What is a mid-qualified surcharge?
The middle tier of a tiered pricing plan: an added percentage for transactions that are neither fully qualified nor dumped to non-qualified. Rewards cards and manually keyed transactions with address verification are the classic residents.
From a merchant statement
Also billed as Mid-qual surcharge, Partially qualified surcharge.
Who charges it and why
The processor, as part of the same tier system as the non-qualified surcharge. The middle tier makes the plan look granular and reasonable, but the boundaries are the processor's to draw, and they tend to drift so that less volume qualifies over time.
What fair looks like
Fair looks like the tier not existing. Interchange-plus pricing charges the network's real cost for each card type plus one visible margin, which removes the discretion that makes mid-qualified drift possible.
Can you get rid of it
Not from inside the plan; the tiers move together or not at all. Compare a few months of statements against an interchange-plus quote for the same volume, and the surcharge argues for its own removal.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a mid-qualified surcharge?
The middle tier of a tiered pricing plan: an added percentage for transactions that are neither fully qualified nor dumped to non-qualified. Rewards cards and manually keyed transactions with address verification are the classic residents.
Who charges the mid-qualified surcharge and why?
The processor, as part of the same tier system as the non-qualified surcharge. The middle tier makes the plan look granular and reasonable, but the boundaries are the processor's to draw, and they tend to drift so that less volume qualifies over time.
Can you get rid of a mid-qualified surcharge?
Not from inside the plan; the tiers move together or not at all. Compare a few months of statements against an interchange-plus quote for the same volume, and the surcharge argues for its own removal.
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