Qualified, Mid & Non-Qualified Rates Visa & MasterCard have several dozen rates ranging in price for the various card types available known as Interchange. To simplify the billing, merchant providers group these rates into three prices: Qualified, Mid & Non-Qualified Rates 1. Qualified Discount Rate The discount rate you see advertised is referred to as your qualified rate. 2. Mid-Qualified Rate This rate will apply when you key in a transaction if you are retail or process a consumer rewards card such as ones with cash back. 3. Non-Qualified Rate This rate will apply when you process business cards (including small business), corporate, as well as some consumer reward cards. Not using AVS on keyed-in transactions or batching out within 24 hours will also cause them to downgrade to this rate.