Is the New 1099-K “IRS Reporting Fee” Justified?

As 2011 comes to a close, and credit card processors scramble to get their 1099-K documents filed, some of them are trying to recoup their administrative costs by passing on a fee to the merchant (You). Some are even using this opportunity to profit off of these regulatory requirements, charging as much as $3.95 per merchant per month.

You may have already noticed the charge in your monthly statement, which can come under a few different names, including:

• IRS Reporting Fee
• IRS Filing Fee
• IRS Regulatory Fee
• IRS Non-Compliance Fee
• Regulatory Product Fee
• TIN/TFN Non-Compliance Fee
• TIN/TFN Invalid Fee
• TIN/TFN Blank Fee

Just when you thought you'd had enough with these additional fees, they go and add a new one. Well, it seems that some people, including the IRS, don't feel like this fee is justified or even allowed.

A recent article in The Green Sheet explains...

Some of the biggest payment processors in the United States are assessing new merchant fees related to compliance with section 6050W of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). However, the Internal Revenue Service indicated charging merchants for production or verification of taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) and business names, or for processing and filing 1099-K forms, is not allowed.

It doesn't seem like the processors are listening though.

If you're getting charged any of the above fees, you may want to email your processor a link to this article along with a "WTF?"

Getting Started as an e-Commerce Merchant: How to Setup an Online Merchant Account

So, you're ready to expand into the eCommerce realm, but you don't know where to start. You've heard all the hype about internet retail sales figures, and you want in. Now what?

Well, one of the most obvious questions that comes up when one thinks about moving their business online is, "How am I going to accept payments?" If you can't answer that question, then you might as well quit now.

In this article, I'll lay out the basic process for getting setup with an ecommerce merchant account, so hopefully you can answer that question with confidence.

Note: I tend to use "eCommerce," "online" and "internet" interchangeably throughout the article. I hope that doesn't confuse you.

Do You Have an eCommerce Shopping Cart?

Before we get started, let's get one more thing out of the way. If you don't already have it, then you're going to need some eCommerce shopping cart software. That way you can display your products to the world...wide web.

There are tons of carts out there ranging from robust to bare bones...both free and paid. It all depends on what your needs are.

I've personally used Magento Commerce, and love it. It's a very powerful platform, and pretty intuitive to use. Best of all, the entry level version is free. The only caveat of Magento is that it might not be the best solution for the absolute newbie.

If you aren't comfortable enough to go with something as advanced as Magento, then Shopify might be the cart for you. It isn't free, but the plus side to going with Shopify is that you get full tech support with your money. Very important for all you beginners.

As a side note, Magento just recently started their own "Shopify like" program called Magento Go. You should compare the two to see which one you like better.

Choosing the Right Online Payment Gateway

Now that you have your shopping cart, you're going to need an online payment gateway. Some people confuse the payment gateway with the merchant account, but they're actually two different things.

The best way to understand the eCommerce payment gateway is to think of it as the "wiring" between your shopping cart and the merchant account or credit card processor. It's where all the important credit card information is transferred during a transaction. It's where the magic happens.

Much like shopping cart software, there are dozens of companies that offer payment gateways. You've probably already heard of the most popular one called Authorize.Net. They're the 800lb gorilla of the industry, but more expensive because of it.

There are a quite a few merchant account providers with great gateways that don't charge for them, like CDGcommerce and Payleap, so if you're trying to save on monthly fees, then give them a shot.

One very important thing to remember is that you want to make sure your payment gateway is compatible with your shopping cart. Usually, it's best to choose both the cart and the gateway at the same time so as to avoid any incompatibility issues. The good thing about popular carts like Magento and Shopify is that they can integrate with a wide range of gateways.

Additionally, gateway providers like CDGcommerce (Quantum Gateway) offer an Authorize.Net "emulation" mode which basically mimics Authorize.Net, thus making it compatible with any shopping cart that can integrate with AuthNet.

Choosing the Right Internet Merchant Account Provider

This is an easy one. Look through my top rated providers and find the company that offers the best eCommerce merchant services. As I mentioned above, CDGcommerce and Payleap are great, as are GoEmerchant and Beanstream.

As always, make sure you ask for interchange-plus pricing. Try to go with a provider that won't lock you into a contract with a cancellation fee, doesn't charge an annual or setup fee, and offers great customer support (you're gonna need it).

If you need more help, let me know.

Are You a High-Risk Merchant?

In the processing world, some business types and industries are considered as "risky." Are you one of them? Have you already been turned down by a few credit card processors? Did they tell you that you're deemed as a "high-risk merchant?" Well, all is not lost.

Luckily there are plenty of high risk merchant account providers that specialize in exactly what you need. I've only reviewed a handful of them on my site, but they do exist (i.e. Durango Merchant Services), and they'll definitely be able to help you out.

About High Risk Credit Card Processing

The first thing that you need to understand is that while one provider might consider you high risk...another may not. It all depends on their risk department (underwriting) guidelines. If the guidelines are strict, then you won't get approved. If the guidelines are relaxed, then you'll have yourself a merchant account. It's that simple.

Furthermore, if the provider you apply to specializes in high risk merchant services, then you've already won the battle. Congratulations, they'll probably approve you. BUT, keep in mind that there are some providers that don't specialize in high risk, but still have relaxed guidelines (i.e. Merchant Warehouse).

What Rates Can You Expect as a High Risk Merchant?

Outlook not so good.

High risk merchants have to make do with crappier terms and higher rates. That's just a fact. When you're caught between a rock and a hard place, you don't have much room to negotiate.

A word of caution...

Don't skimp on reviewing the details of your contract. For every 1 ethical and reliable high risk processor, there are about 325 unethical ones that are just waiting to take advantage of you. And, since you're stuck between that rock and that hard place, your judgement might be a bit cloudy. Make sure you read your contract.

Make sure you check for termination fees and other incidentals as well. Do they want you to give them a rolling reserve? If so, how much and for how long? Most high risk processors want some sort of reserve so they can cover their own behind should you close up shop, get a crazy amount of chargebacks or commit some sort of fraud. Keep that in mind.

Why are You Considered High Risk?

That depends. There are a number of reasons why a provider would consider your business as high risk. Maybe your industry is known for having a high instance of chargebacks or fraud. Maybe you have bad credit.

Are you an offshore business? If so, that places you in the high risk category with some guys.

Does what you're selling border on the illegal? You're probably a risk issue.

Are your sales and marketing tactics questionable? I wouldn't approve you.

As I mentioned above, some providers are more risk averse than others. They don't want to deal with any business that may pose a bigger threat of losing them money, so they avoid those business types altogether.

What you need to do is find a provider that is willing to work with your business type, that is willing to give you fair rates and that doesn't forget about you as soon as you sign up. So far, Durango Merchant Services has been pretty damn good in that department, so you might want to check them out.

High Risk business Types

Here's a list of some high risk business types. It is by no means representative of ALL industries, but it definitely covers a large number of them.

• 1-800 type chat sites
• Airlines
• Airplane charters
• ALL sexual oriented or pornographic merchants: (i.e. companion or escort services, adult telephone conversations, adult book stores, dating services, online adult membership or matchmaker services, adult paraphernalia or toys.)
• Amazon, Yahoo or Google Stores
• Annual contracts
• Antiques
• Auctions
• Automotive brokers
• Bankruptcy attorneys
• Brokering
• "Business opportunities"
• Calling cards
• Casino, gambling or gaming
• Check cashing services
• Cigarette or electronic-cigarette sales or nicotine cartridges
• Coins, collectible currency or autographed collectibles
• Collection agencies
• Coupons or rewards-points program
• Credit or debt repair
• Credit counseling
• Credit protection
• Debt collection
• Direct selling
• Discount health - medical care programs
• Debt consolidation
• Drug paraphernalia
• eBay Store
• E-Books (copywrited material)
• Electronics
• Event ticket brokers (unlicensed - non registered (i.e. Stub Hub type merchants))
• Exporting services (non US based)
• Fantasy sports websites
• Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealers
• Finance broker, financial consulting or loan modification services
• Indirect financial consulting (i.e. How to Save Money by Lowering Your Electric Bill.)
• Financial planning, strategy or advising
• "Get rich quick" - books, programs, etc...
• High average tickets
• "How-To" type websites (i.e. "Learn How-To Make Money on The Internet")
• Horoscopes, astrology or psychic services (i.e. fortune tellers)
• "Hype" products or services
• Hypnotists or self-hypnosis
• International merchants (non US based)
• International shipping, cargo or import/export
• Investment firms
• Investment strategy
• Investment books
• Lawyer referral services
• Life coaching
• Lingerie sales
• Lotteries
• Magazine sales and subscriptions
• Mail order
• Membership organizations (over 12 months)
• Merchants on the terminated merchant file (TMF list)
• Modeling agencies
• Multi-currencies
• Multi-level marketing (MLM)
• Music, movie, software downloads or uploads (ie. copywrited music, movies or software (i.e. Microsoft office))
• Non US citizens
• Off-shore corp. establishment services
• Pawn shops
• Poor credit
• Prepaid debit cards
• In-bound or outbound telemarketing services
• Real estate
• Replica handbags, watches, wallets, sunglasses etc... (knock-offs)
• Self defense, pepper spray, mace, etc.
• Seo services
• Social networking sites - Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc...
• Sports forecasting or odds making/betting
• Talent agencies
• Telecommunications
• Telephone companies
• Telephone order
• Third-party processing, factoring merchants (i.e. payment processors, vacation rental brokers)
• Time-shares or time-shares advertising
• Tour operators
• Travel services
• Travel agencies
• Travel clubs
• Vacation planners
• Vacation rentals (unless property is owned by merchant)
• Vitamin and supplement sales - diet pills, prescription pills, health supplements, pharmacy
• Voip services
• Extended warranty companies
• Weapons of any kind - guns, knives, stun guns, or ammo. Includes any parts of weapons (i.e. butts, triggers, magazines, etc.)

Non-Profit Organizations Pay Less Processing Fees

Most non-profits don't realize that they can get lower payment processing rates by just being who they are.

VISA has special interchange rates for non-profits when it comes to Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions. Card-Not-Present would include eCommerce (online), phone, fax or mail.

However, not all merchant account providers will give you these special rates unless you request them, so don't forget to ask. They'll probably require some form of verification that you are a 501(c) organization as well.

There are a few providers that specialize in nonprofits and charitable organizations, a couple of them being, Dharma Merchant Services and Merchant Focus. I've personally sent a few non-profits to Dharma and they're still happy with the service...and lower fees.

If you want to maximize your savings, then be sure to ask for interchange-plus pricing while you're at it.

It's little tips like these that add up to big savings in the long-run. Enjoy!

The Smart Merchant’s Guide To Reducing Merchant Credit Card Processing Fees – Ebook Review

Back in January I interviewed Adam Pflaumer from EP Consulting. Adam is a consultant that helps merchants lower their credit card processing fees, in most cases, without having to switch to a new provider. In that interview Adam also talked about an ebook that he's been working on.

That ebook has been released, so if you've been waiting for it, then you can pick it up here. Use the promo code merchantmaverick to get it for $79 instead of $97.

I'm very confident in Adam's knowledge so I've been looking forward to helping him garner attention for his new book. You all know that I don't like to promote anything or anyone that I don't believe in, so rest assured that I personally endorse Adam's work.

If you've spent any time researching this industry you've learned that good information is hard to come by, and even harder to find in one location. I'm sure that'll change in the future, but for now there are people like Adam picking up the slack.

I figured I'd give the book a brief review on my site for those of you that don't know what it's all about.

Quick Summary
Besides being a mouthful, The Smart Merchant's Guide To Reducing Merchant Credit Card Processing Fees is basically a do-it-yourself manual for achieving exactly what the title says. Adam has laid out a step-by-step process that you can use to help you start saving on your monthly credit card processing bill.

It's a practical guide, not a bunch of theory. I read it myself and picked up on a few things that I had no idea about. Concepts that I've used to help my own visitors ever since...no joke!

The book is for anyone that thinks they're paying too much with their current processor. For anyone that wants to learn enough about this industry so as to level the playing field. Anyone that wants to learn about interchange management, learn about the best pricing models, learn about downgrades, learn about junk fees, learn about pitfalls to avoid, learn, learn, learn. Your business and your wallet will thank you for it.

I don't see how anyone wouldn't be able to recoup the cost of the book itself, and more, so long as they actually apply the knowledge. Obviously, the larger merchant will save more than the smaller one, but these days, every little bit helps.

Note: The book also includes a flash companion video which walks you through the process. Some people seem to learn better via video, so that's a plus for all you visual learners.

Btw, don't forget to write off the cost of the ebook as a business expense come tax time.

Get the ebook here.

Need A Merchant Account For Your Medical Marijuana Dispensary?

So, this is pretty straight forward. You dispense marijuana (cannabis) that is legally prescribed by a certified doctor to patients that need their medicine. The problem is that most of your customers want to pay by credit card, but unfortunately, you only accept cash. It'd be nice if you could accept those cards, wouldn't it?

There's an obvious and legitimate need for credit card processing and merchant account services for dispensaries, so I figured I'd at least try and point you in the right direction.

Just keep in mind that this is still a high-risk category for most providers, so don't expect the best terms in the world. It's a "beggars can't be choosers" type of landscape right now, but I think that as medical marijuana merchants continue to process, and the industry shows some history, then it will be more widely accepted.

As of now, my best recommendation is The Transaction Group (TTG). TTG is a 5-star provider on my site, and Michael the owner has always been awesome with the customer service. You can see my review of TTG here.

I'll continue to add recommendations to this page as more and more reputable providers jump on my radar.

Does Your Merchant Agreement Have an Auto Renewal Clause?

Ever been surprised by an automatic contract renewal? You know how awful it feels don't you? You get this rage in the pit of your stomach that no amount of kicking and screaming can take care of. The worst part is that you end up feeling like you have no defense whatsoever. Why? The auto-renew clause is right there in the contract that you signed, even though it may be hidden better than a ninja assassin. And to think, all this time you were waiting for the contract to end so you could walk away. Sucks doesn't it?

When it comes to the merchant account industry, auto-renewals are everywhere, especially with the big boys. What we don't understand though, is that these larger processors think differently than you and I. They look at their bottom-line. It's all about the numbers to them. It would be much more expensive for them to contact each merchant come renewal time, than it is to just let the contract automatically renew on its own. And, since most merchants are either too lazy or ignorant to follow the processor's cancellation guidelines...jackpot!

Now, this wouldn't be much of a problem if the processor communicated the auto renew clause more effectively. It wouldn't be a problem if the contract just went to a month-to-month agreement like most cell phone companies, but that's usually not the case with merchant account providers. There's usually a set term which starts at about 1-year, and goes up from there.

Speaking of terms...

What Are Typical Auto Renewal Terms?

They vary from provider to provider, but here's the most common scenario. This is actually a snippet that I pulled from the TransFirst Merchant Services contract:

Term/Renewal. The initial term of this Merchant Agreement shall be for the term of three (3) years (the “Initial Term”) commencing on the date this Merchant Agreement is executed by authorized officers of Merchant Bank and Processor. At the expiration of the Initial Term, this Merchant Agreement will automatically renew for successive one (1) year periods (each a “Renewal Term” and collectively with the Initial Term the “Term”) unless a party provides the other parties with notice of its intent not to renew this Merchant Agreement at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the then current term.

Quick Bullets:

• 3-year term.
• Auto-renews for successive 1-year periods.
• You must cancel 90-days prior to 3-year term end.

Are Auto Renewal Contracts Illegal?

No. However, ever since the high profile case of Time, Inc. in 2005, many states in the U.S. have started placing regulations on how those automatic renewals need to be presented to the customer and/or enforced if necessary. Since these types of regulations are relatively new, it may take some time before your state moves forward on anything worth mentioning.

I'll start adding to this section the states that are passing laws against auto renewals, so you can stay updated for your own sake. It's possible that an auto-renewal clause by your provider is not compliant, thus rendering it null and void, so keep checking back periodically.

Are Auto Renewal Contracts Ethical?

Personally, I think they're garbage. Don't make me jump through hoops in order to leave your service. Actually, that should be a warning sign to anyone that's thinking about working with a processor. Every merchant should ask their processor, "How hard will it be for me to leave you if I'm not satisfied with your service?"

What Should I Do If My Contract Auto Renews?

First thing you want to do is find out if the contract is enforceable. Visit the government website of the state in which the contract is bound. Usually it will be the state in which your merchant account provider resides, unless they operate in multiple states. Most contracts will have the state of compliance written directly in them.

Once you're at that state's government site, start a search for terms like "automatic renewal" or "auto renew." If you don't find anything, don't give up. Try calling the secretary of state office to see if they can dig up anything for you. As I mentioned above, I'll be adding info on each specific state, so that'll save you some of the headache as well.

If you find out that your provider's clause is not in compliance with state law, then be sure to bring it up to them. Provide written documentation if necessary. Chances are, you'll be able to get out of your contract that way. Otherwise, you'll either have to grin and bear it, or try and find a new provider that will hopefully pay the cost necessary to breach your contract.

My Two Cents

I have a wild idea for those of you that are still doing this auto-renew thing. How about you axe that policy and instead focus some manpower on keeping your merchants happy so you don't have to trick them into spending an extra year (plus) with you?

People talk (sometimes important people), and the general consensus is that most of us don't like auto-renewals, reverse-billing or opt-out schemes.

And, to the merchants reading this article, you no longer have the "ignorant" excuse, so please don't sign a contract without checking to see if there's an auto-renew clause in it.

In the famous words of the Notorious B.I.G..."If you don't know, now you know."

Do You Really Need a Merchant Account?

The short answer is yes, but there's more to it than that...

The Statistics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there will be a projected 181 million credit card holders living in the country this year. That's over half the population. I could get into even more detail about the numbers, but it's pretty obvious that if you don't allow your customers to pay with credit cards, you're probably missing out on quite a bit of business.

However, there's a problem...

The Dilemma

Whether you're just getting started with your first e-Commerce store, or expanding your brick-n-mortar shop into the online world, you're going to face the same question. Do I sign up for a merchant account right now?

A better question to ask yourself is; "will the increase in sales that I obtain by allowing my customers to pay via credit card, exceed the costs that will be associated with offering that option in the first place?"

Even if you don't process any transactions for any given month, you still have to pay some sort of monthly fee. There are payment gateway fees, statement fees, monthly minimum fees etc..., so it's possible that you'll have to shell out as much as $60/month just for the ability to process credit cards. Not to mention, some providers will require you to leave a percentage of your sales revenue with them as a sort of insurance policy against chargebacks, fraudulent charges or bankruptcy (see "rolling reserve"). To top it all off, there's always the possibility of having your funds withheld by the bank due to any number of risk-related issues.

As a bootstrapping merchant, just adding an extra $60/month in overhead might be enough to put you out of business, let alone having to cover a rolling reserve. So, you better be sure that you'll be able to handle the possible financial burden that will accompany a merchant account.

If you're a small business, and you're just developing your online presence, chances are that it'll take some time before you have enough sales or cashflow to justify the cost for merchant services. But the problem is, that without the ability to process credit cards, you'll probably miss out on those same sales that are supposed to help you grow to that level of justification. It's a typical Catch-22.

Your solution...

The Third-Party Payment Processor

I personally like taking things in steps. Third-party payment processors will allow you to do just that.

Third-party payment processors like Paypal and Google Checkout allow you to add the Visa and Mastercard payment option to your website without burdening you with the costs of a traditional merchant account. They just charge you a percentage of the transaction, and that's it. No recurring monthly fees.

*Note: Paypal does have a merchant account option (Website Payments Pro), but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about their simple third-party platform (Website Payments Standard). The platform that requires you to send your visitor over to Paypal in order to make a payment, instead of allowing you to process them directly on your own website.

Once you add that functionality, you can then monitor your sales. Have they increased? How many visitors are paying via credit card? Can you afford a merchant account now?

Personally, I would get setup with something like Paypal and let it run for a few months. I'd let my traffic grow, let my sales grow and stabilize, save up some money, then I'd start shopping for a merchant account. That way, you'll have enough reason, and hopefully enough cashflow to take that next step.

FeeFighters has a pretty cool calculator that'll help you compare costs between Paypal and a traditional merchant account. Definitely worth a look.

Here are some well known third-party payment processors. Keep in mind that I haven't done any research on any of these companies just yet, but I do plan on adding reviews for all of them soon:

• Paypal
• Google Checkout
• 2Checkout
• CCNow
• Amazon Check Out

Did this information help? Have questions? Let me know.

The 5 Rules for You Problem Merchants

The other day I was reading an article over at Transaction Trends called "Managing Problem Merchants." If you feel like putting yourself in your ISOs shoes for a bit, give it a read.

As much as we like to think that we're always 100% right, and that we should do everything in our power to make our merchant service provider's life a living hell, I think that sometimes it's important to cut them some slack. Especially if your provider is a good one.

Based on the Transaction Trends report, I've created "The 5 Rules For You Problem Merchants." Follow them, and you will be well on your way to becoming the beloved, "ideal merchant."

Rule #1 - Don't Be a Contract Buster

I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again...read your contract. I know it can be difficult when you have a pushy salesman in your face shoving a pen down your throat, but remember, you have control, not them. So, slow down and make sure you understand the entire contract before you sign the dotted line.

Once you do that, don't back out of the deal. If you've read your contract then there shouldn't be any surprises, so trying to kill your contract because you have buyers remorse would only mean one thing...you're a problem merchant.

There are obvious exceptions to this rule, but I'm pretty sure most of you know the kind of contract busting that I'm talking about.

Rule #2 - Don't Be a Risky Merchant

Whenever a merchant signs up to process credit cards, they're always required to provide their "business profile" in their application. Your business profile gives your provider an idea of what type of business you are, how much you process (or anticipate you'll process) per month and what level of risk you pose to them. You're basically telling your ISO or MSP the who, what when, where and why of your business. If you change any of those after signing up, then you're essentially changing your business profile, which could pose a whole new level of risk to your provider.

Other "problem merchants" are those that alter their business models and/or practices without warning their ISO or MSP."

Always inform your provider if anything changes, better yet, let them know before the change even occurs.

Rule #3 - Don't Not Be a Haggler

Although it's good to negotiate with your ISO or MSP, being super cheap might land you with a provider that promises you the world, but cleans your clock on the back-end.

You first need to understand the fee structure for your new merchant account before even getting into any type of negotiation. Ask your rep to break down the fee structure, and possibly even do a side-by-side comparison of their rate with the other, "cheaper," guys.

Read up on interchange-plus and tiered pricing, so you know the difference. Learn about other fees that might be tacked on as well. The saying, "you get what you pay for" applies here just as much as anywhere else. If you focus too much on rate, you may be sacrificing service. Especially since so many of these ISOs and MSPs know how to manipulate their rate structure to make it look just the way you want it.

Rule #4 - Don't Be Unreasonably Demanding

It's your sales rep's job to set your expectations from the get-go. If they do that correctly, then you shouldn't have any reason to be a pain in the ass. If you're gonna be demanding just for the sake of it...well...that makes you a problem merchant. And, we all know how everyone feels about problem merchants.

Rule #5 - Don't Be Quick To Judge

Merchant Maverick is a site where you can publicly express your opinion of an ISO or MSP, whether it be good or bad. I see so many people shooting first, then asking questions later when it comes to leaving negative reviews. Always do your best to reach your provider before you make a judgement call publicly. Sometimes, all it takes is getting to the right person within the company to have your voice heard, and your problem resolved. Negative reviews and comments should be an option of last resort.

Trading Ease For Transparency With Interchange-Plus

I've already talked about tiered-pricing in my previous posts. I've talked about the fact that I dislike it as pricing model, and that I prefer a different model instead. That different model is interchange-plus also known as "interchange pass through."

A quick review of what interchange-plus actually is...

Until recently, only the largest merchants have been able to obtain “Interchange-Plus” Pricing. Otherwise known as “interchange pass through” pricing, Interchange-Plus is the practice of pricing a merchant with a transaction fee and then passing the exact interchange and assessment costs from the Associations to the merchant. - TransactionWorld.net

Instead of narrowing down the interchange rate categories into a few manageable tiers, interchange-plus just passes the Visa and Mastercard interchange rates directly to the consumer. The acquirer then tacks on their markup, and calls it a day. A detailed writeup of what interchange pass through pricing is, can be found on the FeeFighters site.

So, what's the benefit?

With interchange-plus, you know exactly what Visa and Mastercard are charging you, and you know exactly what your acquirer's markup is. You don't have to guess why only a fraction of your transactions are falling under the Qualified Rate tier that you were quoted by your agent, and why most of your other transactions are listed under the more expensive Mid-Qualified and Non-Qualified tiers.

Although tiered-pricing was setup by acquirers to make it easier for us merchants to understand our statements, it offered an incentive for the acquirer as well.

In addition, common practice was for acquirers to mark up and charge significantly more for “downgraded” transactions (those that did not qualify for the best rate applicable). These “downgrades” often comprised the majority of the profit acquirers received on merchants, as business owners focused mainly on the “qualified” or best rate. - TransactionWorld.net

But, with interchange-plus, they don't have that incentive...

Interchange-Plus does not allow acquirers to increase profit on “downgraded” transactions. - TransactionWorld.net

So, interchange-plus = bad for acquirers, but good for you.

There has been a great deal of debate about whether Interchange-Plus is a purer form of pricing. Interchange-Plus puts the merchant in a situation where they will always pay their acquirer the same and be directly responsible for the costs from the Associations, with no mark-ups. However, this pricing methodology can create merchant confusion as understanding statements with numerous qualification levels is complex and tedious. - TransactionWorld.net

The question to be asking yourself is; are you willing to sacrifice ease for transparency? In a time like this, I'd opt for interchange-plus.