NMI Payment Gateway Pricing — How It Works

Flat-rate gateways (Stripe, Square, PayPal Direct) publish a single price because they have a single distribution model — direct to merchant. NMI's distribution model is fundamentally different: ISO partners, SaaS platforms, banks, and payment facilitators all resell NMI under their own brand at their own pricing.

This means there's no single "NMI price." A merchant on Reseller A might pay 2.5% + $0.10 per transaction; the same merchant on Reseller B might pay 2.2% + $0.08; the same merchant directly with a bank might pay interchange-plus 0.35% with no per-transaction fee but a $30/month minimum.

NMI itself charges its resellers wholesale rates. Each reseller adds their margin and sets the merchant-facing price. This is why "how much does NMI cost?" doesn't have a single answer — it depends entirely on who's reselling it to you.

Most NMI-distributed merchant accounts use interchange-plus pricing (vs flat-rate or tiered). This is the same model big merchants use directly with banks.

Interchange is the per-transaction fee that goes to the card-issuing bank (the bank that issued the cardholder's Visa/MC). It varies by card type — rewards cards cost more than debit cards, business cards more than consumer cards.

Plus is the reseller markup — typically 0.10% to 0.50% over interchange, plus a per-transaction fee of $0.05 to $0.20.

For a typical retail transaction: interchange ~1.8% + reseller markup 0.30% + $0.10 per transaction = ~2.1% + $0.10 effective rate. Compare to Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 — interchange-plus is usually meaningfully cheaper for mid-to-high volume.

Beyond per-transaction processing fees, NMI accounts may include:

Monthly gateway fee — $0 to $25/month, depending on reseller
Monthly minimum — $0 to $25, applied if processing volume × markup falls below the minimum
Statement fee — $5-15/month for monthly statements
PCI compliance fee — $10-20/month or $99-199 annually
Setup fee — $0 to $99 one-time
Equipment / terminal fees — if leasing or buying card terminals
Chargeback fee — $15-25 per chargeback
Batch / settlement fee — $0.10-0.25 per daily batch
ACH return fee — $5-15 per failed ACH

Negotiate these line items separately. Some resellers bundle them; others charge à la carte.

When a reseller quotes you NMI pricing, evaluate:

1. Pricing model — interchange-plus, tiered, or flat-rate? Interchange-plus is most transparent. Tiered (qualified/mid-qualified/non-qualified) hides margin.

2. Per-transaction markup — what's the "plus" over interchange? Compare 2-3 resellers; markups of 0.10-0.30% are competitive, 0.50%+ is high.

3. Monthly fees — total all line items: gateway, statement, PCI, minimum. Should be under $30/month for a typical small business.

4. Contract terms — month-to-month vs multi-year? Early termination fees? PCI lock-in? Avoid 3-year contracts with $300+ ETFs.

5. Equipment — buy outright (~$300-500 for a terminal) vs lease ($30-50/month forever). Always buy.

6. Hidden fees — ask explicitly about: PCI non-compliance fees, IRS reporting fees, batch fees, statement fees, "regulatory fees" (usually padding).

Get quotes in writing. Compare apples to apples.

Stripe (2.9% + $0.30): Predictable, no negotiation, no monthly fees. For $5K/month volume, costs ~$160. For $50K/month, costs ~$1,600.

Square (2.6% + $0.10 in-person): Similar to Stripe for typical merchants. Cheaper for in-person, slightly cheaper than Stripe for moderate volume.

Authorize.Net ($25/mo + 2.9% + $0.30 if bundled processing): Similar effective rate to Stripe, plus monthly fee.

NMI through a reseller (interchange-plus ~2.1% + $0.10): For $5K/month: ~$110 + monthly fees. For $50K/month: ~$1,100 + monthly fees. Savings vs Stripe scale with volume.

Break-even: For under $10K/month processing, the flat-rate gateways are often simpler and competitive. For $25K+ monthly volume, NMI through a good reseller typically wins on cost — but you pay in negotiation effort and contract complexity.

A concrete example: A merchant processes $30,000/month in card transactions, with a typical mix of cards.

Stripe (2.9% + $0.30): 30,000 × 0.029 = $870 in % fees. Say 500 transactions × $0.30 = $150. Total: $1,020/month.

NMI through ISO at interchange-plus 0.30% + $0.10: Interchange ~1.8% × 30,000 = $540 (this goes to the card-issuing bank). ISO markup 0.30% × 30,000 = $90. 500 transactions × $0.10 = $50. Plus $15 monthly gateway fee. Total: $540 + $90 + $50 + $15 = $695/month.

Annual savings: ($1,020 − $695) × 12 = $3,900 in this example. Real numbers vary based on card mix and ISO markup, but the wholesale advantage is real at this volume.