FANF (Fixed Acquirer Network Fee)

FANF, or Fixed Acquirer Network Fee, is a fee that Visa charges to merchants for credit card processing services.
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What Is FANF?

FANF, or Fixed Acquirer Network Fee, is a fee that Visa charges to merchants for credit card processing services.

FANF Explained

Visa began charging the FANF on April 1, 2012. Any business that accepts Visa cards pays this fee, although processors may bundle it with other fees on a merchant’s statement. Some processors also choose to mark up the FANF, while others pass it directly to merchants without a markup.

For card-present businesses such as brick and mortar shops, the fee amount is based on the number of locations. For card-not-present businesses, the amount is based on processing volume. The FANF amount is higher for card-not-present businesses.

Visa considers some merchant category codes, or MCCs, high-volume when determining FANF amounts. These MCCs include airlines, drugstores, lodging, gas stations, and a few others, and they pay slightly higher fees.

In April of 2015, Visa made some changes to how FANF is calculated. Since then, businesses whose monthly sales volume is below $200 do not need to pay the FANF.

If a business’s monthly volume is between $200 and $1,249.99, the FANF is 0.15% of its gross sales. This percentage is instead of the flat fee that Visa would otherwise charge.

FANF Examples

Let’s compare the FANF fees for several businesses to see how the costs stack up.

Our first business is a pizza shop with two locations. Their merchant category code is 5812 for Eating Places and Restaurants. Visa does not consider this a high-volume MCC. The restaurant only serves customers in the store and does not take online or phone orders.

The pizza shop’s FANF fees are $2 per location per month, for a total of $4 per month.

The next business is a drugstore that also has two locations. Their merchant category code is 5912, which Visa does consider high-volume. They only serve customers in the store, not online or over the phone.

The drugstore’s FANF fees are $2.90 per location per month, for a total of $5.80 per month.

Note that for each of the above examples, the businesses’ actual processing volume does not affect the fee. The only factors are the number of locations and the MCC.

Next, we’ll look at an eCommerce store. They sell clothing and accessories through a website and do not have a storefront. Their monthly sales volume is around $5,000.

The online clothing store’s FANF fees are $9.00 per month.

For the clothing store example, the MCC and number of locations are not relevant. Because the store is a card-not-present business, the fee is based on their volume.

Our final example is a stationery store. Their monthly volume is $10,000, and they do 50% of their business in person through their one location. The other 50% is online through their website. Their MCC is 5943, which is high-volume.

This business will pay both the card-present and card-not-present FANF. Due to the one location and high-volume MCC, the card-present fee is $2.90.

For the stationery shop’s online sales volume of $5,000, their fee is $9.00. When added together, their total FANF fees are $11.90 per month.

These fees may seem relatively small, but the FANF adds up for many businesses.

For high-volume, card-present stores with more than 4,000 locations, fees are $85 per location per month. That’s a monthly total of $340,000 or more. And for card-not-present businesses whose monthly volume is greater than $400 million, the FANF per month is $70,000.

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