Does anyone know what the "EIRF" charges are for on your credit card statement?

Visa EIRF stands for Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee.  It is a Visa interchange category that indicates a downgrade to a higher fee. Transactions are downgraded to EIRF when they don't meet the criteria for categories with lower rates. For example, for keyed transactions if you don't input the cardholder address, zip code, and 3-digit security code on the back of the card, you will be charged a higher fee because it is considered a higher risk (the less information you give the processor, the higher the risk; i.e., a higher fee).  In most instances, when you take the time and extra effort to key in the details, then you can avoid or reduce that fee.

Hi Hank -it looks like you received some really great, very specific information. Sometimes the language of merchant card fees can be very confusing. At the end of the day you should have your merchant account reviewed by an industry leader once a year. If you would like a honest, transparent review reach out and we can take a couple next best steps to ensure your fees are where they need to be for your business. 

Cheers!

Brian

Hi Hank. EIRF is Electronic  Interchange Reimbursement Fees. These charges are for your credit card processing. Depending on your provider several things could contribute to this fee for example not batching machine or forcing credit card payments through etc.  This fee can be avoided and I encourage you to contact your merchant provider to discuss. The fees can add up quickly and be very costly. I hope this helps.

Very Best,

Angela

EIRF is one of VISA's many fees. Generally it means that something has gone wrong. 
https://www.cardfellow.com/blo...

Hi Hank, EIRF (Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee) is a downgraded Visa transaction that commonly happens because of but not limited to:

• Not settling within 2 days of the authorization
• Forcing transactions (including voice authorization)
• Failure to respond to all Address Verification Service (AVS) prompts

Hope this is helpful and if you would like an assessment of your overall interchange fees I'd be happy to provide that to you.
Inez Deaton
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Hank,
Any dollar amount can be subject to this EIRF charge by your credit card processor. When processing a credit card purchase by a customer always follow these steps to insure the transaction is reclassified into a higher risk category. Settle your batches nightly. One of the most common causes of an EIRF is the failure to settle batches on time. If you take more than 48 hours to settle a transaction, it will default to EIRF.
Clear transactions correctly. The authorization must match the clearing amount, and don't force transactions or handle them off-line unless absolutely necessary. Avoid forced transactions that is an after the fact entry of a purchase transaction into the batch.
Properly enter all AVS and Invoice Numbers. Enter all address verification service (AVS) information when prompted by the terminal, especially the zip code. Never skip over a prompt asking for information in AVS. Even one missed field can result in a downgrade and trigger the EIRF charges.
Finally, talk with your processing company about avoiding these charges and see if they have their specific procedures to help you lower the costs of using merchant processing (credit cards for purchases) for your customers.

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Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee, is an avoidable surcharge. Most EIRFs can be avoided, but there are ways to minimize these costly charges. EIRF is actually an interchange surcharge that Visa adds for certain downgraded transactions.
Say the AVS check wasn't perfect, or your software did some non-standard things.

It can add up, so make sure you find out what the real cause is.  It took me three months to track down the application that was causing a certain EIRF in my old position.  It ended up costing us over $2,000 per month!

Hank, 

Don and Angela both provided the definition and both of them are correct. However, there are many reasons why an individual transaction can downgrade, which increases costs of interchange from Visa. Late batch settlements or missing/ incorrect Address Verification Service (AVS) are a couple examples, however there are many different reasons. Run a quick google search to find a full list. Depending on which transactions and why those transactions are downgrading will determine who you would need to contact to address excessive EIRF downgrades. For example, you may need to contact your processor, however you may also need to contact your POS provider as well. 

Below are a couple resource sites to check out. 

https://www.cardfellow.com/blog/eirf/

https://www.cardfellow.com/blog/credit-card-processing-downgrades/

EIRF is the acronym for "Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee."  It was the first interchange fee developed by Visa.  Most electronic transactions should be charged at the interchange level of the merchant based upon card brand, card type, industry type and processing method.  EIRF is now a "down grade" in interchange level because the merchant did not perform specific functions when processing the transaction (i.e., CVV verification; address verification; invoice number; delayed deposit; etc.).  It can cause an increase of as much as 79 basis points (0.79%) on a single transaction.

Every now and then, when looking over your statement, you may have noticed a charge called “EIRF” and have wondered what EIRF is. The Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee, also known as EIRF, is an additional transaction interchange rate applied by Visa to certain transactions. It is a hefty charge that may appear on your statement when a transaction has been re-classified to a more expensive category.