Updated June 2024

If you own a company and accept Visa card payments, you've probably seen the Visa FANF fee show up on your statement. So what is FANF? FANF stands for Fixed Acquirer Network Fee. This fee is a non-negotiable baseline charge that comes from the Visa credit card company. It directly relates to the amount of revenue you process each month. The fee cannot be changed by merchant account providers because it's instituted by the card brands. If your business accepts VISA cards during both card not present or card present transactions, you need to understand how FANF fees work.

How Much Is A Visa FANF Fee?

A Visa FANF fee usually costs around $2.90 a month if you operate a single stand-alone retail location. It's based on your stores monthly sales volume, so larger companies and franchises pay increased fees based on the number of business locations they operate. Visa has a tiered pricing system that determines this price. But simply put, it goes up steadily as franchises expand, even for card not present businesses.

The fee also changes based on Merchant Category Code or MCC. Your MCC is determined by your payment processing provider. It's the shared designation for your industry type that is recognized by card companies like Visa. They'll review your MCC to determine the acquirer network fee (FANF) that's most appropriate for your business.

FANF Fee Rates

Visa has set rates based on specific factors to determine how much each business must pay for their fixed acquirer network fee. One of the main factors is whether you are a card present or a card not present business. In this section, we'll break down the rates for each of these merchant accounts.

Costs for Card Present Businesses

A card present business is one where transactions are made by a customer using a physical credit card, whether that is swiping the magnetic strip or sliding the card into the reader using EMV technology. Department stores, grocery stores, family clothing stores, and discount stores are all great examples of businesses that primarily do card-present transactions. Merchants that use NFC technology for contactless transactions also count as card-present businesses.

These companies pay Visa FANF fees based on whether they qualify as high-volume businesses and how many locations they have. If you see your fees rise, it's most likely because you opened another location or your gross monthly sales volume grew. FANF costs are charged on a tiered pricing model.

Card Not Present Transaction Fees

CNP or Card-not-present transactions are payments made with credit cards when the store doesn't see the physical copy of the card. This is most common for e-commerce stores or any merchant selling goods over the phone. CNP has a slightly higher level of risk because businesses are unable to verify who the owner of the card is. In this sense, they are slightly less secure than in-store purchases.

Similar to the card present monthly fee, the card not present transaction fee is based on the monthly gross sales volume. If you fall within any of these categories, you'll pay a fixed dollar amount for that sales volume.

History of FANF Fees

In 2015, Visa changed the rules when it comes to grouping payments. For example, payment facilitators lost the ability to combine businesses with different Tax IDs under a large company. On the other hand, they reduced the fees charged to smaller businesses. In fact, they don't charge a fee for businesses with a monthly volume of under $200. Charitable organizations with a specific code also don't pay the Visa network fee.

The previous name for the FANF fee was the Network Participation Fee or NPF. They changed the name to the Visa Fixed Acquirer Network Fee back in 2012 along, with a few details on how the payment works. It occurs as a quarterly charge because the cost is so minimal and billing is more convenient for Visa and business owners if it's only charged four times a year.

Where is the Fixed Acquirer Network Fee (FANF) on My Visa Statement?

The first thing to know is that it isn't always labelled as the FANF fee on your statement. It may also be called the Fixed Network CNP Fee, the High Volume Card Present Fee, the Visa Fixed Acquirer Network Fee, the Visa Network Fee, the FNF fee, and other similar variations. If you see any of those on your statement, that is the fixed acquirer network fee (FANF).

What Factors Can Reduce The Fee?

As mentioned above, merchants are charged according to the type of transaction that occurs and whether or not the credit card is physically available at the time of purchase. Additionally, there are exceptions for charities. Any organization with the MCC code 8398 is considered a charitable or non-profit business. Visa plans on providing a rebate for companies in this sector.

What Other Fees Do Payment Processors Charge?

Some merchants may bundle all credit card processing fees together, but when you break down each charge separately, you can see who is charging each small percentage of the overall monthly fee. Interchange fees are the most commonly charged fee that all credit card issuers charge. The major ones being Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. This varies by the card type. Debit transactions are lower in cost than ones made with credit cards.

Other Visa fees you might see include the international service assessment fee. This fee is charged to businesses that accept international credit cards.

Payment processing fees are made to the company that operates your merchant account. They are clearly stated at the time you apply for your new account, and are charged each month based on your monthly sales volume and transactions.

Lastly, assessment fees are paid as a standard rate to credit card companies. They vary each month depending on the card brand and again are paid directly to the card company. Moreover, these are often combined with interchange fees to show what's called a swipe fee.