Boston, July 9, 2014 – The card payment industry is full of half-truths regarding credit card and debit card acceptance costs at merchant stores, and the failure to understand these costs has resulted in legislation and litigation that pits merchants against networks and financial institutions. Different stakeholders across the industry view the costs of accepting a card payment in different ways, and there has been no standard formula, tool, or benchmark for merchants, financial institutions, and networks to measure the acceptance costs of one tender type against another—until now.

This Aite Group Impact Note presents a financial model that is based on actual merchant data collected from March to May 2014 Aite Group interviews with 40 merchants. The financial model accounts for the different cost elements associated with accepting cash, debit cards, credit cards, and private-label cards at specialty retailers, quick-service restaurants, and convenience stores. It also creates a standard barometer to fairly measure and compare card and cash acceptance costs—and separate the truth from the chaff.

This 30-page Impact Note contains 20 figures and six tables. Clients of Aite Group's Retail Banking & Payments service can download this report.