In 2025, accepting credit and debit cards is no longer optional for a small business - customers expect it, and card users tend to spend far more per visit than cash buyers. The hard part is choosing the right setup without overpaying, whether you run the shop or you are an agent signing merchants up.
The basics: players and fees
Every card sale involves the merchant, a payment processor, the customer's issuing bank, the merchant's acquiring bank, and a card network like Visa or Mastercard. Three fees stack up on each transaction: interchange fees (set by the networks, paid to the issuing bank), assessment fees (roughly 0.13%-0.15% for the networks' infrastructure), and processor fees (the markup for handling the sale, priced flat-rate, interchange-plus or tiered).
Match the setup to the business
Four questions decide the right fit: your monthly volume and average ticket, whether you sell in person or online, your industry's risk level, and your budget for hardware and monthly fees. High-volume merchants (roughly $10,000-15,000+ a month with $50-100+ tickets) usually save with interchange-plus pricing, while smaller sellers do better on a simple flat rate.
Ways to accept cards
- Traditional merchant accounts - best for steady, higher-volume businesses.
- Payment service providers (Square, Stripe, PayPal) - flat-rate, no dedicated account, ideal under $10,000 a month.
- POS systems - full countertop hardware for brick-and-mortar stores.
- Mobile readers - phones and tablets for sellers on the move.
- E-commerce platforms - Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce, usually powered by a third-party gateway.
Setting it up
Research and compare fee structures, apply for the account (providers like Stripe and PayPal approve fast; merchant accounts take longer), pick hardware that fits how you sell, then run test transactions before going live so no customer hits a snag.