Interchange rate processing system and method

A computer-implemented method for interchange rate processing, said method implemented using an interchange rate processing computing device in communication with a single payment processor, an acquiring bank associated with a merchant, and an issuing bank of a payment processing network, the interchange rate processing computing device comprising one or more processors in communication with one or more memory devices, said method comprising:

• receiving, at the one or more processors, from the acquiring bank, a transaction message including transaction data corresponding to a payment card transaction initiated by a cardholder with the merchant using a payment card;
• identifying, by the one or more processors, one or more transaction characteristics of the payment card transaction from the transaction data;
• applying, to the one or more transaction characteristics by the one or more processors, interchange schedule data stored in the one or more memory devices to identify a plurality of valid interchange rates applicable to processing of the payment card transaction by the single payment processor;
• automatically determining, by the one or more processors, a lowest valid interchange rate applicable to the payment card transaction from the plurality of valid interchange rates;
• inserting, by the one or more processors, in response to the determination, an interchange rate designator (IRD) corresponding to the lowest valid interchange rate into the transaction message to generate an enhanced transaction message;
• and
• transmitting, by the one or more processors over the payment processing network, the enhanced transaction message to the payment processor, reducing a number of transaction messages that would otherwise be transmitted over the payment processing network for processing an invalid or incorrect IRD, thereby conserving computational resources.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, when executed by an interchange rate processing computing device in communication with a single payment processor, an acquiring bank associated with a merchant, and an issuing bank of a payment processing network, the interchange rate processing computing device comprising at least one processor in communication with one or more memory devices, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

• receive, from the acquiring bank, a transaction message including transaction data corresponding to a payment card transaction initiated by a cardholder with the merchant using a payment card;
• identify one or more transaction characteristics of the payment card transaction from the transaction data;
• apply, to the one or more transaction characteristics, interchange schedule data stored in the one or more memory devices to identify a plurality of valid interchange rates applicable to processing of the payment card transaction by the single payment processor;
• automatically determine a lowest valid interchange rate applicable to the payment card transaction from the plurality of valid interchange rates;
• insert, in response to the determination, an interchange rate designator (IRD) corresponding to the lowest valid interchange rate into the transaction message to generate an enhanced transaction message;
• and
• transmit, over the payment processing network, the enhanced transaction message to the payment processor, reducing a number of transaction messages that would otherwise be transmitted over the payment processing network for processing an invalid or incorrect IRD, thereby conserving computational resources.