How does the merchant discount rate work?
For each card payment, the issuer receives interchange, the card scheme receives its fees, and the acquirer or PSP keeps a margin. The merchant sees one deduction, the MDR, either as a single blended percentage or broken into those parts. The name comes from the way the fee is taken: the merchant is settled the payment amount at a discount. The rate depends on the card type, the issuing region, the merchant category and the provider’s contract.
Why does it matter?
It is usually the largest visible cost of accepting cards, and small differences add up. As an illustrative example: a merchant processes 3 million euros a month. A blended MDR of 2.4% costs 72,000 euros. If the same mix under interchange plus plus pricing averages 1.9%, the difference is 15,000 euros a month, which is why merchants with volume ask for the breakdown.
What drives it up?
Cross-border cards, which add scheme assessments such as the Visa fees Checkout.com describes for foreign cards; premium and commercial cards with higher interchange; higher-risk categories; and currency conversion built into the price. A blended rate hides which of these is driving the cost.
Where does Omno use it?
The MDR is set in each PSP’s or acquirer’s pricing; Omno does not set it. Omno records every transaction in one structure across connected providers, with reporting and data export that finance teams can match against each provider’s fee lines, and routing rules decide which eligible provider processes each payment.