Credit Card Assessment Fees Explained

Credit card merchant fees are always changing. As a business, it’s important to understand how all credit card merchant fees work, and which processing fees are negotiable.

Understanding credit card merchant assessment fees is crucial because they’re intended to be non-negotiable costs imposed by the card networks. Yet so many processors “pad” assessment fees as a way to make extra money on a merchant’s processing bill each month.

This is a deceptive practice that I personally see on a regular basis when I’m analyzing merchant credit card statements for my clients. 

Read on to learn more about assessment fees, including what they are, and the specific assessments imposed by the four major card networks.

What is a Credit Card Assessment Fee?

Credit card assessment fees are imposed by card networks and passed to merchants by credit card networks as a percentage of the monthly transaction volume for each card brand. 

Networks like Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express all have their own small, flat-rate percentage cost that merchants must pay for processing cards bearing those logos. 

Unlike other types of processing fees, assessments are paid directly to card brand associations. But the merchant processor still acts as a middleman, which is why credit card assessment fees show up on each monthly processing statement. 

Other names for assessment fees include:

• Card Association Fees
• Card Network Fees
• Card Brand Fees
• Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) Fees

Assessment Fees by Card Network

Let’s take a closer look at common assessment fees imposed by the four major credit card networks—Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

You can use this as a guide to ensure your processor isn’t overcharging you or “padding” assessments. 

Visa Assessment Fees

• Visa Credit Assessment Fee – $0.0195 per transaction + 0.14% of total credit volume
• Visa Debit Assessment Fee – $0.0155 per transaction + 0.13% of total debit volume
• Visa International Assessment – 0.80% per transaction
• Visa Transaction Integrity Fee – $0.10 per transaction
• Visa International Acquirer Fee – 0.45% per transaction
• Visa Misused Authorization Fee – $0.09 per transaction
• Visa Zero Dollar Verification Fee – $0.025 per transaction
• Visa Zero Floor Limit Fee – $0.20 per transaction
• Visa Base 2 System File Fee – $0.0018 per transaction
• Visa Digital Commerce Service Fee – 0.0075% ($0.0075 minimum)

See more Visa fees here. 

Mastercard Assessment Fees

• Mastercard Credit Assessment Fee – $0.0195 per transaction + 0.1275% of total credit volume (for transactions less than $1,000)
• Mastercard Credit Assessment Fee –  $0.0195 per transaction + 0.1475% of total credit volume (for transactions more than than $1,000)
• Mastercard Debit Assessment Fee –  $0.0195 per transaction + 0.1275% of total debit volume (for transactions less than $1,000)
• Mastercard Debit Assessment Fee –  $0.0195 per transaction + 0.1475% of total debit volume (for transactions more than than $1,000)
• Mastercard Digital Enablement Fee – 0.01%
• Mastercard Cross Border Assessment Fee – 0.60%
• Mastercard Cross Border Non-USD Assessment Fee – 1%
• Mastercard Processing Integrity Fee – $0.055 per transaction
• Mastercard Processing Integrity Fee Detail Reporting – $0.012 per transaction
• Mastercard Account Status Inquiry Fee – $0.025 per transaction
• Mastercard AVS Fee CP – $0.005 
• Mastercard AVS Fee CNP – $0.01
• Mastercard Card Validation Code Fee – $0.0025
• Mastercard Pre-Auth Integrity Fee – $0.045
• Mastercard Undefined Authorization Integrity Fee – $0.045
• Mastercard Final Authorization Integrity Fee – 0.25% of total volume ($0.04 minimum)
• Authorization Optimizer Insufficient Fund – $0.02
• Pre Authorization Card Present Fee – 0.0075% ($0.01 minimum)
• Pre Authorization Card Not Present Fee – 0.0125% ($0.01 minimum)

See more Mastercard fees here. 

American Express Assessment Fees

• Amex Credit Assessment Fee – 0.15% of total credit volume
• Amex Debit Assessment Fee – 0.15% of total debit volume
• Amex International Assessment Fee – 0.40%
• Amex CNP Surcharge Fee – 0.30%
• Amex Non Compliance Fee – 0.75%

See more Amex fees here.

Discover Assessment Fees

• Discover Credit Assessment Fee – $0.0195 per transaction + 0.13% of total credit volume
• Discover Debit Assessment Fee – $0.0195 per transaction + 0.13% of total credit volume
• Discover International Service Fee – 0.80%
• Discover International Processing Fee – 0.55%
• Discover Network Authorization Fee – $0.025 per transaction
• Discover Program Integrity Fee – $0.10

See more Discover fees here. 

Final Thoughts on Card Assessments

Check your monthly processing statements to ensure the fees you’re paying align with the fees above. If they don’t match, there’s a chance that your processor is overcharging you and pocketing the difference.

Just reach out to our team here at Merchant Cost Consulting, and we can help.

We’ll take a closer look at your statements to ensure your processor isn’t padding assessments. Our team will also identify any other hidden fees that might be buried there, and then negotiate those rates with your processor on behalf of your business.