Payments Conference & Networking DinnerBerlin, February 15, 2016

Interchange Optimisation

Welcome!

Christos Georgousis Senior Product Owner Payments & Pricing

Small Intro

Interchange costs Biggest part of cc costs

1. xxx 2. xxx 3. xxx Note: xxxSource: xxx

What is Interchange:

Interchange cost:Whenever the Issuing bank processes money for a transaction it deducts a small amount as recompensation for the costs involved with issuing cards (e.g. Customer support, accounts infrastructure, fraud prevention). These interchange fees vary greatly depending on factors like card type , merchant’s country , issuing banks country, type of transaction (ecommerce or card present), etc

Interchange++ Bundled pricing

The PSP sents the merchant a report showcasing the cost components of each transaction like in the example above. A fair model provided the merchant has a way to verify the interchange and assessment fee costs. 

In this model the PSP “bundles” all the costs involved and gives the merchant one total cost based on an analysis of the type of transactions submitted (in theory a mix to incorporate the most dominant interchange costs involved in each transaction).

1. xxx 2. xxx 3. xxx Note: xxxSource: xxx

Interchange and Βilling2 main different models

Popular hybrids

-Bucket model

-Interchange +

Main Problems

So how can we optimise it?

Knowledge is power

Know what you pay!

At least know the total cost per market, does it make sense?

E.g. 3% interchange cost for Europe does not make sense

You should always ask for transaction level data

Example same bin (516732)

Routing 1:Interchange cost: 100*0.3%=0.3EURAssessment fees: 100*0.11%=0.11EURAcquirers markup: 100*0.2%=0.2EUR

Routing 2:

Interchange cost: 100*1.3%=1.3EURAssessment fees: 100*0.11%=0.11EURAcquirers markup: 100*0.2%=0.2EUR

If you can spare the resources built a reconciliation model or hirethird party interchange reconciliation services

How to optimise

-Get Intra EEA interchange anywhere it applies

https://www.visaeurope.com/about-us/interchange/fees-and-interchange

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/interchange.html

“Intra EEA” countries may include more than you think e.g. Turkey and Israel for Visa.

Corporate vs consumer cards, Amex in the uk (optblue), Visa and Mastercard are all fair game

-Get the extra data incentives (e.g. fraud prevention incentives or 3ds)

-Depending on your market and volumes it might make sense to go for local interchange vs Crossborder.

In most cases you will need a local entity.

Balance between costs of maintaining that entity vs interchange +foreign exchange +authorisation improvement benefits.

Issuers as Acquirers model

If you are big enough on a market and/or if the market only has a few large issuers. -Special prices on own cards

-Better authorisation rates

-Potentially faster remittance

Direct Integration ModelMerchant connects to multiple issuers that acquire their own cards.

Gateway/PSP as FacilitatorMerchant decides on acquirer uses a gateway to facilitate integration

Gateway/PSP on the HelmMerchant uses the gateway’s optimisation service

Wrapping it up!

Take a good hard look into your interchange costs.

Otherwise you may be losing on significant profit margins!

Thank you

Questions?

Contact info:christos.georgousis@blacklane.com