How to Read Your Chase Paymentech Statement

What makes Chase Paymentech statements hard to read

Before you spend time on an article that may not apply to you: Chase Paymentech runs two kinds of statements, a “Have” and a “Have Not.”

At a glance, V148 looks easier to read than VI-US BUS TR3 PRD 3. There is just one problem, and it is a big one. V148 is not an interchange category. It is a made-up internal code that Chase Paymentech uses.

Who cares, and why does this matter?

When you see a fee like VI-US BUS TR3 PRD 3, you may not know what it means or why your transaction landed in that category. We do. It is a code Visa uses to identify why that transaction settled where it did, and Visa publishes the fees for that interchange category.

Our auditing system, MADR (Mass Analysis Data Reporting), runs that validation automatically. So why is Chase hiding those definitions? Things are usually hidden when someone does not want you to look.

What the interchange codes mean: EIRF, and others

Interchange categories are complicated, but with enough time and expertise they can be understood. “EIRF” stands for Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee, a term that means little to the average merchant. With some research you learn it often signals a missing or incorrect zip code, depending on your Merchant Category Code (MCC).

Yes, it is confusing, and that is exactly how the issuing banks and processing networks want it. You can learn more at How to Read Your Merchant Statement.

Below is an example of how your interchange should be displayed. If your statement looks like this, we can review each line item and explain why a transaction was downgraded. A downgrade means the transaction settled at a higher interchange rate.

We can also determine whether your processor charged you the actual interchange fees or inflated them. You might be thinking, “Of course they are charging the right amount.” But merchant processing is not regulated. Processors can inflate or even invent fees. For more, see How Can I Have the Lowest Discount Rate and the Worst Deal?

Controlling your interchange fees is the most important step to controlling, or reducing, your overall processing costs. Part of that is ensuring each transaction clears at the lowest possible rate. To do that, you first need to understand how the transaction settled and where it might have gone wrong.

Below is how your interchange should be disclosed. If your statement includes this information, we can tell you whether your transactions are settling at the best possible rates or if there are settlement issues. We can also determine if your processor is inflating your interchange fees. For more, check out an article I wrote for Forbes on this exact issue.

Now let’s take a look at a Chase Paymentech statement. Instead of providing the actual interchange category, such as “MC-BUS LEVEL 3 DATA RATE I,” they use a code like V148.

Did the transactions clear at the lowest interchange rate, or the highest? If you don’t know, how can you improve it? Are they inflating the interchange fees? I explore this further in the Forbes article.

Why are they hiding the interchange categories? Generally, things are hidden when someone does not want you to see something. Could it be that they are inflating or padding the interchange fees? Take a close look at the images below.

It would appear no one is going to earn a perfect score. Speaking of scores, check out your processor’s scorecard here.

We don’t have access to their secret code sheet. But we have seen so many of these statements that we believe we have a very good understanding of the most likely real interchange categories behind the codes.

Merchant processing is not regulated, which means any processor you deal with can hide fees, inflate them, or add made-up charges. If you are like most merchants, you have probably switched processors a few times, only to find yourself in the same situation: taken advantage of again.