UNDERSTAND PAYMENT FEES AND MAXIMIZE PROFITS
Cash Discount vs Traditional Processing: Compare your options
Choosing the right payment processing model can significantly impact your bottom line. Understanding the difference between traditional processing and cash discount programs helps businesses reduce fees, improve transparency, and protect profit margins.
FEES. CONFUSION. FRUSTRATION
Why payment processing fees are so hard to understand
Most businesses accept card payments every day, yet few fully understand how much they’re paying — or why. Processing fees are often buried inside complex statements filled with interchange rates, assessments, and additional markups.
Because pricing structures vary by provider and transaction type, it’s easy for unnecessary costs to go unnoticed. Over time, these hidden fees can quietly erode profit margins and limit growth.
Understanding how processing fees work is the first step toward making smarter financial decisions.
Features
- Fees
- Statements
- Merchant Revenue
- Customer Impact
Cash Discount Processing
- Transparent, passed to customer
- Simple and clear
- Keeps 100% of sale
- Small upfront fee, fully disclosed
Traditional Processing
- 2.3-3.5% per transaction
- Complex, hard to read
- Margins reduced by fees
- No visible change
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRICING MODEL
How these payment models work in practice
Both traditional processing and cash discount programs are widely used across small businesses today. The differences between them often come down to how processing fees are handled — not the quality of service or technology behind the payments.
Traditional processing can appear complex because pricing is influenced by several factors outside a processor’s control, including interchange rates set by card networks, card brand assessments, regulatory requirements, and the growing number of payment methods customers use — from physical cards to mobile wallets.
Cash discount programs offer a different way to approach these same costs. By clearly separating processing fees from cash pricing, this model can improve transparency and help businesses better manage expenses.
Affinity supports both pricing models. The right option depends on your business type, transaction volume, and customer preferences.
Use our Payment Processing Fee Calculator to estimate how each option may impact your cost.
Cash Discount may be a fit if:
- You want to reduce or eliminate processing fees
- You operate in cash-friendly business
- You’re focused on improving margins
Traditional Processing may be a fit if:
- Your average transaction is very high
- You want processing costs bundled into pricing
- You want to continue paying fees