Reviewed by Mayer Hyman, Payments Specialist | Reviewed for accuracy July 2026
Key Takeaways
- Pricing structure matters more than the headline rate — flat rate, interchange-plus, and tiered pricing produce very different real-world costs depending on your transaction mix.
- Card-not-present transactions typically carry higher interchange rates than card-present ones, and factors like industry classification and card type also affect what you actually pay.
- Consumer payment preferences keep shifting toward digital wallets and mobile payments, so processors need to support more than just card-present and basic online checkout.
- 24/7, multi-channel customer support is not a nice-to-have — payment outages during business hours directly cost sales.
You just launched your new business. Congratulations! Now what?
If you accept any type of payment card, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is selecting a payment processor. But which one is best for your business, and how do you actually choose? Getting it wrong can be costly, so picking a processor that works well for both you and your customers saves time, money, and headaches down the line.
Here are three things worth weighing carefully when selecting a payment processor.
Pricing and Fees
Payment processing isn’t free. Most processors charge merchants an initial setup fee plus a combination of monthly fees and transaction fees. Monthly fees vary by processor and contract terms. Interchange fees themselves are set by the card networks and are largely fixed across processors — commonly landing somewhere in the 1% to 3% range per transaction depending on card type — but Mastercard and Visa also charge separate card network brand fees calculated as a percentage of the transaction, on top of interchange.
Why It Matters
Starting a new business is expensive, but there are ways to control how much you spend on processing costs. When comparing processors, ask the following questions.
What Is the Processor’s Pricing Model?
Payment processors typically offer a few different pricing models:
- Flat rate — a fixed percentage of all transaction volume, plus a per-transaction fee.
- Interchange-plus pricing — a fixed markup charged on top of the actual interchange cost.
- Tiered pricing — a rate based on one of three transaction categories: qualified (lowest rate), mid-qualified, and non-qualified (highest rate).
How Do Payment Methods and Card Types Affect Interchange Fees?
Several factors affect the actual interchange percentage a merchant ends up paying beyond the base rate:
- Transaction type — card-present transactions (like on a terminal) typically carry lower rates than card-not-present (CNP) transactions, such as online or mail/phone orders, because a physically presented card is considered lower fraud risk.
- Industry or business type — transaction size and industry classification (merchant category code) both affect interchange rates, and larger companies can often negotiate better rates given their volume.
- Card type and brand — premium rewards credit cards typically carry higher interchange fees than standard cards, while PIN debit cards tend to be cheaper to process.
- Tokenization and security controls — better-secured transaction data can qualify for lower interchange rates; several card networks now offer reduced rates for merchants using token-based encryption on card data.
The pricing model you choose, combined with the factors above, can meaningfully change your effective rate — so make sure whichever processor you choose can tailor a program to your actual sales mix and transaction volume rather than quoting a single flat number that ignores your specifics.
Support for Multiple Payment Options
Cash and paper checks haven’t disappeared, but digital payment methods keep gaining ground. Mobile phone payments in particular have grown sharply: the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice found that U.S. consumers averaged 11 mobile phone payments per month in 2024, up from just 4 per month in 2018 — a clear signal that customer payment habits keep shifting toward mobile and digital-first checkout.
Why It Matters
Customers expect an easy, hassle-free buying experience whether they’re purchasing in-store, online, or through a smartphone. To meet that expectation, merchants need to support traditional payment methods while staying ready to adopt new payment technologies as they gain traction.
Payment methods most commonly preferred by shoppers in Canada and the United States include:
- Credit Card
- Debit Card
- Digital Wallet (eWallet)
- ACH (eCheck)
- Cash and Check
Credit cards remain fast and convenient, with the added draw of rewards. Digital wallets and peer-to-peer apps continue gaining ground, especially with younger demographics. Choosing a processor that supports multiple payment options — rather than just one or two — helps you meet customers where they already are, which tends to translate directly into higher completed sales.
24/7 Customer Service
A payment processor’s customer support needs to be available around the clock and through more than one channel, because a 20-minute hold time or a days-long email reply from someone with no context isn’t real support when a payment outage is costing you sales right now.
Why It Matters
If your processor’s system malfunctions during business hours, you risk losing sales in real time — so the faster you can reach a live person, the sooner you’re back in business. Some processors limit support to just one or two channels, which makes it hard to get timely help when something breaks. Strong processors typically offer:
- Live support via a toll-free phone number during business hours
- After-hours phone support, including weekends and holidays
- A dedicated email inbox
- A self-service portal for submitting support tickets
- Direct dial numbers for account representatives
Unresponsive customer service is effectively no customer service at all — make sure the processor you choose builds robust support directly into your service agreement, not as an afterthought.
Bringing It Together
You’ve put in the work planning your new business — now it’s time to launch and start serving customers. Payments are the connective tissue between your business plan and the reality of running the business day to day, so it’s worth starting with the right partner rather than fixing a bad choice later.
Three factors have to come together to make payments work well: the right technology and solutions, responsive customer service, and fair, transparent pricing. Cartis Payments works with new and growing merchants to bring all three together under one processing relationship.
FAQ
What’s the difference between flat-rate and interchange-plus pricing?
Flat-rate pricing charges one fixed percentage plus a per-transaction fee regardless of card type. Interchange-plus pricing charges the actual interchange cost (which varies by card and transaction type) plus a fixed markup — often cheaper for merchants with higher volume or a favorable transaction mix, but harder to predict month to month.
Why do card-not-present transactions cost more to process?
Card-not-present transactions — online orders, phone orders, mail orders — carry higher interchange rates because there’s no physical card presentation to reduce fraud risk, so card networks price that added risk into the rate.
How important is 24/7 support when choosing a processor?
Very. A payment system outage during business hours directly costs sales, so the speed and availability of live support — not just email tickets — should factor heavily into your decision.
