Understanding Processing Fees in DecoNetwork's DecoPay: A Guide to Card Types and Rates

DecoNetwork provides a robust and flexible embedded payment processing system, DecoPay, offering a variety of payment processing options, including credit cards, buy-now-pay-later options, bank transfers, fraud protection, and dispute resolution tools, making it a superior choice for decorators. DecoPay's fee structure varies based on the type of credit card used for transactions. Here's a breakdown of the card types and how the processing fees differ.

Types of Credit Cards and Their Impact on Processing Fees

In DecoPay, the rates for credit card transactions are differentiated between Standard and Premium cards:

Standard Cards: These are domestic consumer cards, primarily intended for personal use. They include widely used credit card types like Visa and Mastercard. Because these cards are issued for personal consumer transactions, they typically carry lower processing fees.
Premium Cards: This category includes domestic commercial, corporate, or business cards, such as Visa Business, as well as domestic American Express, Discover, and Diners Club cards. These cards are often used by businesses for managing expenses and transactions. Due to their specialized nature and additional benefits provided to cardholders, Premium cards generally incur higher processing fees.

Note that Standard and Premium credit card rates do not apply to direct debit, ACH transfers, or any other form of payment.

This differentiation in rates aims to keep the cost of processing retail credit cards as low as possible while acknowledging that Premium cards often come with extra benefits or rewards for the cardholders, which translates into higher processing costs for merchants.

Premium Card Check Logic

In certain circumstances, we perform a $0 auth check to determine if a card is a premium card. A $0 auth check is a transaction used to verify a credit card without charging the cardholder.

Regions and Card Types:
- In the US, Australia, and Canada, we only perform auth checks on Mastercard and Visa credit or prepaid cards.
- In the UK and the EU, we also perform auth checks on debit cards.
Specific Card Rules:
- American Express (Amex), Diners Club, and Discover credit cards are always considered premium without an auth check.
- Debit and prepaid cards are not auth checked and are not considered premium.
Previous Use and Identification:
- If a card has been previously used or auth checked, we remember its premium status using a fingerprint of the card (not the actual card details, as we do not have access to card numbers). The fingerprint of a credit card is a unique, hashed identifier derived from certain card details, used to securely recognize the card without storing sensitive information.
Limiting Auth Checks:
- To minimize the number of $0 auth checks, the Fulfilment Center (FC) can set a transaction amount limit that must be exceeded before an auth check is performed.
- Even if the limit is not reached, premium fees are still charged to the FC, however, the customer will not be charged the premium rate.
Exemptions:
- If a card has already been identified as premium or if it is an Amex, Diners Club, or Discover credit card, no auth check is required, and the customer will be charged the premium rate regardless of the limit.

Understanding Fees for Refunded Payments with DecoPay

When you refund a charge through DecoPay, you might have to pay some fees based on your fee schedule. Also, DecoPay's processing fees from the original transaction will not be returned if you issue a refund. A big part of the cost of payment processing comes from fees set by banks and payment networks (like Visa and Mastercard). These networks decide the fees for refunded payments, and often, banks and card networks keep the original fees from the transaction. In some areas and for some payment types, refunds might have extra fees.

Options for Minimizing Costs

By segmenting credit card transactions into Standard and Premium, DecoPay allows you to understand the cost structure and make informed decisions about payment acceptance. This tiered fee system can also encourage the use of Standard cards, helping businesses minimize processing costs.

For additional flexibility, DecoPay users can apply surcharges to credit card payments. DecoPay users can configure a flat fee or percentage rate surcharge on domestic and international credit card transactions, allowing businesses to pass on some of the processing costs to the customers. For instructions on configuring credit card surcharges, see the article, Add Margins to DecoPay Credit Card Fees.

Understanding why processing fees differ between card types in DecoPay can help you make informed decisions about payment processing. While Premium cards generally come with higher fees due to their specialized nature, DecoPay's tiered fee structure and flexible surcharge options offer a range of choices for you to manage your processing costs effectively. If you're a DecoPay user, be sure to review the fees and adjust your payment acceptance strategy accordingly.

To View the Credit Card Transaction Fees for DecoPay

Prerequisites

You must have administrator access to use this feature

Log into your DecoNetwork Website.
Browse to Admin > Settings.
Select Payment Methods.

The Payment Methods page will be displayed.

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Click on the Configure DecoPay button.
The DecoPay configuration page will be displayed.

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Click on Credit Cards from the sub-menu.

The configuration settings for credit cards will be displayed.

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Click on the Pricing And Limits tab.

The Pricing and Limits settings will be displayed.

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Click the image to enlarge.
Scroll down to the DecoPay Pricing section to view the fees for your region.
Check the DecoPay Pricing section at the top of the page to see the fees applicable to your region.