Fee Disclosures

How RapidCents prices payment processing, line by line: interchange and network fees passed through at cost, a RapidCents markup stated in your Fee Schedule, and nothing else. This document explains what each category of fee is for, what makes one transaction cost more than another, when a fee can change and what notice you get, and why a quote given before your account is open is an estimate rather than a guarantee.

1. What this document is

This explains how RapidCents prices processing and what each line on your statement is. Your own rates are in your Fee Schedule, not here.

This document explains how RapidCents charges for payment processing: what the components of a price are, which of them RapidCents sets and which it passes through at cost, when a fee can change and what notice you get, and what each category of fee is for.

It does not state your rates. The amounts that apply to your account are in your Fee Schedule, which RapidCents provides before you accept the Services Agreement and which forms part of it. Where this document and your Fee Schedule differ on an amount, your Fee Schedule governs.

Clause A.11 (Fee Disclosure Box) and clause A.12 (Other fees) of the Services Agreement are the operative disclosure. This document expands on them and is incorporated into the Agreement by clause F.6.

2. Interchange-plus, and nothing else

Every RapidCents price is built the same way: the card networks’ own costs passed through at exactly what they cost, plus a RapidCents markup that is stated in your Fee Schedule. There is no blended rate, no tiered pricing and no qualified/non-qualified buckets.

RapidCents prices processing on an interchange-plus basis only. A processing charge has exactly three components:

• Interchange. The amount the card issuer receives on a transaction, set by the card network, published by it, and determined by the card type, the way the card is presented, your business category and the information sent with the transaction. RapidCents does not set interchange, does not mark it up, and passes it through at exactly the amount the network charges.
• Network fees. The assessments, dues, access, switch, authorization, cross-border and other charges the card network and the payment network levy on the transaction. These are set by the networks, are not set by RapidCents, and are passed through at exactly the amount charged.
• The RapidCents markup. The amount RapidCents charges for providing the Services, stated in your Fee Schedule as a percentage, a per-transaction amount, or both. This is the only component RapidCents sets, and it is the only component RapidCents earns.

RapidCents does not offer, and does not quote, a blended rate, a tiered rate, a qualified and non-qualified structure, or a flat rate that conceals which part is interchange and which part is markup. Those structures are not cheaper or more expensive in themselves; they are opaque, because they make it impossible for a merchant to tell whether a rate increase came from the networks or from the processor. Interchange-plus makes that visible on every statement.

Your statement shows interchange and network fees separately from the RapidCents markup. Clause A.10 of the Agreement governs statements and clause H.5 the period within which a discrepancy must be raised.

3. What makes one transaction cost more than another

Two transactions of the same amount can carry different interchange. The difference is set by the networks, not by RapidCents, and is driven by:

• The card product: a consumer debit card, a standard credit card, a premium rewards card, a corporate or purchasing card and a commercial card each carry different interchange, and the difference between the cheapest and the most expensive is substantial.
• Where the card was issued: a card issued outside the country in which you are located carries higher interchange and additional cross-border and currency network fees.
• How the card was presented: a card tapped, inserted or swiped in person generally costs less than one keyed in or taken online, because the risk of a dispute is lower.
• What was sent with the transaction: address verification, a card verification value, 3-D Secure authentication, and the additional data a commercial card requires can each qualify a transaction for a lower interchange category. A transaction submitted without them may fall to a higher one.
• How quickly it settled: a transaction authorized and not captured within the network’s window can downgrade to a more expensive category.
• Your business category: the merchant category code assigned to your business affects which interchange programs you qualify for.

This is why an effective rate — total fees divided by total volume — moves from month to month even when nothing in your Fee Schedule has changed. A month with more premium rewards cards, more international cards or more keyed transactions costs more at exactly the same markup. Your statement shows the breakdown, and the RapidCents statement review described in the Instant Merchant Statement Review Terms reads it for you.

4. The categories of fee RapidCents charges

The table below lists what RapidCents can charge for. It does not state amounts: the amount for each line that applies to you is in your Fee Schedule, and a line that is not in your Fee Schedule is not charged to you.

Fee categories and what each is for

Fee	What it is	Who sets it
Processing	Interchange plus network fees at cost, plus your RapidCents markup, on each transaction	Networks (interchange and network fees); RapidCents (markup, in your Fee Schedule)
Monthly account	A recurring charge for maintaining the account, the dashboard and support, where your Fee Schedule carries one	RapidCents
Hardware rental	The monthly rental of a terminal or other device, month to month with no minimum term	RapidCents
Hardware purchase, repair, replacement and non-return	The price of a device, and the amounts under the Hardware Terms for damage, missing items or a device not returned	RapidCents (recovery of actual cost)
Dispute and chargeback	A per-dispute charge covering the handling of a chargeback, and any network fee or fine attached to it	RapidCents (handling); networks (fines and network fees)
Payout and settlement	Charges for a payout, an expedited payout, a failed or returned payout, or a change of payout account, where your Fee Schedule carries them	RapidCents; the receiving bank for a returned item
Currency conversion	The charge for converting a transaction or a payout between currencies	RapidCents and the networks, as stated in your Fee Schedule
Compliance and non-compliance	PCI validation support where offered, and any fine, assessment or penalty levied by a network or a regulator and passed through	Networks, acquirer or regulator; passed through at cost
Account recovery	The actual cost of collection, an audit under H.4, or a legal step taken to recover an amount you owe	Third party; passed through at cost

A fine, assessment or penalty levied by a card network, the Acquirer or a regulator is passed through at the amount levied. RapidCents does not mark one up and will provide the particulars of it on request.

5. What RapidCents does not charge

No early termination fee, no cancellation penalty, no minimum term, no long-term contract, and no fee for closing your account.

The Agreement has no fixed term and no minimum term. It runs month to month under clause F.1.1 from the date you accepted it, with no initial term, no commitment period of any length, no renewal term and nothing that auto-renews. There is no multi-year agreement, and there never is one: a term of that kind does not exist anywhere in RapidCents’ merchant documents.

RapidCents charges no early termination fee, no cancellation penalty, no liquidated damages for ending the Agreement, no account closure fee and no fee for ceasing to use the Services. Clause A.3 and clause A.4 of the Agreement say so and this document does not qualify them.

Hardware rental is also month to month, under clause 3 of the Hardware Terms. Ending a rental costs nothing; returning the device is what ends the rental charge.

Closing your account does not cancel amounts you already owe. Clause A.5 and clause F.1.5 of the Agreement keep chargebacks, refunds, fines, hardware amounts and unpaid fees payable after closure, and the authorization to debit your account survives for them. That is not a termination fee; it is liability for activity that already happened.

6. When a fee can change, and the notice you get

Interchange and network fees change when the networks change them, and those changes reach you at cost. Your RapidCents markup changes only with advance notice, and you can leave without penalty if you do not accept it.

Interchange and network fees change when the card networks change them, usually on published schedules and sometimes at short notice. A change of that kind flows through to your account at cost, without a markup and without a RapidCents decision, and RapidCents will tell you when it affects what you pay. RapidCents cannot prevent, absorb or defer a network change, and does not profit from one.

The RapidCents markup, the monthly account fee and any other amount RapidCents sets change only as clause F.2 of the Agreement provides: with advance written notice, giving you the period stated in that clause to consider it. Where a change introduces a new fee or increases an existing one, you may end the Agreement without penalty before it takes effect, under clause A.3. Clause A.9 of the United States version of the Agreement makes that notice and that right contractual commitments rather than commitments under Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry, which does not apply to merchants in the United States.

A charge that recovers a cost RapidCents actually incurred — a network fine, a returned payout, an audit under clause H.4, a hardware replacement — is not a fee increase and is charged at the amount incurred, with particulars on request.

7. How and when fees are collected

Processing fees are netted from settlement before funds are paid to your Payout Account, or are debited separately, as your Fee Schedule states. Other fees are billed monthly in arrears, debited from your Payout Account, set off against settlement funds, applied against a Reserve, or invoiced, in each case under clause C.6, clause C.7 and clause F.9 of the Agreement.

A statement showing the fees charged in a period is available in the merchant dashboard under clause A.10. You have the period in clause H.5 to raise a discrepancy; after that the statement is treated as accepted.

An amount invoiced and not paid when due bears interest under clause F.9. RapidCents may suspend the Services under clause B.5 where an amount is overdue, and may recover the actual cost of collection.

8. Surcharging, convenience fees and discounts

Whether you may pass a card acceptance cost on to your customer is governed by the card network rules and by federal and state law, not by this document. Several states restrict or prohibit a credit card surcharge, and the rules differ between a surcharge, a service fee and a convenience fee; a debit card transaction may not be surcharged. Clause G.2, clause G.6 and clause G.7 of the Agreement set out what you must disclose to a customer and what you may not do.

Where surcharging is permitted and you choose to do it, you are responsible for registering with the networks where registration is required, for staying within the caps the networks and the law impose, for disclosing the surcharge before the customer pays and showing it as a separate line on the receipt, and for not surcharging a payment method on which surcharging is prohibited. A surcharge applied incorrectly is a network rule violation, and the fines that follow are passed through to you.

You may always offer a discount for one payment method over another where the applicable rules permit it, and a discount is not a surcharge.

9. Quotes, promotions and why a rate is not guaranteed

A quote or a statement analysis reflects what was available on the day it was produced, with the information given at the time. It is not a binding offer, and the rate you are approved for may differ. Only the Fee Schedule you are given before you accept the Agreement states your actual rates.

A rate, a saving, a comparison or a projection that RapidCents gives you before your account is open — in a quote, a proposal, a pricing page, a calculator, a statement analysis or a conversation with a representative — is an estimate prepared on the information available at that moment. It is not an offer capable of acceptance, is not a guarantee, and does not become a term of the Agreement.

The rates that bind RapidCents are the ones in the Fee Schedule provided to you before you accept the Agreement, and only those. Where an earlier quote and your Fee Schedule differ, your Fee Schedule governs, and clause F.6 of the Agreement means an earlier quote does not survive alongside it.

A quoted rate may differ from the rate you are approved for because any of the following changed, or was not known when the quote was produced:

• Time. Interchange and network fees are revised by the card networks on their own schedules. A quote produced before a revision does not survive it, and a rate quoted in one month may not be available in the next.
• Promotions. A promotional markup, introductory price, waived fee or hardware offer is available only while that promotion is open and only to merchants who meet its conditions. Promotions are limited in time, may be withdrawn or changed at any time before you accept the Agreement, and the promotion available on the day you apply — not the day you were quoted — is the one that can be applied to you.
• Underwriting. Your markup depends on what underwriting finds: your business category and merchant category code, processing history, average and maximum transaction size, monthly and annual volume, chargeback and refund history, delivery and fulfilment model, time in business, ownership, credit profile and the risk assessment described in clause H.8 of the Agreement.
• Your actual mix. A quote is modelled on the card mix in the information you supplied. Your real mix of card products, presentation methods and issuing countries determines your real cost, and it will not match an estimate exactly.
• Accuracy of what you supplied. A quote or a statement analysis is only as good as the statement, volumes and business description given to RapidCents. Information that was incomplete, out of date, from an atypical month or inaccurate produces an estimate that does not hold.
• Approval. Every quote is subject to approval of your application under clause B.1 and to the onboarding checks in the KYC Policy. RapidCents may decline an application, or approve it on different terms, including a different markup, a Reserve under clause C.7 or a payout schedule other than the standard one.

To the fullest extent the law permits, RapidCents is not liable for a difference between a rate, saving or projection given before your account was open and the amounts actually charged under your Fee Schedule, and clause E.4 and clause E.5 of the Agreement apply to any estimate. Nothing in this clause permits RapidCents to charge an amount that is not in your Fee Schedule, or to change your Fee Schedule other than as clause F.2 allows.

10. Questions about a charge

If a charge is not clear, ask. RapidCents will identify which component of clause 2 it belongs to, and for a pass-through amount will provide the network or third-party particulars of it. Contact [email protected] or call +1 (844) 957-2743; clause A.6 of the Agreement sets out the complaint handling procedure if the answer does not resolve it.

Clause H.5 of the Agreement sets the period within which a discrepancy on a statement must be raised. Raise it inside that period: after it, the statement is treated as accepted and the right to dispute the amount is lost.

Governing law

The law stated in clause E.7 of the RapidCents Services Agreement: the laws of the State of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States (E.7 and H.10).