Introduced last year, the VISA FANF fee, also known as the Fixed Acquirer Network Fee, is a fixed fee that merchants have to pay it in order to participate in the Visa payment network. Although the term “fixed fee” makes the fee sound simple, the FANF fee can actually be pretty complex and tricky. For instance, many merchants aren’t sure how to handle the fee when it comes to card present vs. card not present sales volume. This is because Visa calculates its FANF differently depending on whether the activity is card present or card not present. One would think that this means that merchants would be charged the fee for either card present or card not present activity, but the opposite can be true. Sometimes merchants are assessed the fee for both. There are other issues associated with the fee as well, so it’s important to talk to your payments professional and learn all you can about it. If you want your merchant service to be top notch, you’ll have to be able to clearly explain FANF, and other interchange modifications, to your customers. The moral of the story? Do your homework. How is your payment processor adjusting to the Visa FANF fee? Are they calculating it accurately and passing it through without markups? Are they handling it like other interchange and card association fees? Because the fee is so complex, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some processors taking shortcuts or estimating what to charge. What types of questions are your merchants asking about the fee? Does it seem clear to them? Or are they confused? And are they coming to you with questions about the Visa integrity fee as well? If you have any questions about the Visa FANF fee, the VISA integrity fee, or any other fees associated with the Visa payment network, please leave a comment below.
