In the rush to respond to the initial Regulation II interchange fee cap, MasterCard set the pace by flattening their debit-interchange fees for regulated issuers across the merchant board and all the other networks fell in line as a result.
The problem with that strategy was the small-ticket transactions, which had been valued at an ad valorem rate rationale for transactions under $10, suddenly became a lot more expensive. Since then, Visa has gone around the rules to establish more favorable rates with some small- ticket merchant processors in a bid to preserve and protect their market. MasterCard has not yet responded, but has indicated they are watching these transaction types, but no official announcement has been made regarding any pricing concessions.
From Digital Transactions:
Visa, however, has struck agreements with some processors serving small-ticket merchants such as Apriva and USA Technologies Inc. to offer more favorable pricing. USAT Technologies last month announced an extended agreement with Visa. And on Monday, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva said it could continue a program under which it provides pre-Durbin pricing on Visa debit, prepaid, and credit cards for transactions of $5 or less to its Apriva Vend customers.
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