Many business owners are surprised to learn that credit card processing rates often change twice each year; typically around April and October. These changes are often attributed to updates from the card brands, Visa and Mastercard.

While that explanation isn’t entirely wrong, it also doesn’t tell the full story.

Understanding how card pricing works can help business owners better interpret these notices and ensure they’re not paying more than they should.

Understanding the Real Cost of Accepting Credit Cards

When a customer pays with a credit or debit card, the transaction cost is made up of three primary components:

1. Interchange
This is the largest portion of the transaction cost and is paid directly to the bank that issued the customer’s card. Interchange rates are established by the card networks and apply across the entire industry.

2. Card Brand Fees (Assessments and Dues)
Visa and Mastercard earn revenue through network fees that allow transactions to move across their global payment networks.

3. Processor Markup
This is the portion paid to the payment processor for providing the technology, infrastructure, and support needed to process card payments.

Processors do not control interchange, and interchange revenue goes directly to the issuing banks.

Why Changes Happen in April and October

Twice each year — typically April 1 and October 1 — Visa and Mastercard review their interchange tables and network fee structures.

During these reviews:

Some interchange categories may change
New card types may be introduced
Certain rates may increase or decrease

These updates primarily affect the banks issuing cards, not the processors handling transactions. However, these industry updates often coincide with something many business owners notice on their processing statements: rate increase notifications.

The Statement Message Most Business Owners Miss

Payment processors are required to provide 30 days notice before implementing pricing changes. To meet this requirement, many processors place a message on the merchant’s monthly processing statement announcing an upcoming change. Because April rate adjustments take effect on April 1, the notification commonly appears on the February processing statement.

The message typically states that continuing to process transactions after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

The challenge is that most business owners:

Don’t regularly review their processing statements
Don’t notice the message
Only discover the change months later, if at all

When Rate Changes Aren’t Actually Cost Changes

While the card networks periodically adjust interchange structures, those changes do not always increase the cost for processors themselves. However, the April and October updates are often used as a convenient time for processors to adjust their pricing across their merchant portfolio. For business owners, this can result in higher processing costs even when the underlying processor cost hasn’t materially changed.

Because the notices are technically disclosed on the statement, the adjustments comply with the terms of most merchant processing agreements.

Our Approach at Clarity EPS

At Clarity EPS, we believe transparency and long-term partnership should guide how payment processing relationships work. When the underlying costs of processing do not increase, we do not believe it’s appropriate to raise rates simply because an industry update occurs.

For the upcoming April adjustments, we chose to opt our merchants out of any processor-driven pricing increases when our own costs have not changed.

Our philosophy is simple:

If our costs haven’t gone up, we don’t believe our merchants’ costs should go up either.

What Business Owners Should Do

Credit card processing statements can be difficult to interpret, and most business owners understandably focus on running their business rather than analyzing payment pricing.

However, reviewing your statement periodically can help identify:

Unexpected rate increases
Newly added fees
Changes tied to April or October pricing updates
Opportunities to reduce processing costs

Get a Free Statement Review

If you’re not sure whether your processing rates have changed — or simply want a second set of eyes on your statement — we’re happy to help. At Clarity EPS, we regularly review merchant statements and provide straightforward feedback on pricing, fees, and opportunities for improvement.

Send us a copy of your most recent processing statement for a free analysis and consultation.

There’s no obligation, just clear information to help you understand exactly what you’re paying and why.