I still need some one to explain to me what the difference is between effective rate and my account

[Houston1]

I still need some one to explain to me what the difference is between effective rate and my account rate. The effective rate appears on the bottom of my close out report on the cc card machine each night. The effective rate is footnoted to a note that shows my account rate.


Signature line only appears on a Discover card transaction but not on visa cards is this normal 

[ryanwanner]

Hello @Houston1 

Let me take a crack at this:

Your Account Rate is what you are charged per swipe for an in person transaction. Usually 2.6% + 10¢.

Your Effective Rate is an average of the fees that you've been charged per all your transactions in the day. If you have multiple online transactions (2.9% + 30¢) and still had some in person transactions, your effective rate would show higher than your account rate because of the additional fees applied to the card-not-present transactions.

As for the signatures, credit card companies are not requiring signatures anymore for in person transactions, so you don't have to worry about it. Interesting that Discover is still asking for sigs for you though..... hmmm...

[Houston1]

Thank you for your response.  If I understand your answer correctly I am getting charged a higher fee for card not present. However in my situation we always have the card. I think I need to clarify what the difference is between online transactions and in person. If online means a client calling in or purchasing via the internet we do not do that.  Our charges are all in person, card present.  Which would make me think that the effective rate should not deviate from the account rate of 2.6%+10¢. Any further explanation would greatly be appreciated

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

@Houston1 Yes you're correct in your thoughts about the differences.

Card in hand: 2.6% + 10¢

Online: 2.9% + 30¢

Invoices: 2.9% + 30¢

Card number typed in: 3.5% + 15¢

(Other fees can be found on this help article)

If you're not taking any online payments of any type, you are correct: your fees should be pretty close to the actual fees.

Check out the Payment Methods report on your web dashboard. You can see a breakdown of what way the card number was entered. If all you see are Dipped, Tapped, and Swiped, then your fees should be the actual fees.

The way to check this is count up how many transactions you had then multiply that by .10. That will give you the +10¢ fee number. Subtract that from the total amount of fees paid. The fees paid, divided into your total credit card sales, should equal 2.6%.

If you have any entries in the Keyed row, this means a few things: online sales (which you said you don't have), you or a staff member typed in the cc number instead of swiping, or you had invoices paid.

Clear as mud, eh? 😉

[Houston1]

thank you   Ryan..  a mud puddle never looked clearer