Pricing you can actually read.
No mystery line items. No guesswork. Pricing built around your business model — and explained clearly before you sign anything.
Every card fee has three parts.
Tap each layer to see who it goes to. Knowing this is the fastest way to read any statement — ours or anyone’s.
Set by the card networks and paid to the bank that issued your customer’s card. Varies by card type, how the payment was taken and your category.
Assessments charged by the card brands for using their networks. Usually a small portion of the total.
What your processor charges for processing, settlement, support, tools and risk management. This is the part providers set.
Illustrative diagram — not to scale. Actual proportions vary by transaction.
Three ways processors price.
We’ll recommend what fits — and show you the math either way.
Interchange-plus
You see the true wholesale cost of each transaction plus a clear, consistent markup.
- Easy to audit
- Scales well with volume
- Markup stays visible
Blended / flat rate
One predictable rate for most payments. Simple to budget, though you don’t see the underlying costs.
- Simple to understand
- Predictable per transaction
- Less visibility
Tiered
Transactions are sorted into buckets. Common in the industry, but often the hardest to decode.
- Harder to predict
- Ask how tiers are assigned
- Compare effective rates
Descriptions are general industry definitions. Read the full comparison: interchange-plus vs flat rate.
Six things that move the number.
Monthly volume
How much you process, and how steady it is month to month.
Average ticket
Typical transaction size changes how fixed and percentage costs balance.
Card mix
Debit, credit, rewards, commercial and international cards carry different interchange.
How you take payments
Card-present, online and keyed-in payments are priced differently by the networks.
Risk profile
Industry, refund patterns and dispute history shape underwriting.
Business model
Subscriptions, deposits, pre-orders and high-ticket sales each have their own needs.
Everything that comes standard.
The tools and people behind every payment — not upsells.
Live dashboard
Payments, payouts, disputes and analytics in real time.
Fraud screening
Real-time checks on every transaction.
Tokenization
Card data swapped for secure tokens.
Intelligent routing
Multi-path processing built for approvals.
Real people
Support Monday–Sunday, 7am–9pm EST.
24/7 monitoring
The platform is watched around the clock.
API & webhooks
Developer tools when you need them.
Multi-user access
Roles for finance, support and operations.
Know your effective rate.
Your effective rate — total fees divided by total volume — is the single best number for comparing any two processors.
Pricing FAQ
Pricing depends on your business model, monthly volume, average ticket, card mix and risk profile. Tell us a little about your business and a specialist will walk you through a clear quote before you commit to anything.
We’ll recommend the structure that fits how you sell. Many growing businesses prefer interchange-plus for its transparency; others prefer the simplicity of a blended rate. We’ll explain the trade-offs plainly.
Interchange is the fee set by the card networks and paid to the card-issuing bank on each transaction. It varies by card type, transaction type and merchant category. Read more in our fees explained guide.
That’s the goal. Pricing is explained clearly before you sign, and your dashboard shows payments, fees and payouts in one place.
Yes — send it over through the contact form or to info@cirqle.to and we’ll walk through what you’re paying today and where Cirqle fits.
Terms depend on your business and setup. Ask us — we’ll lay out every term clearly up front so there are no surprises.
Get a tailored quote in 20 seconds.
Three quick answers and a specialist comes back with pricing built for your business — no obligation.
Clear pricing. No surprises.
Tell us how you sell and we’ll show you exactly what you’d pay — line by line.