Traditional pricing — you absorb the fee, customers pay one price.
The default way merchants accept cards. Your business pays a processing fee on every credit and debit transaction. Customers see one price and pay that price — no surcharge, no discount, no math.
If you’ve accepted cards before, this is what you already know.
Customer pays the menu price. You get hit with interchange + assessment + processor markup on every card transaction. Effective rate depends on your card mix, ticket size, and how aggressive your processor’s markup is. We benchmark merchants typically paying anywhere from 1.5% (high-debit, big-ticket B2B) to 3.5% (high-rewards-card mix, low-ticket retail).
Where Tabletop helps: we run an interchange-plus quote against your statement and tell you specifically where you’re overpaying. Most merchants on flat-rate or tiered plans can save 0.3%–1% just by switching to a properly negotiated interchange-plus structure.
What “traditional” pricing actually means.
If you’ve never run a merchant account before, here’s the version that doesn’t assume you know the jargon.
Customer pays the listed price.
If the menu says $20, the customer pays $20. No surcharge added at checkout. No different price for cash.
Your processor takes a fee.
That $20 sale costs you somewhere between roughly $0.30 and $0.70 in processing fees, depending on the card the customer used and your contract. The customer never sees this.
You get the rest, deposited next day.
Net of fees, the deposit hits your bank account the next business day (or same day, depending on processor). Statements arrive monthly.
Three components every fee is built from.
When you read your monthly merchant statement, this is what you’re looking at — whether anyone breaks it down for you or not.
Interchange
Set by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex. Goes to the bank that issued your customer’s card. Varies by card type (debit, basic credit, rewards, business, premium). Typical range: 0.05% + $0.22 (regulated debit) to 2.7% + $0.10 (premium rewards). Nobody — including Tabletop — can negotiate this. It is what it is.
Assessment fees
Set by the card networks themselves (Visa, Mastercard, etc.). Small percentage (typically 0.13%–0.15%) plus per-transaction fees. Also non-negotiable.
Processor markup
Your processor’s margin on top of the first two. This is the only piece that’s negotiable. When merchants say “I switched processors and saved 0.5%,” they’re talking about reducing this layer. Some processors hide it inside “tiered” or “flat-rate” pricing where you can’t see the markup — usually a sign you’re overpaying.
Three pricing models your processor offers.
All three are versions of traditional pricing — just packaged differently for the merchant.
Interchange-plus (most transparent)
Statement shows interchange + assessments + your processor’s exact markup, line by line. Best for medium-to-large businesses. Tabletop’s default for $25K+/month volume.
Flat-rate (Stripe / Square style)
One simple percentage on every transaction (e.g., 2.6% + $0.10). Easy to read. Worst for businesses with lots of debit or low-cost transactions — you’re paying premium rates on cards that should cost much less.
Tiered (qualified / mid / non-qualified)
The processor sorts your transactions into 3 buckets with different rates. Sounds simple, but processors decide which transactions go in which bucket — meaning they can mark up rewards cards aggressively without you noticing. If you’re on tiered pricing, you’re probably overpaying.
When traditional is the right answer.
Not every business should pass card fees to customers. Sometimes absorbing the fee is the smarter call.
Traditional fits when:
- You sell to professionals or higher-ticket customers who expect simple, transparent pricing.
- Your competitors absorb the fee — surcharging would put you at a competitive disadvantage.
- You operate in a state where surcharging is banned or restricted (CT, MA, ME, parts of CA).
- Your average ticket is high enough that the fee is small as a percentage of margin.
- You want the simplest customer experience — one price, no friction.
Traditional may not fit when:
- You’re running on thin margins where 2–3% in fees is meaningful profit.
- Most of your competitors are already passing card fees to customers.
- You serve businesses or industries where customers expect price transparency on fees.
- Your card mix skews to high-cost rewards cards (often the case with consumer-facing premium services).
- You’re willing to trade some customer friction for direct margin recovery.
Frequently asked — traditional pricing.
Get the real number on your processing.
Send us your last 3 months of statements. We’ll quote interchange-plus, line-item exactly where your current processor’s markup is, and tell you whether switching is worth it — even if the answer is no.