Why banks are charging processing fee? (2024)

Why banks are charging processing fee?

Banks charge fees for their products and services in order to make money to pay for their business expenses. Everything from keeping the lights on in brick-and-mortar locations to paying the person who answers the phone at the bank costs them money, and those costs are passed to the consumer.

Processing fees are usually charged by lenders to cover their costs when they process your loan application. However, some lenders run festive offers and promotions from time to time where they waive the processing fees. Currently, SBI and BOI are offering processing fee waivers on their home loans.

To put it simply, a processing fee is a pre-set amount that a business pays every time a customer uses a credit or debit card to pay for their goods or services. The processing fee can be split into two parts: the interchange fee and the assessment fee.

Charging more for depositing cash might seem counterintuitive, but there are several reasons why some banks do this: Operational Costs: Handling and Storage: Physical cash needs to be counted, sorted, and stored securely, which involves labor and infrastructure costs.

The interchange fee, which is incurred any time a customer uses a credit or debit card to make a purchase. This is paid to the card-issuing bank and covers fraud, bad debt costs, and any risk involved in the payment approval and handling costs.

If you're wondering if credit card surcharges are legal in your state, the answer is probably yes. The only states that currently prohibit surcharges are Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and Oklahoma. A recent ruling limits merchants in Colorado to a maximum surcharge of 2%.

Surcharge fees are strictly limited to credit card transactions only. Even if a client wishes to run a signature debit transaction, where a debit card is processed as a credit transaction, you are still not allowed to implement a surcharge. Surcharges are also not applicable to prepaid cards.

Unfortunately, the processing fee thus cannot be refunded.

Markups (Negotiable)

It's the only area of credit card processing expense that you can negotiate. The processing markup includes the processor's rates, credit card transaction fees, monthly fees, and any fees associated with software, gateways or processing equipment. That is, any fees that the processor can control.

What is the average bank processing fee?

According to industry analysts, average credit card processing fees are 1.5% to 3.5% of each transaction. However, this doesn't include fees you pay to merchant services providers for payment gateways, equipment rentals and monthly account charges.

This is usually a small amount, which varies from bank to bank and typically costs about 0.5% to 2.50% of the total amount of the loan. Every bank fixes a minimum and maximum percentage of the loan processing fees, which the borrower must pay.

The merchant is expected to cover this fee to process credit card payments. However, those fees can add up. In some cases, businesses pass these fees on to consumers in the form of surcharges to avoid incurring the additional costs themselves.

The short answer is that merchants are responsible for covering credit card processing fees. However, this does not mean that they can't pass on the cost to their customers. And depending on the pricing model you use with your payment processor, you may not even see the actual processing fees on your statement.

Places that prohibit surcharges

The laws in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico do not allow merchants to impose surcharges. Colorado was in that group until 2021, when it repealed its prohibition of surcharges. The state now allows merchants to add a surcharge of up to 2% of the total cost of a transaction.

10 states still have laws on the books that say convenience and surcharge fees aren't permissible, but recent court rulings have invalidated some of these laws. To date, only two states and one jurisdiction still outlaw the use of credit card surcharges: Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico.

Credit card surcharges are legal unless otherwise prohibited by state or local law. Certain states have specific disclosure requirements, while others limit what businesses can add as a credit card surcharge.

As a rule of thumb, you should aim to keep one or two months' worth of living expenses in your checking account. This amount will be enough for many people to cover recurring bills and smaller purchases before their next paycheck while leaving some extra cushioning to avoid overdrafting with unplanned withdrawals.

Do banks charge processing fees for debit cards?

Yes. Debit card processing fees involve interchange fees, which vary by card and bank, and payment processing fees, which vary by provider. Can a business charge a debit card fee? Many state laws allow for a business to charge a consumer an additional fee, called a surcharge, to pay by credit card.

Financial institutions are for-profit businesses and need to make money to survive. Monthly maintenance fees contribute to this profit and help cover operating costs. These monthly fees can help banks offset some of the costs involved with day-to-day operations and certain account features.

How to dispute overdraft fees. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call. A quick phone call to your bank could save you money and get the overdraft fees refunded. It's not guaranteed, but it's definitely worth asking whether you can get a courtesy refund on overdraft fees.