Merchant account fees
Every card sale carries a cost, and the statement that explains it is rarely easy to read. Processing fees come from several parties and appear under different names. Some charges are set by the card networks and some by your processor.
A partner firm can read your statements line by line and explain what you are paying for.
Fairview Audit connects you with that firm. Fairview does not review statements itself.
What a merchant account review looks at
A review starts with your monthly processing statements and your processing agreement. It then asks whether each charge has a reason.
Typical areas include:
- Interchange, the fee the card networks set and the card issuer receives, and whether your transactions were assigned to the right category.
- The processor's own markup. Interchange is usually built into the single merchant discount your processor charges, together with its other fees.
- Differences between credit, debit and rewards cards.
- Monthly, statement and service fees, and any minimums.
- Compliance fees, such as those tied to the PCI Data Security Standard.
- Equipment leases and gateway charges. The FTC warns that leases can cost far more than the equipment and may be hard to cancel.
- Changes to your pricing since you first signed.
Fee schedules change over time. A rate that was fair when you opened the account may not match your current sales mix. A review shows you the gap, if one exists.
What you provide
Your partner firm will tell you what it needs. Expect to share:
- Recent processing statements for every merchant account.
- Your processing agreement, with amendments and fee schedules.
- Any equipment lease or gateway contracts.
- A description of how you take payments: in person, online, by phone or a mix.
- Details of recent changes, such as a new location or a new sales channel.
- Messages from your processor about fee changes.
- Contact details for the person who manages payments.
Statements contain account data. Share them only through the channel your partner firm sets up, and ask how the firm stores them.
What happens after you submit a request
- You choose a request path and submit the form.
- The request goes to a matched partner firm, or to Fairview for manual matching.
- A partner firm contacts you to discuss your processing setup and its terms.
- You share your statements and agreements.
- The partner firm reports what it found.
- You decide what to do next, including whether to raise questions with your processor.
You stay involved from start to finish. The engagement and any fees are between you and the partner firm. [CONFIRM: a partner firm supplies and approves whether you can keep your current processor]
Who this suits
This category suits a business that:
- Accepts cards in volume and has not compared its rates for some time.
- Has statements that no one on the team fully understands.
- Added new payment channels or locations since the original contract.
- Signed an agreement with automatic renewal terms.
Retail and restaurant businesses see these fees often. See Merchant account fees for retail for a version aimed at that sector.
Which partner firm fits can depend on the size of your business.
How Fairview matches you
Choose one of three paths: larger business, smaller business, or not sure or another need. Each leads to a form, such as the smaller business form or the larger business form. Fairview routes your request to the matched partner firm, or matches it by hand on the other path. After that, you work with the firm directly. See how it works for the full sequence.
An independent partner firm that specializes in merchant account fees handles this work. Fairview Audit makes the match. We do not perform the review ourselves.Who does the work
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to change processors?
Not as a condition of requesting a review. What a firm recommends is for that firm to explain. [CONFIRM: a partner firm supplies and approves this statement]
Can I understand my statement without help?
Some owners can. Many find that the layout differs by processor, which makes comparison hard.
Will my customers notice anything?
A review of statements does not touch your point of sale or your checkout.
Who pays for the review?
Fees are agreed between you and the partner firm under its own terms.
Related pages
- All cost categories
- Merchant account fees for retail
- Wireless
- Accounts payable audit
- Request a professional
Tell us what you need reviewed. We match you by hand with an independent partner firm. You keep your existing vendors.Find out what you are overpaying.