We at CardChamp, typically have the best payment solutions for most businesses. However, from time-to-time, there have been outliers. At CardChamp, honesty and transparency is ingrained in the makeup of our company. There have been situations where a potential customer comes to us and we just feel we are not the best fit for their credit card processing needs.
In these few scenarios, we have been glad to make recommendations on a solution, even if with a competing company, which could help. More often than not, that particular competing company we would recommend would be Square.
How Square’s new pricing affects transactions
Throughout the company’s history, Square has done very well with businesses which run small ticket transactions. A small ticket transaction is a credit or debit card transaction of around $10.00 or less. That is up until… now.
Every credit card processor and independent sales organization selling merchant services is charge the same bottom line cost called Interchange, which such entities pass along with their associated pricing marked up on top of this. Square also shares these same types of costs, however, has chosen to keep a flat percentage, even on small item transactions until this latest price adjustment announcement. With this new change, Square has made itself less of an ally when it comes to credit card processing fees to businesses which run small ticket transactions.
Square’s standard pricing for a card present transaction (chipped or swiped) was historically 2.75% with no per transaction fee. As of late September, Square announced a price change. It would slightly lower the percentage, but add a per transaction fee. The result is new Square pricing of 2.60% + $0.10 per transaction.
Business such as coffee shops, donut shops, bakeries, and convenience stores should re-evaluate their payment processing options.
How Square’s new pricing affects transactions
Let’s take a look at how Square’s new pricing changes the effective rate of a transaction. Within merchant services, an effective rate means taking all of the costs of the transaction (percentage and per transaction fee) and dividing them into the total sale.
|
Transaction Amount |
Square Fee |
Cost of Transaction |
Effective Rate |
|
$1.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.126 |
12.6% |
|
$2.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.152 |
7.6% |
|
$3.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.178 |
5.93% |
|
$4.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.204 |
5.10% |
|
$5.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.23 |
4.60% |
|
$6.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.256 |
4.26% |
|
$7.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.282 |
4.03% |
|
$8.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.308 |
3.85% |
|
$9.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.334 |
3.71% |
|
$10.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.36 |
3.60% |
|
$15.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.49 |
3.26% |
|
$20.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.62 |
3.10% |
|
$25.00 |
2.60% + $0.10 |
$0.75 |
3.00% |
From the chart, it is easy to see that Square’s pricing change from 2.75% to 2.60% + $0.10 is going to cost many small business owners a lot more. If you know a business owner who uses Square to accept payments, the above chart can be very beneficial. It can help them evaluate the financial gains of finding a credit card processor which offers both better pricing and support.
Summary
CardChamp believes in providing small and medium size businesses the very best payment processing experience. This means transparent pricing, easy-to-use payment solutions, and engaging customer care. If you know someone who owns a business, don’t hesitate to tell them about CardChamp. We can help!
