Breifly..

When a credit card is swiped or keyed in by either you or a customer, the transaction is first authorized. At the end of the day (when you do your report) the batch is "settled". Hence the authorization and settlement fee. Ontop of this is typically a "batch fee"

Depending on who you use for your processor, your credit, and your type of business, fee structures will be different. It's like buying a house. Better credit and lower risk means better rates and fees.

There are still some grandfather plans out there where people are getting charged $.30 per auth and another $.30 for settlements, however this is unusually high for a lower risk business.