The Problem

Most Businesses Are Overpaying 10–40% Without Realizing It

Merchant statements are deliberately complex. Processors bury markups in obscure line items that most business owners never scrutinize. Here's where the money typically hides.

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PCI Non-Compliance Fees
Charged monthly even if you're compliant — often for services you never signed up for or received.
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$19–$99
Typical monthly charge
80%
Of businesses affected
$0
What it should cost if compliant
What Is PCI Compliance?
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security requirements that any business accepting credit cards must follow. Compliance is mandatory — but it's essentially free to achieve through a simple annual self-assessment questionnaire your processor provides. Most small businesses qualify for the easiest tier (SAQ-A or SAQ-B), which takes about 15 minutes to complete online.
How Processors Exploit It
Processors charge a monthly "PCI Non-Compliance" fee when you haven't completed your annual questionnaire — often because they never told you it existed. Some charge the fee regardless, burying it as a "PCI Service Fee" or "Security Fee" even after you've completed compliance. Others enroll you in expensive third-party compliance programs that duplicate work you can do yourself for free.
🚨 Red flag: If your statement shows a "PCI Non-Compliance Fee," "Security Fee," or "Compliance Service Fee" every month without explanation, you may be paying for nothing — or for a compliance status you've already achieved.
✅ What to do: Log into your processor's merchant portal and complete the PCI self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ). It's free. Once complete, the non-compliance fee disappears. If you're still being charged after completing it, demand a refund — and flag it in your audit request to us.
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Tiered Pricing Markups
Qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified tiers allow processors to move transactions into higher rate buckets quietly.
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1.7%
Typical "qualified" rate
3.5%+
Non-qualified rate
2–3×
Average markup vs. interchange+
How Tiered Pricing Works
Under tiered pricing, your processor takes all the different interchange rates set by Visa, Mastercard, and Discover and sorts them into three buckets: Qualified, Mid-Qualified, and Non-Qualified. They advertise the low "qualified" rate to sign you up — but in practice, a large percentage of your transactions get downgraded to higher tiers, often without any clear reason or notification.
Why Transactions Get Downgraded
Common reasons your processor downgrades a transaction to a higher tier include: the customer used a rewards or business credit card, the transaction was keyed-in rather than swiped, the batch wasn't settled within the required window, or the card was a corporate purchasing card. These situations are extremely common — meaning most of your transactions never actually qualify for the advertised rate.
🚨 Red flag: If your statement shows three separate rate tiers or you see terms like "QLFD," "MQLD," or "NQLD" next to transaction batches, you're on tiered pricing. The advertised rate is almost certainly not what you're actually paying on average.
✅ What to do: Ask your processor to switch you to Interchange Plus (cost-plus) pricing. Under this model, you pay the actual interchange rate set by the card networks plus a fixed, transparent markup — no tiers, no surprises. Submit your statement to us and we'll calculate exactly how much the tier system is costing you.
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Inflated Interchange Margins
The spread between what the card networks charge and what you pay is often marked up 2–3x above competitive rates.
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0.10%
Competitive processor margin
0.50%+
What many merchants pay
$4,800
Annual overage on $1M volume
Understanding Interchange
Interchange is the fee paid to the card-issuing bank every time a customer swipes their card. It's set by Visa and Mastercard and is non-negotiable — every processor pays the same rate. What IS negotiable is the markup your processor adds on top. On an Interchange Plus agreement, this markup is shown transparently as a basis points charge (e.g., "interchange + 0.15% + $0.10 per transaction").
Where the Overcharging Happens
Processors who don't disclose their markup clearly often embed inflated margins inside a bundled rate. On a statement showing "2.9% flat rate," you may be paying the actual interchange of 1.65% plus a 1.25% processor margin — when competitive margins run 0.10% to 0.25%. Over high volume, this difference compounds into thousands of dollars annually.
🚨 Red flag: If you can't find a line item on your statement clearly showing your processor's markup separate from interchange costs, your pricing is almost certainly not transparent — and the margin is likely inflated.
✅ What to do: Request an Interchange Plus breakdown from your processor in writing. If they can't or won't provide it, that's a significant red flag. Send us your statement and we'll reverse-engineer your effective rate and estimate the processor margin you're currently paying.
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Monthly Minimum Traps
Minimums that kick in regardless of your volume, essentially guaranteeing overpayment during slow months.
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$25–$50
Typical monthly minimum
$600
Annual cost if triggered monthly
Most
Processors charge this
How Monthly Minimums Work
A monthly minimum is a guaranteed revenue floor your processor charges, regardless of how much you actually processed. If your processing fees for the month total $18 but your minimum is $25, you're charged $25 — a $7 surcharge for doing less volume. This is especially punishing for seasonal businesses, restaurants with slow months, or any business with variable revenue cycles.
The Hidden Version: Statement Fees
Many processors also charge a separate monthly "statement fee" of $5–$15 on top of the minimum. This fee is purely for generating your statement — something that costs the processor essentially nothing in the digital era. Combined with the minimum, you may be paying $30–$65/month just to maintain the account, even in a month you barely process anything.
🚨 Red flag: Look for line items labeled "Monthly Minimum," "Monthly Service Fee," "Statement Fee," or "Account Maintenance Fee." These are often buried at the bottom of the statement and easy to overlook — but they add up to hundreds per year.
✅ What to do: Call your processor and ask for the monthly minimum to be waived or reduced, especially if you consistently process above the threshold anyway. Many processors will negotiate this. If not, it's worth factoring into a competitive comparison — mention it when submitting your statement to us.
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Equipment & Gateway Fees
Monthly terminal lease or gateway charges that cost far more than ownership or equivalent alternatives.
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$35–$75
Typical monthly lease
$300–$600
Terminal purchase price
48 mo.
Common lease lock-in period
The Terminal Lease Trap
Credit card terminals (the physical device on your counter) typically cost $200–$600 to purchase outright. However, many processors lease these terminals to merchants at $35–$75/month on 48-month non-cancellable contracts. That means you pay $1,680–$3,600 for a device worth $300 — and you don't even own it at the end. Terminal leases are widely considered one of the worst deals in merchant services.
Payment Gateway Fees
If you accept payments online, you likely pay a monthly gateway fee of $10–$25, plus per-transaction gateway fees of $0.05–$0.15 on top of your regular processing fees. Many merchants don't realize they're paying both a processor fee AND a gateway fee on every transaction. Some processors bundle gateway access for free — others treat it as a separate profit center.
🚨 Red flag: If your statement shows "Equipment Lease," "Terminal Rental," or "Gateway Fee" as monthly line items, you're likely overpaying significantly. Leased terminals in particular are almost never worth the cost compared to ownership or free terminal programs offered by competitive processors.
✅ What to do: Check whether you're in a terminal lease — look for a separate leasing company name (e.g., LEAF, First Data Global Leasing) on your statement or contract. If you are, note the end date. When it expires, do not renew — purchase your own terminal or work with a processor who provides equipment free with the account. Send us your statement and we'll flag every equipment charge.
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Batch & Authorization Fees
Small per-transaction fees that compound significantly — often higher than industry standard for no added value.
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$0.05–$0.10
Competitive auth fee
$0.25+
What some merchants pay
$1,800
Annual overage at 500 txns/mo
What Authorization Fees Are
Every time a customer swipes, dips, or taps their card, an authorization request is sent to the card network to verify the card and approve the transaction. Processors charge a small per-authorization fee for this — typically $0.05 to $0.10. However, some processors charge $0.20 to $0.30 or more per authorization. For a business running 500 transactions a month, the difference between $0.08 and $0.25 per auth is $1,020 per year — for the exact same service.
What Batch Fees Are
At the end of each business day, your terminal "settles" or "batches out" — sending all of that day's approved transactions to be funded. Processors charge a batch fee for this process, typically $0.10 to $0.25 per batch. If you run one batch per day, that's $36–$91 per year just to close out daily sales. Some processors charge per-batch fees AND per-transaction fees, layering cost on cost. Others include batch settlement at no charge.
🚨 Red flag: Check your statement for line items labeled "Auth Fee," "Authorization Fee," "Per Transaction Fee," "Batch Fee," or "Settlement Fee." If your per-auth fee exceeds $0.10 or your batch fee exceeds $0.15, you're above competitive market rates — and this overcharge multiplies with every single transaction you run.
✅ What to do: These fees are negotiable — especially if you have volume. Call your processor and specifically ask for your authorization fee and batch fee to be reduced. Reference the industry standard of $0.05–$0.08 per auth. If they won't budge, competitive processors routinely offer rates in this range. Submit your statement to us and we'll calculate exactly what these per-transaction fees are costing you annually.
Professional business owner reviewing credit card processing fees and merchant statement charges
"Most business owners are shocked when they see what they're actually paying."
The average audit finds $3,200 in annual overcharges
The Process

How Your Free Audit Works

Five simple steps. No hidden steps, no obligation, no strings attached.

1
Submit Statement
Upload a PDF or screenshot of your recent merchant statement. Email option also available.
2
We Analyze It
Our team calculates your true effective rate and identifies every fee charged.
3
Identify Overcharges
We highlight exactly where you're paying above market rates or being charged unjustified fees.
4
Plain-English Report
You receive a clear, jargon-free breakdown of your statement — what you're paying and why.
5
Options If Savings Exist
If we find savings opportunities, we'll outline available options — no pressure, no obligation.
Quick Check

Calculate Your Effective Rate

Most businesses don't know their true effective rate. Enter your numbers below to find out where you stand.

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Your Effective Rate
Free Audit

Upload Your Statement. Find Out What You're Really Paying.

Our analysts review hundreds of merchant statements every month. We know every trick processors use to inflate your bill — and we'll show you exactly where it's happening in yours.

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  • No obligation to change processors
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  • An analyst may follow up if we find significant overcharges
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Business owner at desk reviewing merchant statement to identify hidden credit card processing fees
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Education

Understand Your Merchant Statement

Fee jargon exists to confuse you. We break it down in plain English.

Guide
How to Read a Merchant Statement: A Complete Walkthrough
Line by line, we explain exactly what every section of your monthly processing statement means and which numbers actually matter.
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Pricing
Interchange Plus vs. Tiered Pricing: What's the Difference?
One pricing model offers full transparency. The other allows your processor to profit at your expense. Here's how to tell which one you're on.
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Fees
PCI Compliance Fee Explained — And Why You Might Be Paying for Nothing
This ubiquitous monthly charge is one of the most commonly inflated fees in merchant services. Here's what it actually covers.
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Formula
How to Calculate Your Effective Rate (And What's Considered High)
Your effective rate is the single most important number to know. Here's the formula, what's typical by industry, and when to be concerned.
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Glossary
Batch Fee, Authorization Fee, Assessment Fee — Explained
Every mysterious line item on your statement decoded, including which ones are legitimate and which ones you should push back on.
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Negotiation
When (and How) to Negotiate Your Merchant Processing Rates
Most processors will negotiate — if you know what to ask for. We explain the timing, the leverage, and the exact language that works.
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Your Audit Is In Progress

We've received your information. Next step: please email your merchant statement (PDF or screenshot) to:

review@merchantstatementaudit.com

You'll receive your plain-English fee breakdown within 24 business hours. If we find significant savings, one of our analysts will reach out directly.

Questions? Email review@merchantstatementaudit.com