Interchange-plus

Definition

Interchange-plus (IC+) is a card-pricing model that itemizes three layers: interchange (the fee that flows to the card-issuing bank under network rules), network assessments, and a disclosed processor markup called the plus. The merchant or software platform sees that cost stack instead of one blended or flat rate that hides interchange. Public processor and PayFac-as-a-service pages use interchange-plus when they publish a buy rate the platform can mark up to a merchant sell price. This page does not print a rate. Interchange schedules are set by the card networks and change; treat any number you see on a vendor page as that vendor’s buy rate, not a public law.

This page is the pricing model. Adjacent terms are Vertical Fintech’s. They are not this page. Application fees (a platform cut on a multiparty charge), residuals (who keeps the leftover economics over time), destination charges, and PayFac-as-a-service sit next to this definition.

Why it matters

If you run vertical software and want to take a rate you can explain, interchange-plus is the honest buy-rate shape. You see what the networks take, you see the processor plus, and you set a sell price above that. That is how a platform owns merchant pricing without becoming the PayFac: the registered party still underwrites, you still mark up. The limit is the same as every published plus. The buy rate can move. Interchange can move. A blended application fee is simpler and faster, and it is not the same thing. If a vendor will not show interchange-plus or any buy rate, you are negotiating a black box. Ask what the plus includes (gateway, PCI, payout, chargeback), who can change it, and whether your sell price is allowed to stay above it. Do not treat IC+ as a residual book you own just because the math is visible.

Related on Vertical Fintech

• Payments: PayFac-as-a-service and platform payments. Take a rate on merchant volume without becoming a PayFac.
• Application fee: A platform cut on a multiparty charge. Different math from an IC+ markup.
• PayFac-as-a-service: The rented-facilitator model where a published plus is often the buy rate.
• Rainforest: PFaaS with a published interchange-plus buy rate. You set the merchant sell price.
• Moov: Published interchange-plus style rates and fee plans you can assign to sub-accounts.
• Tilled: Published SaaS plus revenue-share packaging on a PayFac-style stack, not a self-serve live start.

FAQ

Is interchange-plus the same as an application fee?

No. Interchange-plus itemizes network cost plus a disclosed markup, then you set a sell price. An application fee is a platform cut attached to a multiparty charge while the processor keeps its own rate card. You can take a rate either way. You do not automatically own residuals either way.

Does a published plus mean I own the economics?

No. You own the contracted spread between buy rate and sell price, for as long as that buy rate holds. The registered party still holds the acquiring program. Residuals (who keeps leftover economics over time, and whether they survive a processor change) are an adjacent term, not this one.