Three layers, not one number
Every card sale has three cost layers. Interchange is what Visa, Mastercard, and the card-issuing bank take — it varies by card type, how the card is presented (tap vs keyed), and your MCC. Assessments are the networks’ own fees. Markup is what your processor keeps. Flat-rate processors blend all three into a sticker like 2.9% + 30¢. You cannot audit a blend.
Why debit and rewards are not the same sale
A regulated debit tap can clear under 1%. A rewards Amex can clear north of 3% before anyone’s markup. If your processor quotes one rate for everything, someone is making up the difference — usually you, on the debit, to subsidize the rewards.
Effective rate is the only number that matters
Add every fee on last month’s statement. Divide by volume. That is your effective rate. We rebuild it line by line on a rate review. If we cannot beat it, we say so.
What Vertura puts on the page
Interchange-plus: wholesale interchange, a named markup, a per-item fee. Dual pricing: a cash price and a card price so the network cost is not silent. High-risk: custom, disclosed, matched to a sponsor. No anniversary PCI surprise. No equipment hostage.