I have to agree here. Before I got back into the auto repair world, I was an independent rep for North American Bancard (I still have a few accounts). The interchange rates for each card are set every year by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and AMEX and they are non-negotiable. Think of them as fixed costs; just like if every auto repair shop had the exact same costs on every single part. The difference is the mark-up. I think in most cases, the best program is going to be interchange plus where the mark-up is fixed regardless of the card type. Every single card has a different cost and unless the mark-up is fixed, it is easy to hide how much the profit each card makes the CC processing company. The only difference between companies (aside from customer service/support) is who is willing to take less profit to get the account. I have seen several times on here someone mention that their rep or company is a direct processor. There is no such thing. ALL CC processing companies have the same costs and there is NO direct route to Visa/MC/Disc/AMEX. It is the same for all companies. I would encourage everyone to work with someone local that they can trust and build a relationship with.