Credit Card Companies make money in a variety of ways. Here are the four most common:

 

One: The most common way credit card companies make money is through fees, such as the annual fee, overlimit fee and past due fees.

 

Two: Another way credit card companies make money is through interest on revolving loans if the card balance is not paid in full each month.

 

Three: As explained above, the card issuer (the bank that issued the card and/or the issuer network, be it Visa, MasterCard, Discover) makes a percentage of each item you purchase from a merchant who accepts your credit card. The rates range from 1% to 6% for each purchase.

 

Four: The card issuer can also make money through ancillary avenues, such as selling your name to a mailing list or selling advertisements along with your monthly billing statement.

 

 

 

 

What Are Merchant Services?

 

If you have merchant service status, you can accept credit card payments from your customers. Merchant services may be offered by your bank or by specialized merchant service providers or independent sales organizations that offer payment processing. If you go through a merchant service provider rather than a financial institution, you may have the ability to buy or lease your credit card processing equipment, establish both a merchant account and an Internet Merchant account, take a wide range of credit and debit cards, and offer a wide range of other services such as telephone and mail services and mobile services.

 

 

 

 

 

How does credit card processing work?

 

Here's how the process works. Your customer pays with their credit or debit card. CardConnect, as your payment processor, receives the payment details and reviews them for potential fraud, before forwarding them to the card association or bank that issued your customer's card. Once we are able to verify your customer's credit card details, we relay that information back to you the merchant via one of our secure, online payment gateways, who may then complete the transaction. If verification is denied by the card association/issuing bank, we will relay that information to you (the merchant) who can then decline the transaction. All of this happens in a matter of just a few seconds.