Low Low Low credit card Rates!!! yeah right.

You see it all the time. A Processor says “we have the lowest qualified rates around.” The problem with that statement is that low qualified rates may or may not do you any good. To start with lets ask the important question of what is a qualified transaction that will be charged the qualified rates? There are some company specific rules here but usually there are a few things which will make a transaction a Non-Qualified transaction. The first is usually some sort of rewards card. Miles or points it doesn't really matter. Another thing is when a merchant hand enters the card information. These things usually downgrade a transaction.
Another important question is how does your business interact with the customers? Do you see them face to face? Or are you working off of order forms or over the telephone? IF you are set up to do face to face you should usually have a lot of qualified transactions. But if that is not how you interact with the customers you could be paying a premium for those transactions. This is because there are Mid and Non qualifying fees which could be assessed.
All of which means that you probably should be asking the following questions. “What are the Mid and Non-Qualified rates? Are there other fees that apply? Do some transactions incur both fees and discount rates? These are the points that should help you make your merchant services/credit card processing decisions.