Updated on November 22, 2021
The Visa FANF fee looks like it’s here to stay, at least for the moment. Imagine government walking into your business and demanding you have to lower the prices on certain items you charge your customers. Essentially that is what happened to Visa when big brother tried to regulate the interchange system. When the Durbin Amendment was passed, it really did change everything. Visa lost over 9 billion dollars because they had to reduce certain card fees and obviously investors were furious. Visa is a public company and in response to increase shareholder value the Visa FANF, Fixed Acquirers Network Fee was created.
While Visa continues to recover lost revenue because of government regulations, consumers will pay higher prices because the merchants will have to raise prices to cover their loss. It’s a vicious cycle that won’t end unless the Durbin Act is repealed. We found some interesting information on Forbes stating implementing the legislative mandate to set price controls at a rate “reasonable and proportional” the incremental cost of processing debit card payments (legislative language that the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit described as “its language is confusing and its structure convoluted”). Is this another law they had to pass to find out what’s in it?
Is Visa FANF Fee negotiable?
The Visa FANF Fee is charged to the acquirer and they have the choice whether or not to absorb the cost or charge to the merchants. Really this is a levy on the acquirer and isn’t part of the interchange system, however they obviously want to recoup the cost somewhere. My suggestion is to always have the attitude that everything is negotiable so if this fee is aggravating you, make a call to your provider and see what you can do. Over the past few years we’ve had a few merchants that requested a refund or credit and they did receive one but it’s really up to your processor.
Latest Visa updates
Visa FANF rates were lowered for TINs Taxpayer Identification Numbers with less than $1250.00 of their monthly gross sales volume or $15,000.00 in annual gross sales volume. These changes were put into effect April 1, 2015 and are designed to lower if not eliminate the VISA FANF fees for taxpayer ID’s meeting the requirements.
Another new change is Taxpayer IDs that have less than $200 per month in gross sales volume will be assessed $0. This applies to card present transactions or MCC Merchants (Customer Present). For any merchant reaching this volume threshold the will be $0.
Current Visa FANF Reference Table 2016
David Gilliam
Founder at Best of Category Reviews
David has been helping merchants in the payment industry since 2005. After running across many merchants that were having issues with their processors, he founded Best of Category Reviews with one goal in mind, transparency. With over a decade of research on credit card processors, he helps merchants find the best possible deals through reviews, interchange-plus pricing, new technology and demands month-to-month agreements with no cancel fees for your protection. If you have any questions regarding payment processing, he’s the guy you should talk to.
