Acquiring economics
Model merchant pricing, transaction costs and settlement exposure.
CARD MIX · DOMESTIC CREDIT IS THE REMAINDER: 27%
PER-TRANSACTION WATERFALL · BLENDED · MIX-WEIGHTED
MSC — what the merchant pays2.20%
Interchange — mix-weighted across 4 segments1.27%
Scheme fees — base + cross-border uplift0.18%
Processing + gateway0.04%
Fraud losses0.06%
Chargebacks — 75 cases/mo at $250.02%
YOUR NET TAKE0.62% · $1.12/txn
ALSO SHOW IN
$9,000,000
MONTHLY VOLUME
$56,090
GROSS PROFIT
$11,090
AFTER FIXED OPEX
$7,220,538/mo
BREAKEVEN VOLUME
$2,700,000
RESERVE BALANCE HELD
$300,000
MERCHANT FUNDING NEED
SENSITIVITY · ONE ADVERSE MOVE AT A TIME
Credit share +10 pts (debit − 10)0.55% · −6,930/mo
Interchange +10 bps (all segments)0.52% · −9,000/mo
Price compression: MSC − 10 bps0.52% · −9,000/mo
Cross-border +5 pts (debit − 5)0.55% · −6,840/mo
Chargebacks × 20.60% · −1,875/mo
NET TAKE AFTER THE MOVE · MONTHLY P&L DELTA VS BASE
VIABLE AT THIS SCALE
Blended pricing exposes margin to card mix. Corporate and cross-border cards cost more than domestic debit in this model. Merchant reserves: $2,700,000; funding $300,000 settlement gap, separate from P&L.
USE YOUR SCHEME RATES
Start in USD. Interchange and scheme figures are editable planning assumptions, not a US rate card. Replace them with your actual scheme and corridor rates, including mada in KSA or Jaywan in the UAE where applicable.
DETERMINISTIC · EST FIELDS ARE PLANNING ESTIMATES — SET FROM YOUR SCHEME SCHEDULE · NOT PRICING ADVICE