From a merchant statement
Also billed as Foreign transaction fee, International assessment, International service fee.
What is a cross-border fee?
A per-transaction charge the card networks assess when the card was issued in a different country than the merchant account that processed it. Common for shops near a border, tourist traffic, and online sales.
Who charges it and why
The card networks assess it and every processor pays it; your processor passes it to you. The legitimate part is the network assessment. Some processors add their own margin on top of the network amount and keep the same line-item name.
What fair looks like
Fair looks like the network assessment passed through at cost, visible as its own line, with no house margin blended in. On interchange-plus pricing you can check this against the network's published schedule.
Can you get rid of it
You cannot eliminate the network's own assessment; any processor that claims otherwise is hiding it in the rate. What you can remove is the markup on top: ask whether the line matches the published network amount, and have the statement reviewed if the answer is vague.
See what this line is costing you
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What is a cross-border fee?
A per-transaction charge the card networks assess when the card was issued in a different country than the merchant account that processed it. Common for shops near a border, tourist traffic, and online sales.
Who charges the cross-border fee and why?
The card networks assess it and every processor pays it; your processor passes it to you. The legitimate part is the network assessment. Some processors add their own margin on top of the network amount and keep the same line-item name.
Can you get rid of a cross-border fee?
You cannot eliminate the network's own assessment; any processor that claims otherwise is hiding it in the rate. What you can remove is the markup on top: ask whether the line matches the published network amount, and have the statement reviewed if the answer is vague.