Axia College at University of Phoenix
HTT/230
June 9, 2011

Credit Card Research Credit card companies charge a number of fees depending on the type of credit card that is being used. One fee that is commonly charged is called the interchange fee which is what the Card Associations charge a business for any credit card transactions. This fee varies in regards to the type of Merchant Account and how the transaction is sent. The fee will consist of a percentage rate that pertains to the total amount of the bill and also a flat rate per each transaction fee (Shift4 Corporation, 1994-2011). Visa and Mastercard each have their own interchange fees that they charge whenever their credit or debit cards are used to make purchases. These interchange fees are usually kept hidden from the Merchants and are usually combined with other fees such as the Discount Rate but both Visa and Mastercard now have websites that Merchants can go to and see just how much the fees are that they are being charged. The interchange fee is just one fee that businesses must pay when accepting credit and debit card payments. The business owner must pay a processing fee or transaction fee and these fees can range from 2% to as much as 7%. In order to reduce the amount of fees that a business owner has to pay, offering specials and discounts for cash purchases can keep more money in the businesses bank account. If the business finds that they receive a large amount of credit sales, the lower rates the merchant will have to pay to the credit card company. For the merchant, when credit sales increase it can give the merchant the opportunity to renegotiate lower rate transaction fees with the credit card companies. This is similar to a consumer obtaining a credit card with high interest. As the consumer makes purchases and makes their payments on time, the interest