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Calculate the agency’s total card-acceptance cost for a defined period by adding every in-scope fee and attributable operating cost, then report the result as total dollars, cost per settled transaction, and a percentage of card revenue. Use the agency’s own statements, transaction files, contracts, and accounting records; a national average cannot substitute for those data.
What “total cost” means in a government card program
Total cost is the amount an agency incurs to accept card payments during a stated reporting period. It is broader than the percentage printed in a processor’s sales proposal. A defensible calculation normally includes network-set charges, processor or acquirer charges, fixed account costs, and operating expenses that exist because the agency accepts cards.
The calculation is an agency-specific measurement, not a universal government rate. Transaction volume and value, credit or debit mix, card-present or card-not-present channel, card products, merchant category, contract terms, and settlement arrangements all change the result. Use a benchmark only to provide context after the agency’s own number has been calculated.
State the scope before collecting numbers. Specify the period, payment products, channels, transaction statuses, revenue denominator, and cost categories. Keep that scope identical in the numerator and denominator so that the percentage is meaningful.
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Define the population and reporting period
Choose a period that can be reconciled
Use a complete period such as a fiscal year, quarter, or a set of full calendar months. Record the start and end dates and whether the period is based on transaction date, settlement date, invoice date, or the date a provider billed a fee. Settlement and billing dates can cross month or fiscal-year boundaries, so the agency should document its chosen accounting convention.
Decide which payments are in scope
- Card products: Decide whether the analysis covers credit cards only or also debit, prepaid, commercial, purchasing, and other card products.
- Channels: Identify card-present terminals, online card-not-present payments, telephone payments, mobile acceptance, and any payment gateway used by a contractor.
- Transaction status: Define how sales, reversals, refunds, voids, partial refunds, disputes, and chargebacks affect transaction count and revenue.
- Revenue denominator: State whether card revenue is gross settled sales or net revenue after refunds and other adjustments.
For example, a report limited to credit-card sales must not divide those costs by all electronic-payment revenue. If debit and credit fees are combined, label the result as a blended card measure and show the mix.
Collect the records that support every line
Request the agency’s processor or acquirer contract and amendments, monthly statements, transaction-level detail, settlement reports, invoices, chargeback reports, equipment invoices, gateway or software invoices, and internal cost records used by the agency’s accounting method. Obtain the fee schedules and any correspondence that explains a rate change, volume tier, minimum, rebate, or pass-through charge.
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Match the provider’s merchant or account identifiers across all files. Preserve the source report for each amount, the extraction date, and the person who approved the inclusion. If multiple departments or merchant accounts accept cards, calculate each account and then consolidate them without losing the account-level trail.
Include every applicable cost category
Build the cost model from actual charges rather than from a single advertised rate. The following categories cover the items most commonly needed in a government acceptance analysis. Mark a category “not applicable” only after checking the contract and statements.
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| Category | What to capture | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange | Amounts paid through the card system to issuing institutions, often varying by card type, channel, transaction data, and merchant category. | Include the billed or otherwise attributable amount for in-scope transactions. |
| Network assessments and other network charges | Brand-network assessments, dues, access charges, and other pass-through amounts shown on statements. | Separate them from the processor’s markup when the statement permits. |
| Processor or acquirer charges | Percentage markups, per-transaction charges, authorization fees, settlement fees, and account-service charges. | Include both variable and fixed amounts required by the contract. |
| Gateway and software | Payment-gateway, hosted checkout, tokenization, reporting, fraud-screening, or other software fees used to accept or route payments. | Include recurring and usage-based charges attributable to card acceptance. |
| Minimums and account fees | Monthly minimums, statement fees, annual account fees, PCI or compliance fees, and other contractual minimums. | Allocate the charge to the reporting period under the agency’s accounting policy. |
| Disputes and fraud | Chargeback fees, representment fees, fraud-tool charges, and losses the agency’s costing method treats as an acceptance expense. | Identify fees separately from the disputed principal or unrecovered revenue. |
| Hardware and terminals | Purchase, lease, rental, maintenance, replacement, and connectivity costs for terminals or other acceptance equipment. | Include the period’s attributable cost; explain any depreciation or allocation method. |
| Internal labor and overhead | Staff time for reconciliation, payment administration, exception handling, security, or support. | Include only if the agency’s declared costing method treats the labor or overhead as attributable acceptance cost, and document the allocation. |
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) distinguishes interchange, network, processing, and other fees and identifies software, fraud prevention, hardware, and terminal rentals as possible processing expenses. A provider may deduct some charges from settlement, invoice them separately, or bill another agency office. The calculation must follow the actual arrangement.
Step-by-step calculation method
- Write the scope statement. Record the reporting dates, included card products and channels, transaction-status rules, revenue definition, and whether internal costs are included.
- Inventory merchant accounts. List every processor, acquirer, gateway, terminal fleet, payment portal, and departmental account that falls within scope. Note account numbers and the responsible program office.
- Extract transaction totals. From settlement or transaction files, obtain settled transaction count, gross card sales, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, and net revenue according to the scope statement. Keep credit, debit, commercial, rewards, and other available classifications.
- Extract all charges. Copy interchange, network assessments, processor and acquirer markups, per-transaction fees, authorization and settlement charges, gateway and software fees, monthly fees, minimums, dispute and fraud charges, equipment costs, and other contractual items into a calculation worksheet.
- Classify fixed and variable amounts. Tag each line as variable (driven by transactions or value), fixed recurring, one-time, or operational. Do not hide a monthly minimum inside a blended percentage.
- Reconcile to cash and accounting. Tie transaction totals to settlement reports and the general ledger. Tie each fee to a statement, invoice, or approved allocation. Investigate timing differences, credits, refunds, duplicate invoices, and charges posted to another account.
- Calculate the three core measures. Compute total cost, cost per in-scope settled transaction, and cost as a share of in-scope card revenue using the formulas below. Keep full precision in the worksheet and round only the displayed result.
- Segment the result. Show fixed versus variable cost and, where data permit, cost by channel, card type, merchant account, department, or transaction-size band. Explain any allocation that cannot be observed directly.
- Review and approve. Have finance, payments operations, and procurement verify the scope, contract interpretation, reconciliations, and treatment of refunds and chargebacks. Preserve the final worksheet and supporting files.
Use consistent formulas and labels
| Metric | Formula | Required label |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost | Sum of all included processing and attributable acceptance costs during the period | List every included category and identify exclusions. |
| Cost per transaction | Total cost ÷ count of in-scope settled transactions | State whether refunds, reversals, and chargebacks are included in the count or excluded. |
| Cost as a share of card revenue | Total cost ÷ in-scope card transaction revenue × 100 | State whether revenue is gross or net of refunds and which payment methods are included. |
Use the settled-transaction count when the objective is the cost of completed acceptance. If the agency instead uses authorized transactions, label that choice because authorization attempts and settled sales produce different results. A transaction with a refund may remain one settled transaction while reducing net revenue; the report should make that treatment visible rather than silently changing the denominator.
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Show both dollars and percentages. A low percentage can coexist with a high total cost when card volume is large, while a high per-transaction cost can result from many small payments and fixed fees. Fixed and variable subtotals help decision-makers see which pattern applies.
Reconcile settlement mechanics before drawing conclusions
Do not assume that the provider subtracts every fee from the deposit. GAO notes that the federal Treasury arrangement may settle transactions at par and pay acceptance costs separately. Under that structure, the bank deposit can equal the transaction amount while fees appear in a separate invoice or accounting entry. Other arrangements may net fees from settlement.
For each account, reconcile the following bridge:
- Gross card sales for the selected period.
- Less refunds, reversals, and other transaction adjustments under the agency’s policy.
- Less or plus chargebacks and dispute recoveries, with principal and fees shown separately.
- Equals the transaction revenue used as the denominator.
- Compare the resulting cash or receivable movement with settlement reports and the general ledger.
- Reconcile every processing fee whether paid by deduction, separate invoice, interagency charge, or another Treasury or departmental mechanism.
Timing differences should remain visible. A fee billed in the following month may belong to the transaction period under the agency’s accrual policy, or to the billing period under a cash method. State which method was used and apply it consistently.
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Understand the drivers behind the number
Credit, debit, and card product
Credit transactions generally cost more than debit transactions. Rewards cards can have higher interchange than non-rewards cards, and commercial cards can follow different rates. The agency should verify those effects in its own interchange detail instead of applying a fixed assumed premium.
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Card-not-present payments can carry higher fees because they present greater fraud and chargeback risk. Online, telephone, and manually keyed transactions should therefore be reported separately from terminal-present transactions whenever the records support the split.
Transaction value, count, and merchant category
Both the number and value of payments affect total cost. Small payments can make fixed per-transaction charges prominent, while high-value payments can make percentage-based interchange dominant. Merchant category and the data submitted with a transaction can also affect rates.
Volume tiers and minimums
Contracts may reduce a markup after a volume threshold or impose a minimum if volume falls below it. Model the actual threshold and the period over which it is measured. A quoted rate that applies only after a threshold is not the agency’s effective rate for every month.
Federal figures provide context, not a forecast
GAO reported in 2025, using FY 2023 information, that more than 85 federal entities collected over $43 billion in payment-card revenue and paid about $784 million in fees. The reported average was $1.06 per transaction, and fees equaled 1.8 percent of revenue. Interchange represented nearly 90 percent of total fees for the selected entities.
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Those figures describe selected federal entities, not every government agency. GAO’s analysis covered seven selected entities and selected Internal Revenue Service analysis; the named entities included Amtrak, the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Postal Service, and three Department of Defense nonappropriated-fund entities. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service manages card acceptance for an estimated 81 federal entities, while other entities maintain their own card-company relationships.
Differences in mission, payment channel, card mix, contract structure, and transaction size can make an individual agency’s result higher or lower. Use the figures as a reasonableness reference after producing the agency-specific calculation, never as a substitute for it.
Compare processors or acceptance arrangements on a like-for-like basis
A procurement comparison should replay the same transaction sample and period through each proposal’s pricing rules. Comparing headline percentages alone can select an arrangement with lower advertised pricing but higher minimums, equipment costs, or card-not-present charges.
| Comparison axis | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Total effective cost | What is the total dollar cost and cost per transaction for the agency’s actual sample? |
| Pass-through versus markup | Which interchange and network amounts are passed through, and what processor or acquirer markup is added? |
| Mix assumptions | Are credit, debit, rewards, commercial, card-present, and card-not-present proportions the same in every bid? |
| Thresholds and minimums | What volume tiers, monthly minimums, annual fees, authorization charges, settlement fees, gateway fees, and chargeback charges apply? |
| Equipment and operations | Who supplies terminals, maintenance, connectivity, fraud controls, reporting, tokenization, and reconciliation support? |
| Settlement and data | How are deposits made, how quickly are funds available, and can the agency obtain transaction-level data needed for audit? |
| Contract risk | What are the term, renewal, termination, migration, implementation, service-continuity, and procurement constraints? |
Require bidders to disclose assumptions and provide a fee schedule that can be mapped to the agency’s worksheet. Keep one-time implementation charges separate from recurring acceptance cost, but show both in the procurement decision.
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After measuring the baseline, the agency can test changes against service, legal, accessibility, and procurement requirements.
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- Meet a documented volume threshold: A contract tier can lower a markup when the agency reliably reaches the required volume. Model months below the threshold and any minimum charge.
- Review accepted card types: Restricting certain card products for specific transactions may reduce interchange, but it can inconvenience payers and may conflict with program rules, network rules, or nondiscrimination and access requirements.
- Review transaction amounts: One selected entity limited transaction amounts in an effort to manage fees. Any limit must be tested against statutory collection requirements, customer service, and network rules.
- Improve transaction data: Accurate authorization data, settlement timing, and card-not-present controls can reduce avoidable downgrades, fraud, and disputes. Confirm any proposed change with the processor and network rules.
- Consolidate where appropriate: Combining accounts may improve volume economics and reporting, but it can create migration, continuity, segregation-of-duties, or procurement risks.
GAO reported that two selected entities had difficulty navigating network rules. Treat rule interpretation as an operational and legal workstream, not merely a pricing exercise.
Can the agency pass processing costs to the payer?
Not automatically. Authority to impose a surcharge or convenience fee depends on the agency’s jurisdiction, entity type, the obligation being paid, card-network rules, and contract terms. A processor’s invoice does not itself create legal authority to recover the amount from a payer.
State examples illustrate the variation:
- Illinois law permits a local governmental entity’s governing body to authorize a surcharge or convenience fee up to the discount or processing fee incurred, subject to card-network rules.
- Nebraska provisions for the state and political subdivisions impose their own conditions.
- Florida Statutes § 215.322 contains separate provisions for state agencies and local governments.
Before recommending a payer fee, document the agency’s jurisdiction and legal form, the obligation being paid, the card type, applicable state and federal law, network rules, disclosure requirements, and contract language. Obtain a legal determination for the specific agency; do not generalize from another state or entity.
Controls, review, and common errors
Control checklist
- Scope and period are approved before extraction.
- Every included fee maps to a statement, invoice, contract clause, or documented allocation.
- Transaction count and revenue reconcile to settlement and accounting records.
- Fixed, variable, one-time, and operational costs are labeled separately.
- Refund, reversal, dispute, and chargeback treatment is written in the methodology.
- Credit, debit, channel, and card-product segments are preserved where available.
- Rounding is performed only after calculations are complete.
- Changes from the prior period are explained by volume, mix, rates, contract tiers, or new cost categories.
Errors that produce misleading results
- Using a national average as the agency estimate: Benchmarks cannot reproduce the agency’s mix or contract.
- Counting only the processor’s percentage: Interchange, network fees, minimums, equipment, gateway, fraud, and dispute charges can materially change total cost.
- Mixing denominators: Dividing credit-only fees by all card revenue, or gross costs by net revenue without disclosure, invalidates comparisons.
- Ignoring separately billed costs: A fee not deducted from settlement still belongs in total cost if it is attributable to acceptance.
- Blending channels: Card-present and card-not-present economics can differ enough to hide an operational problem.
- Dropping low-volume accounts: Monthly minimums and fixed fees may make a small account expensive even when its transaction total is modest.
- Assuming legal recoverability: A convenience fee requires authority and compliance with applicable rules.
Recommended report layout
A final report should let a reviewer reproduce the result without opening a provider portal. Include:
- A one-paragraph scope statement with dates, products, channels, transaction rules, revenue denominator, and costing method.
- A table of total cost by category, with fixed and variable subtotals.
- Transaction count, card revenue, total cost, cost per transaction, and cost percentage.
- Breakouts by merchant account, channel, card type, and department when available.
- A reconciliation from gross sales through refunds and disputes to the denominator and settlement records.
- Contract assumptions, volume tiers, minimums, and any allocation of shared software, equipment, labor, or overhead.
- Limitations, unresolved data issues, and approvals from finance, payments, procurement, and legal staff where relevant.
This format turns a single blended rate into an auditable view of what the agency pays, why it pays it, and which changes could alter the result.
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