Are the rates in the $100 example standard prices?

No. They are illustrative assumptions, and real rates vary by region, card type and contract. The example shows how the layers stack up for a card-not-present payment priced as interchange plus: interchange, scheme fees, processor fee, acquirer markup, network token fee and 3DS fee, before the operator's own margin.

An illustration

The $100 example in the guide uses assumed rates to show how fees stack up on a card-not-present transaction priced as interchange plus. The numbers are chosen to be plausible and easy to follow; they are not a price list. Real rates depend on the region, the card type, the merchant category, the channel and the contract.

The layers it shows

• Interchange, paid to the issuer, which varies most by card type and region.
• Scheme fees, paid to the card network.
• Processor fee, for moving the transaction.
• Acquirer markup.
• Network token fee and 3-D Secure fee, where those services are used.
• The operator's own margin on top.

How to use it

Replace each assumption with the operator's own contracted rates and its merchants' card mix, and the structure gives a real cost per transaction. That calculation is only possible when fees are itemized per transaction in reconciliation; with blended statements, the layers cannot be separated. Operators that run the exercise per provider and per market usually find that the difference between providers lies in the markup and the ancillary fees, not in interchange, which is the same for everyone.