Mastercard has a special rate for card-not-present/e-commerce transactions. These are riskier transactions because of the risk of fraud, so they have a higher interchange rate. However, you can lower this rate by utilizing Mastercard’s SecureCode feature with the Universal Cardholder Authorization Field (UCAF). Mastercard SecureCode is called such because it requires the cardholder to enter a special code in order to make the purchase, thereby lowering the risk of credit card fraud.
As a result of lowering the risk of fraud, UCAF qualifies for a lower interchange rate than other card-not-present or e-commerce transactions. Further, there are two separate UCAF categories: “Full UCAF” and “Merchant UCAF.” Full UCAF interchange rates apply when both the merchant and the cardholder have SecureCode enabled, and Merchant UCAF interchange rates apply when only the merchant uses SecureCode.
As of April 12, 2019, the interchange rates for full UCAF consumer credit cards (dependent upon what type of card is used) are:
- Core: 1.78% + $0.10
- Enhanced Value: 1.93% + $0.10
- World: 1.97% + $0.10
- World High Value: 2.40% + $0.10
- World Elite: 2.40% + $0.10
For merchant UCAF, the interchange rates are:
- Core: 1.68% + $0.10
- Enhanced Value: 1.83% + $0.10
- World: 1.87% + $0.10
- World High Value: 2.30% + $0.10
- World Elite: 2.30% + $0.10
Debit and prepaid cards also have different rates for full UCAF and merchant UCAF. They are:
- Unregulated debit, full UCAF: 1.25% + $0.15
- Prepaid, full UCAF: 1.25% + $0.15
- Unregulated debit, merchant UCAF: 1.15% + $0.15
- Prepaid, merchant UCAF: 1.15% + $0.15
Compare the core credit card merchant UCAF rate to a core credit card key-entered transaction: the merchant UCAF rate is 1.68% + $0.10 while the key-entered transaction is 1.89% + $0.10!
At Payarc, we offer the option to set up your merchant account with MasterCard SecureCode. Not only will this reduce your risk of fraud, it can also save you money in credit card processing fees if you do a lot of card-not-present or ecommerce transactions. Contact us today to find out more!