Two owners compare notes over coffee. Both have read that itemised pricing is the transparent option and the better deal. Both are about to ask their provider for it. Only one of them is right.
Interchange++ is not a discount. It is a way of being charged, and whether it leaves you better off depends on facts about your business rather than on the merits of the model. Push the wrong business onto it and you have swapped a predictable cost for a higher one, with more admin attached.
So before anyone signs anything, the question worth answering is a narrow one: given how your customers actually pay, does itemised pricing work in your favour or against it?
There are three inputs, a calculator below to run them through, and three worked examples. One of the three examples should not switch, and it is included for exactly that reason.
What actually decides it
Not your revenue. Not your headcount. Not how many outlets you run.
Your card mix
The share of your sales taken on lower cost local debit cards, against the share taken on premium, corporate or overseas issued cards.
Interchange++ passes the published interchange for each card straight to you, at the rate the card networks set and the customer's issuing bank receives. A high local debit share means you keep the benefit of cheap transactions instead of averaging it away. A high premium and overseas share means you feel the expensive ones in full.
Your average sale value
Your monthly card volume divided by your transaction count.
Higher tickets favour itemised pricing, because fixed per transaction charges shrink to nothing against a large sale. A business built on many small baskets is affected more by the fixed charges than by the pricing model.
Whether anyone will read it
Honest answer required. Somebody has to look at the breakdown for it to be worth anything.
Visibility only pays if it changes a decision. If nobody in the business will open the statement, a predictable single rate you can forecast against is worth more than an accurate one you never examine.
Work out where you stand
You need one statement and about two minutes. Rough figures are fine, since this is a direction rather than a decision.
Take two numbers off your last statement first. Your average sale value is your card volume divided by your transaction count. Your effective rate, if you want it, is total card fees divided by card volume, times one hundred. Or put them straight into the check below, which works both out for you. Estimate the card shares if you have to, and ask your provider if you cannot.
Three directions come back, and they follow from a simple score: each of the three inputs is worth between +2 and −2, and the total decides the answer.
Total of 4 or more
Interchange++ is likely to work in your favour. Your card mix and basket size both point the same way. Worth asking about, and worth checking against your own effective rate before you move.
Total of 1 to 3
Could go either way. Your inputs pull in different directions, which usually means the pricing model is not your biggest lever. Look at the charges outside your rate first.
Total of 0 or less
A blended rate is likely to serve you better. Your mix or your basket size works against itemised pricing. A single predictable rate is probably the better commercial answer here.
How that calculation thinks
No black box. It weighs the same three things this article has already named, and you can check its reasoning against your own judgement.
A higher share of local debit sales pushes the answer towards Interchange++, because the low cost of those transactions passes through to you rather than being averaged into a single rate. A higher share of premium, corporate and overseas cards pushes it the other way, because those costs pass through in full too. A higher average sale value pushes towards Interchange++, since a fixed charge on every transaction stops mattering once baskets are large.
Where those three pull in different directions, the answer comes back as could go either way, which is an honest result rather than a hedge. It means the model is not your biggest lever and something else on your bill probably is.
Three businesses, three different answers
Same market, similar monthly card volume, completely different conclusions. Find the one that looks most like you.
Homeware retailer · Interchange++ likely to help
- Monthly card volume: around 60,000
- Card transactions: around 150
- Average sale value: around 400
- Local debit share: high
- Premium and overseas share: low
Few transactions, large baskets, and most customers paying with local debit. Under a blended rate, the low interchange on all those debit transactions is averaged away and the provider keeps the difference. Under Interchange++ it passes straight through. Fixed per transaction charges are irrelevant at this ticket size, so almost nothing offsets the gain.
Neighbourhood café · Could go either way
- Monthly card volume: around 45,000
- Card transactions: around 3,000
- Average sale value: around 15
- Local debit share: moderate
- Premium and overseas share: low
A high local debit share points towards Interchange++. A very low average sale value pulls hard in the other direction, because a fixed charge on every transaction matters far more here than the pricing model does. For this business the second lever is worth more than the fourth: get the per transaction charges and the monthly minimum right first, then revisit the model.
Gift shop beside a hotel · Blended likely to serve you better
- Monthly card volume: around 50,000
- Card transactions: around 500
- Average sale value: around 100
- Local debit share: low
- Premium and overseas share: high
Roughly half of what this shop takes arrives on premium or overseas issued cards, which sit at the top of the interchange scale. Singapore does not cap interchange, so those rates pass through at whatever the card networks set for them. Itemised pricing would pass every one of those costs through in full, and the averaging that looks unfair to the homeware retailer is doing this merchant a favour. A predictable blended rate is the better commercial answer, and any provider telling this business otherwise is selling rather than advising.
Illustrative examples
These profiles are constructed to show how the three inputs interact. The figures are examples used for explanation and are not Qashier rate quotes, benchmarks or projections. Your own numbers will not match any of the three exactly, which is the point of running them yourself.
What none of this can tell you
A calculator weighs what it can measure, and three of the things that matter most are not measurable from a statement.
Whether you want a predictable number matters, and it is a legitimate preference rather than a weakness. Plenty of well run businesses would rather forecast confidently against a slightly higher figure than track an accurate one that moves every month. If that describes you, blended pricing is the right answer and no amount of transparency argument should talk you out of it.
The charges outside your rate matter too, and they can outweigh the model entirely. Terminal rental, monthly minimums and per transaction fees are set separately, and for a business with small baskets they are the larger problem by a distance.
And the fee schedule of whoever you are comparing against matters more than either headline. A lower rate attached to heavy add-on charges regularly costs more than a slightly higher rate with none.
The model is one lever. Sometimes it is not yours.
When to ask the question again
Once a year, and whenever your customer base shifts. A shop that opens near a hotel, a clinic that starts seeing overseas patients, a supplier that begins invoicing companies by card: each of those changes the card mix enough to change the answer.
The reverse is also true. A business that moves a meaningful share of sales onto domestic rails such as PayNow has changed its own arithmetic, because those payments move bank to bank rather than over the card networks, so no interchange arises on them at all. A provider fee still applies to them, so recheck the position rather than assume the old conclusion still holds.
Run your own numbers, then let us check them
Bring us what the calculator told you and we will work through it properly against your trading profile. There is no volume requirement before we will have that conversation, and if the answer is blended pricing, that is what we will recommend.
Check your result with usFrequently asked questions
How do I know if Interchange++ will save my business money?
Three things decide it: the share of your sales on lower cost local cards, your average sale value, and whether anyone in the business will actually read the breakdown. A high local debit share and a higher average ticket point towards Interchange++. A high share of premium, corporate or overseas cards points towards a blended rate. Your business size does not come into it.
What effective rate should I compare against?
Compare against your own payment mix rather than a national average, because averages include businesses that sell nothing like you do. Work out your effective rate by dividing total card fees by total card volume for the last three months, then look at published rates for the methods your customers actually use. Our benchmark article sets out what Singapore providers publish by payment method.
Does Interchange++ work for businesses with lots of small transactions?
Often not, and the reason has nothing to do with the model. When your average basket is small, the fixed charge applied to every transaction matters more than the percentage does. Fix the per transaction fees and any monthly minimum first. The pricing model is a smaller lever for that kind of business than the fee schedule is.
Can I switch back if Interchange++ does not work out?
Yes. The pricing model is a commercial arrangement rather than a technical one, so nothing changes about the terminal on your counter or your back office. It is worth reviewing the question once a year in any case, because card mix moves as your customer base changes.
Is there a minimum volume before I can ask about Interchange++?
We do not publish a volume threshold, because volume is not what decides whether the model suits you. What matters is your card mix, your average sale value and whether the breakdown would change any decision you make. Ask us and we will work through it against your trading profile.
Which payment methods does QashierPay accept in Singapore?
QashierPay accepts Visa, Mastercard and AMEX, along with PayNow, GrabPay, ShopeePay, Atome and Alipay+ and other international e-wallets. In store card payments settle T+1. Qashier holds a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which you can verify yourself on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory rather than take our word for it.
Do I need to install an app to use the calculator or see my figures?
No. The calculator on this page runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored. QashierHQ also runs in a web browser on any device, so your sales, fees and settlement records are available wherever you are.
Disclaimer
This article is general information about card payment pricing and is not financial advice. The calculator provides a directional indication based on the figures you enter and is not a quote, an offer or a guarantee of savings. All example figures are illustrative and are not Qashier rates. Availability of pricing models is subject to eligibility assessment. Qashier is a Major Payment Institution licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.