Every card payment you accept has a processing cost. The largest part of that cost is usually interchange. This article explains what it is, why it varies, and how it shows up for you.
What Is Interchange?
Interchange is a fee set by the card networks (Visa, Mastercard and Discover) and paid to the customer's bank on each card payment. American Express sets its own pricing in a similar way.
It's not set by ValPay, and ValPay can't change or negotiate it.
It's the same for every processor for the same type of payment.
Visa and Mastercard typically update their rates twice a year.
Your total processing cost is interchange, plus card network fees, plus ValPay's fee.
Why Interchange Varies
Card type: rewards, premium, business and corporate cards cost more than basic debit and credit cards.
How the payment was taken: tap or chip payments in person cost less than online, phone or manually typed payments.
Your industry: some business types qualify for specific rate categories.
Data provided: passing details like the billing address and CVV, or line-item data for some commercial cards, can qualify for lower rates.
Where the card is from: cards issued in another country usually cost more.
That's why your effective rate can change from month to month even when your pricing hasn't. A month with more rewards cards or more online payments will cost more.
How It Shows Up on Your Pricing
Interchange Plus (IC+) pricing: you pay the actual interchange on each payment plus your agreed markup, so your costs follow your card mix.
Flat Rate pricing: you pay one consistent rate regardless of card type. Interchange is built into that rate, so it doesn't appear separately.
You can see the fee breakdown on individual payments in the Payouts tab of the ValPay Portal: open a payout, then a transfer, and look under the fee details.
Ways to Keep Costs Down
Take payments in person by tap or chip whenever you can, rather than typing card numbers in.
For online and phone orders, always collect the billing address and CVV.
Where to See Published Rates
Visa, Mastercard and Discover publish their interchange tables on their websites. Search "interchange rates" on each network's site. The tables are long and detailed, so if you'd like help understanding your statement or effective rate, contact your support team. That's the team that set up your account or the one you normally contact for help.