Commercial card rates after October 2025: what to re-verify

Published 2026-04-12. Figures are cited on /sources. Modelled numbers are labelled illustrative.

What changed in October 2025

Card networks updated commercial-card programs in October 2025. You do not need the program name to run a distributor. You need to know whether commercial volume still prices inside the published commercial range. That is a statement question, not a marketing question.

What belongs in public is the outcome: 0.45–1.5% on qualifying commercial volume, 40–60% of B2B tickets estimated off the commercial rate, and a free audit that measures your file. Implementation detail stays in the working file with the processor.

What distributors need to re-verify

Re-verify that commercial and purchasing-card volume still receives commercial rates after the October 2025 program change. Re-verify the effective rate on the last 90 days, not the rate on the original merchant application. Re-verify that invoicing still posts to the invoice so settlement is usable in AR. If any of those three is off, the rest of the conversation is noise.

A file that was set up years ago is not evidence it is still in range. The evidence is the current statement. We will tell you whether the number moved. We will not publish how the file is configured.

How to measure it this week

Pull three months of processing statements. Divide fees by volume. Split, if the statement allows, commercial versus consumer. Compare the commercial bucket to the published 0.45–1.5% reduction range against what you pay today. If you cannot split the buckets, send us the PDF. The audit is free, three business days, and returns a written finding whether or not there is a saving.

The homepage calculator is an estimate. It uses a 0.65% midpoint of the published range on the commercial share you enter. It is labelled illustrative. Do not take it to a board meeting as a quote. Take the finding.

What this is worth, and what it is not

On the default $12.5M book used across this site — 28% card, 55% commercial, 2.85% effective — the illustrative midpoint saving is about $12,500 a year. That is the envelope, not the file. Growth in card mix after the take-rate is honest can be larger than the basis-point cut, because buyers keep issuer float and you settle in 48 hours. We want that volume. We do not want it at a retail take-rate.

This is not a reason to refinance the company. It is not a reason to surcharge the house account. It is a reason to read the statement once, on purpose, after a network calendar change that most distributors did not diary.

Who this is for — and who it is not

If you are a $2M–$25M wholesaler with commercial card volume, the re-verification is in-scope. Multi-currency books are in-scope when the selling entity can be underwritten. Surcharge rules vary by market; some prohibit it. Confirm with counsel on a named file. We still treat surcharge as the wrong default on distributor tickets.

If you are a consumer retailer, it is not in-scope. If a processor already priced the file inside the published range, we will say so and stop.

A calendar, a statement, a number

October 2025 is a network calendar date. Most distributors did not diary it. The operational test is whether commercial volume on the last 90 days still prices inside the published 0.45–1.5% reduction range versus what you pay today. If it does, you are done. If it does not, the fee audit is the next page, not a webinar.

Re-verify in this order: (1) effective rate on the current statement, (2) commercial share of card volume, (3) whether invoicing posts to the invoice so 48-hour settlement is usable in AR. Those three facts decide whether processing is the product, or whether factoring or a line of credit is. Mixing them because a program name changed is how files get expensive.

The public artifact is the outcome range, the industry estimate that 40–60% of B2B tickets miss the commercial rate, and an offer to measure yours at no cost. Implementation stays in the working file.

What ‘re-verify’ means for a controller this quarter

Forward the last three statements to whoever owns merchant processing internally. Ask for the effective rate and the commercial share. If they cannot produce both, that is the finding. Send us the PDFs. Three business days. Written either way. If the number is already in range, you have used an afternoon to confirm it. If it is not, you have a cost of getting paid you can put in next month’s pack.

Do not wait for a processor QBR. Do not wait for a contract anniversary. Network calendars do not wait for yours. The surcharge question is separate: 2.4% cap in many markets, prohibited in some, wrong default on large tickets. The factoring question is separate: 1.5–4.5% per 30 days on approved invoices. The processing question is only: are we still in the commercial range. Answer that one first.

For a $2M–$25M distributor the cost of a stale setup is not theoretical. On the default book used across this site the illustrative midpoint is about $12,500 a year. That is the envelope. A heavier commercial mix moves it up. A lighter card mix moves it down. The October 2025 calendar does not change the formula. It changes whether last year’s confirmation still counts. It does not. Confirm on this year’s statement.

The public contract is the outcome range, the estimate that 40–60% of B2B volume misses the commercial rate, and a free audit. If that is not enough to start, we are not the right firm. If it is enough, send the PDFs.

Related products stay related. Invoice factoring is for performing invoices that should remain on contracted terms. Equipment financing is for iron you already own or need to buy without using the operating line. Business capital is for a revolver against AR and inventory together. Bookkeeping is a later layer, Q2 2027, outcome-first, with a human boundary. None of them is a substitute for knowing whether commercial cards still price in range after October 2025.