What is the difference between interchange and IC++ pricing?

Interchange is one cost component of a card payment. IC++, or interchange plus plus, is a pricing model where the provider passes interchange and scheme fees through at cost and adds its own markup as a separate, visible line.

The three layers of IC++

• Interchange, paid to the issuer.
• Scheme fees, paid to the card network.
• The acquirer or provider markup.

The alternative: blended pricing

With blended pricing, the merchant pays one rate for all cards. It is simple to read, but it hides how much of the cost is interchange and how much is margin. Cheap cards subsidize expensive ones, and the merchant cannot see the difference.

Choosing between them

IC++ gives transparency and usually suits merchants with significant volume or a varied card mix. Blended pricing suits merchants who value predictability over detail. Many providers offer both.

What it means for payment operators

As a platform, you choose how to price your merchants, often blended for simplicity, while your own provider costs may come as IC++. The gap between the two is your margin. Reconciliation that maps provider fee lines into one model, and analytics that compare what you charge with what you pay per transaction, make that margin visible and help you adjust pricing as your merchants' card mix evolves.