Interchange-plus pricing means you pay the actual interchange rate set by Visa and Mastercard for each transaction, plus a fixed markup that goes to your processor. The interchange rate varies by card type: a basic debit card costs less than a premium rewards card. The markup stays the same regardless of card type. This structure is the most transparent because your statement shows exactly what each transaction cost and what the markup was.

Flat-rate pricing can be a good fit for lower-volume businesses, startups, or businesses using software-integrated payment solutions where simplicity and predictability matter more than rate optimization. For higher-volume businesses with a favorable card mix, interchange-plus pricing typically results in a lower effective rate. Monument evaluates your situation and recommends the structure that makes the most sense for your operation.

Tiered pricing sorts transactions into qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified buckets, with the processor controlling which transactions fall into which tier. Rewards cards, keyed entries, and card-not-present transactions are often downgraded to higher tiers, resulting in higher costs. The structure is difficult to audit and hard to compare against other pricing models. Monument generally recommends moving away from tiered pricing when a better alternative is available.

Monument reviews your current processing statement to calculate your effective rate, identify your pricing model, and understand your card mix and monthly volume. From there, we can determine whether your current structure is competitive or whether a switch to interchange-plus or a different processor would reduce your costs.

Level 2 and Level 3 data are additional transaction details, such as purchase order numbers, tax amounts, and line-item descriptions, that can be submitted with B2B and government card transactions. When this data is included, Visa and Mastercard qualify those transactions at lower interchange rates. For businesses that accept a high volume of corporate purchasing cards or government cards, Level 2 and Level 3 data optimization can meaningfully reduce processing costs.

It depends on your business type, transaction mix, customer base, and state regulations. Fee recovery programs can eliminate most or all of your processing costs, but they require customer-facing disclosure and are not appropriate for every business or every state. Monument evaluates both options and recommends the approach that fits your operation. Many businesses use traditional processing for some transaction types and a fee recovery program for others.

In most cases, yes. Monument works with a wide range of POS systems and terminals. If your current system is compatible with a better pricing structure or processor, we can often make that change without requiring a system replacement. If a system change would benefit you, we handle the full transition.