A price answers two things at once.
Every quote you have ever been handed mixed these together, which is why comparing two of them feels impossible. Separate them and the comparison becomes arithmetic.
Who carries the cost of the card?
Someone pays the interchange. Either the business absorbs it as a line on its own P&L, or the price the cardholder sees carries it. That choice is independent of every rate on the page.
- Traditional — the business absorbs it. Clean books, one predictable statement.
- Dual pricing — a cash price and a card price, both posted. The card price carries it.
- Surcharge — a disclosed percentage on credit only. Never on debit, and capped by the card brands.
How is the rate itself built?
Whoever carries it, the number has to be constructed somehow. There are two honest constructions and one this industry is famous for — and the difference is whether you can audit the bill.
- Interchange Plus — network cost at cost, plus one disclosed markup. Two lines that never merge.
- Flat Rate — one percentage regardless of card mix. Fewer basis points of precision, bought back as forecastability.
- Tiered — qualified / mid / non-qualified buckets. We do not sell it. We read it, because it is what most incoming statements turn out to be.
Cross the two axes and you get the four combinations this site quotes on: Interchange Plus, Dual Pricing, Surcharge and Flat Rate. Tiered is the fifth thing the analyzer recognises and the one thing we will not put you on.
Every fee line lands in one of eight buckets.
Not a summary of your statement — every line, on every page, sorted. Three of these buckets are money that leaves the processor's hands and four are money that stays in them, and that distinction is the entire comparison. You can run it yourself on the statement you already have.
| Bucket | What lands in it | Whose money it is |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange | Interchange passed through to the card brands | Not the processor's — it leaves the building |
| Assessment | Card-brand assessments and dues, NABU, APF, network access | Not the processor's either |
| Markup | The processor's own margin: the discount rate, the non-qualified surcharge, monthly service, and the statement and transaction fees they set themselves | Theirs. This one line is what a comparison is actually about |
| Compliance | Charges attached to PCI validation programs, non-compliance and self-assessment questionnaires | Theirs, in almost every case |
| Padding | Paper statement, account on file, breach coverage, regulatory-product | Theirs. The bucket exists because the lines do |
| Equipment | Terminal, POS or gateway lease | Depends on the lease — and a lease can outlive the processing agreement |
| Penalty | Late fee, early termination, chargeback fee | Theirs |
| Other | Anything that fits none of the seven above | Named and carried, never quietly dropped |
The analyzer transcribes what the statement prints and does not derive figures the document does not state — a rate is only reported when every plan code prints the same one, and anything the statement leaves out comes back empty rather than estimated. Run it on your statement →
What is priced, and what is not
A number is published on this site when it does not depend on your statement, and quoted when it does. That rule is the whole table — there is no third category where the number exists and we are simply not showing it to you.
| Item | How it is priced | The number |
|---|---|---|
| Statement analysis | Read from the document you already receive | Free — and yours to keep whether or not you switch |
| Card processing | From your own statement, on one of the four models | Quoted — it moves with your volume and card mix |
| Clover & Square devices | List price per device, promotions stripped out | $49–$2,399 Clover · $59–$799 Square |
| Genius, OrderCounter, SpotOn, Dejavoo, PAX | Quoted by sales against your volume | 13 of the 24 devices carry no list price |
| Free-placement POS | No hardware cost for qualifying merchants | Eligibility confirmed on your quote, not promised here |
| Equipment refresh | Free replacement or upgrade | Every 36 months, up to 2 terminals per MID |
| Managed IT | Fixed monthly tiers by device count | $250 / $500 / $750 a month |
| On-site IT | Hourly, lower on the top tier | $150/hr, or $100/hr on Package C |
| Payroll, lending, VoIP, internet | Quoted per business through our partners | Quoted — ADP, Lendio and carrier contracts |
Everything with a published number is on this site. Everything without one depends on facts we do not have until we have seen your statement — and quoting it before then is how teaser rates happen.
How a Payco quote is built
Your statement, read properly
Processor, fees, volume, effective rate and equipment are extracted from the document you already receive — not estimated from a questionnaire.
Measured against every model
The same volume is priced through all four models so you can see which one actually suits your card mix, rather than the one we would prefer to sell.
Disclosed in writing
Every term — rate, equipment, program length — is disclosed before signature. One signature, no surprises.
And what you are not shown
Your current processor's markup is separated out and put in front of you, because that is the number a switch turns on. What Payco keeps is quoted on your proposal rather than published here — it moves with your volume, and a figure on a marketing page could only be wrong.
Common questions
How does Payco price a merchant account?
We analyze your actual processing statement — volume, mix, effective rate — and quote against the model that fits: Interchange Plus, dual pricing, surcharge or flat rate.
What is dual pricing?
Displaying a cash price and a card price so card-acceptance costs are carried transparently by the payment method that creates them.
What is Interchange Plus pricing?
Interchange Plus passes the card networks' interchange cost through at cost and adds one disclosed markup on top, shown as two separate lines. You benefit directly whenever a transaction qualifies at a lower interchange tier.
Does Payco offer flat-rate pricing?
Yes. Flat Rate is one predictable percentage regardless of card mix, for businesses that prefer a number they can forecast and reconcile in a single line. It suits low-ticket, high-volume card-present operations.
Are there long-term contracts?
Programs vary by backend and equipment; every term is disclosed in writing before signature — one signature, no surprises.
What does the statement analysis cost, and what comes back?
Nothing, and you keep it whether or not you switch. The analysis reads the document you already receive and transcribes what is printed rather than estimating it: the processor, the pricing model it recognises, the rate where one is printed, every fee line sorted into one of eight categories, your card mix row by row and your deposit rows. Figures the statement does not print come back empty rather than guessed.
Which numbers does Payco publish, and which are quoted?
Published: managed IT at $250, $500 and $750 a month, on-site IT at $150 an hour or $100 on Package C, and eleven of the twenty-four devices in the hardware catalog from $49 to $2,399. Quoted: card processing, the other thirteen devices, and payroll, lending, VoIP and internet. The split is not arbitrary — a number is published when it does not depend on your statement, and quoted when it does.
The quote is free. The math is yours to keep.
Even if you do not switch, you will leave knowing exactly what you pay today and why.
Start in fifteen minutesCard-processing rates are quoted from your own statement and are not published. Which pricing model is available to you depends on your state, your card mix and your card-brand agreements; surcharging is credit-only, is never applied to debit or prepaid, and is subject to card-brand caps and the disclosures Payco configures per location. Device list prices are the published hardware catalog and are confirmed on your quote; free-placement and platform-as-a-service eligibility depend on processing volume and time in business. Managed IT is $250, $500 or $750 a month by device count, with on-site support at $150 an hour or $100 an hour on Package C. Payco is a registered MSP/ISO of Elavon Inc., Georgia, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis, MN, and a registered Independent Sales Organization of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, CA. Sales 1-888-908-2638 · 24/7 support 1-424-230-7212 · Support@mypayco.com.