Interchange is where transactions are submitted for payment from the Acquirer or Merchant Processor to the Card Issuer or Debit Network. It also represents the fees paid by the merchant acquirer to the Card Issuer.
At the time the transaction is exchanged fees are paid and vary based on processing method utilized. It is more expensive to process a hand-keyed transaction than a card-swiped transaction.
Several rates may apply to your transactions, depending on your method of processing each transaction and the interchange qualification that is assigned to each transaction by the Card associations for processing transactions.
Rate qualification criteria: The card associations consider the card product used in the transaction, how the transaction data is entered, the time of settlement versus time of authorization.
Interchange Category Based on Card Type: Credit, Debit, and Rewards purchasing.
Industry Type: Retail or E-commerce.
Qualification Elements: Swiped card or Key entered.
When you settle your transactions each day, Acquirer or Merchant Processor like NTC routes them to the Card Associations (Visa, MasterCard, Discover) and debit networks through Interchange.
Visa, MasterCard, Discover (Card Associations and Debit Networks) establish the rules and manage the Interchange of all transactions.