expected to last until mid-April 2018 barring a rare January update from one of the card networks. In an effort to spare you the effort of browsing through 95 pages of interchange fees, we've summarized the updated fees below. Note: if an interchange fee is not mentioned in this summary, it has not been changed since April 2017.
Visa Interchange Adjustments October 2017
Below are the updated interchange fees for Visa card types as of October 2017. See the bottom of this section for a general summary of these changes.
Visa Interchange Fee Increases
All Commercial Card Level III interchange fees have increased from 1.85% plus $0.10 per transaction to 1.90% plus $0.10 per transaction
Level II Corporate Card interchange fees have increased from 2.05% plus $0.10 per transaction to 2.50% plus $0.10 per transaction
Level II Purchasing Card interchange fees have increased from 2.05% plus $0.10 per transaction to 2.50% plus $0.10 per transaction
Card-Not-Present Corporate Card interchange fees have increased from 2.65% plus $0.10 per transaction to 2.70% plus $0.10 per transaction
Card-Not-Present Purchasing Card interchange fees have increased from 2.65% plus $0.10 per transaction to 2.70% plus $0.10 per transaction
All Commercial – Travel Services interchange fees have increased from 2.55% plus $0.10 to 2.65% plus $0.10
Visa Interchange Fee Decreases
Visa did not lower any of its interchange rates during this update.
New Visa Interchange Fees
A Level II “Corporate @ Fuel” interchange rate of 2.05% plus $0.10 per transaction has been added
A Level II “Purchasing @ Fuel” interchange rate of 2.05% plus $0.10 per transaction has been added
Visa Interchange Summary
Nearly all business-to-consumer merchants will continue to pay the same interchange rates that they have been paying since April. The only transaction types that have been affected by this update are business-to-business or business-to-government transactions such as Level II and Level III transactions, corporate cards, and purchasing cards. The only business-to-consumer industry that has received a rate increase is the Travel Services industry, and this higher rate only applies to transactions made with corporate or purchasing cards at the following business types: “Travel and Entertainment – Restaurants (MCC 5812, 5814), Hotels (MCC 3519-3828, 7011), Car Rentals (MCC 3351-3518, 7512), Truck and Utility Trailer Rentals (MCC 7513), Passenger Transport (MCC 3000-3299, 4511, 4112), Cruise Lines (MCC 4411), and Travel Agents (MCC 4722).”
Below are the updated interchange fees for MasterCard card types as of October 2017. See the bottom of this section for a general summary of these changes.
MasterCard Interchange Fee Increases
MasterCard did not raise any of its interchange rates during this update.
MasterCard Interchange Fee Decreases
MasterCard did not lower any of its interchange rates during this update.
New MasterCard Interchange Fees
MasterCard did not introduce any new interchange rates during this update.
MasterCard Interchange Summary
MasterCard has not changed any of its interchange fees or introduced any new interchange fees. Interchange fees on all MasterCard transactions should remain the same until April 2018 and can be seen here.
What About Discover And American Express?
Discover and American Express do not release semiannual interchange updates, so it's harder to keep track of whether their fees have changed. Discover treats its interchange rates as confidential information, and American Express prefers that its partners do not disclose the wholesale pricing offered in its OptBlue program. However, the credit card processor Helcim displays both Discover's interchange fees and American Express's interchange fees for anyone to review. These pages should not be considered authoritative because they are not directly hosted by Discover and American Express. However, Helcim has a reputation for transparency and does not appear to be misleading merchants on these pages.
Are you paying different rates than the ones released by Visa and MasterCard? Let us know in the comment section below.
In the late 2000s, as a broke college student struggling to make ends meet, I was contacted by a merchant services company after uploading my resume to a job listings website. This company promised substantial commissions and ongoing residual income for simply persuading businesses to accept credit card payments. It seemed straightforward enough—after all, what business doesn’t need to process credit card payments? Following a phone interview with a persuasive “sales director,” I found myself embarking on what I believed would be an easy job that would significantly boost my bank account with reliable monthly income and large sales commissions. However, the lessons I learned would profoundly change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
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