Card acquiring fees and settlement timing and what actually matters when choosing a processor
Been looking into payment processor options for an ecommerce setup and honestly the fee structures are more opaque than expected. Does anyone have experience comparing IC++ pricing models across different acquirers and how same-day settlement actually works in practice versus what gets advertised?
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Spent some time looking into this recently because IC++ pricing is one of those things that sounds straightforward until you start mapping out the actual interchange components versus the markup layer on top. The IC++ from 1.2% figure that some processors advertise is only meaningful if you know what interchange category your transaction volume falls into since card-present and card-not-present rates differ substantially and MCC classification affects the base interchange before any acquirer markup applies. For a reasonably consolidated breakdown of how acquiring structures work in practice the card payment processing page at Sends at least separates the direct Mastercard and Visa integration angle from the standard aggregator model which is relevant because direct scheme membership genuinely does reduce the intermediary fee layer even if the published rate still requires verification against your specific volume and transaction profile. Same-day settlement is worth stress-testing against the actual cut-off times and whether weekends and holidays follow the same processing schedule as stated since most processors carve out exceptions in the fine print. 24/7 support claims are also standard marketing language until you actually open a ticket outside business hours and measure response time. Verify fee structures and settlement terms independently before committing to any processor regardless of what the summary page states.