1st Bankcard Services

FAQ

If the honest answer is awkward, that is usually the one worth printing. Here are the things merchants actually ask before they switch.

Pricing

6 questions

A dime per transaction. That is the only thing we earn on a sale. We pass interchange through at cost and add a flat 10 cents per transaction, with zero percent markup. Because the margin is a published dime and not a hidden percentage, we are comfortable printing it on a public page.

Interchange at cost, set by the card networks, plus 10 cents per transaction, plus one PCI compliance fee billed yearly. That is the complete list, and all of it is on the pricing page. The per-transaction dime is our entire markup on a sale, and nothing else is taken out of your volume.

There is one: a PCI compliance fee, billed once a year, and it is listed on the pricing page. There are no monthly fees, no statement fees, no batch fees, and no monthly minimums. We would rather tell you about the yearly fee here than have you find it in a line item months later.

We show you the exact PCI compliance fee in writing before you sign. It is billed once a year, not per transaction, and it covers PCI DSS validation and the compliance portal. It is the only charge beyond interchange and the dime, and we would rather name it here than have you find it on a statement later.

No. You are month to month from day one, with no long-term contract and no early termination fee. The relationship has to keep earning your business, which is the point.

It never goes up. It can go down. As your volume grows, the per-transaction markup can drift lower, and we will tell you when it does rather than waiting for you to ask. What we will never do is raise the number you signed, which is the rate creep everyone else counts on.

Switching

4 questions

We will tell you to stay. If your average ticket is high enough that a low percentage beats a flat dime, the math is the math and we will show it. A tool that always recommends itself is not worth trusting.

Flat-rate apps are convenient, and the simplicity is the product. The cost is a percentage on every sale that grows as you do. We charge a flat dime instead. A high enough average ticket can favor a percentage, and when that is your situation we say so plainly.

We handle the setup and time the cutover so your terminal keeps taking cards through the change. Most merchants are running on the new rate within a few business days.

Next-day funding is available on eligible accounts. Funding speed is one of the quiet reasons merchants come looking in the first place, so we keep it fast and predictable.

Product

3 questions

Countertop and wireless EMV terminals, full POS systems that are compatible with most setups, and a mobile card reader with an app for selling anywhere. We fit the equipment to how you actually sell instead of pushing a box.

Yes. We set up a compliant surcharge program or a cash-discount and dual-pricing setup, sized to your real card cost rather than padded. The rules vary by state and shifted in 2025 and 2026, so we keep yours straight.

Retail, restaurants, online stores, service businesses, B2B and wholesale, and healthcare practices, among others. The statement analyzer reads your real numbers regardless of your industry, so the answer is never generic.

Trust

2 questions

Yes. Our processing platform is PCI DSS compliant, and a statement you upload to the analyzer is processed in memory and never written to disk or stored. A specialist reads it to prepare your breakdown, then it is gone.

We do. Published pricing is far easier to sell than a spread you have to defend, and our partner program is built around that. See the partners page for how referral and agent relationships work.

Still wondering something?

The fastest answer is your own statement. The analyzer isolates your markup in about a minute, or a real person will walk you through it.