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Statement review
Free Statement Review
Bring us one month of your current processing statement and we'll work out your real effective rate, name every fee on the bill, and tell you honestly whether moving is worth it. It's free, it takes a short call, and if we can't beat what you're paying we'll say so.
Black out your account numbers first. We don't need them.
What an effective rate is, and why it decides everything
Your effective rate is your total card fees for a month divided by your total card volume for that month, written as a percentage. If you paid $300 in fees on $10,000 in card sales, your effective rate is 3%.
It matters because it's the only number that compares two processors honestly. A quoted rate describes one layer of a bill that has several, so two businesses quoted the same percentage can end up paying very different amounts once the per-transaction fees, the monthly charges and the downgrades are counted. The effective rate counts all of it, including the lines nobody mentions when they're selling.
Work it out for yourself in two minutes if you'd rather not talk to anyone: take the total fees from the bottom of your statement and divide by the card volume at the top. The guide to how processing fees work explains what makes up that number, and flat rate against interchange plus runs the same month through both pricing models.
How the review works
A credit card processing statement review is five steps, in this order. Nothing happens that you haven't agreed to, and you're not signing anything on the call.
You book a short call
Pick a time that suits you and have one recent statement to hand. A full, typical month is the most useful. We go through it together on the call, so there's nothing to upload and nothing to send in advance.
You black out anything you want to
Cover your account and routing numbers before you show us anything. We don't need them. What matters is the volume totals and the fee lines, and those tell the whole story on their own.
We work out your real effective rate
Total fees divided by total card volume for the month, as a percentage. This is the number that actually tells you what you pay, and most owners have never been shown it.
We name every line on the bill
Interchange, the card network's assessments, your processor's markup, and then the charges that have nothing to do with processing at all. Some of those are ordinary. Some are worth arguing about. You'll know which is which.
We compare, and tell you straight
We put what you pay now next to what you'd pay with us, line by line. If we can't beat it, we say so and you keep the numbers. That happens, and it's a perfectly good outcome for a half-hour call.
What we look at
- Your effective rate. The one number that compares two processors like for like.
- How your pricing is structured. Flat rate, tiered, or interchange plus. The structure often matters more than the headline percentage.
- Downgrades. Transactions that cost more than they should have because of how they were run. This is usually the cheapest thing to fix, because it's about your setup rather than your contract.
- The fees that are not processing. Monthly minimums, statement fees, PCI fees and non-compliance charges, batch fees, gateway fees, annual fees.
- Equipment. Whether you own your terminals or you're leasing them, and what the lease actually costs across its term.
- Your contract. Term length, auto-renewal, and what leaving would cost. Sometimes the honest answer is to wait.
Most statements hold at least one line the owner has never had explained. That's not always a scandal. Plenty of charges are ordinary and unavoidable. But you should know which is which before anyone asks you to sign something.
What you get at the end
- Your effective rate. The real one, worked out from your own statement, yours to keep and to quote at anyone else.
- A plain reading of the bill. Each line named, and whether it's processing, a service charge, or something you could stop paying.
- A side-by-side comparison. What you pay now against what you'd pay with us, on the same month's numbers.
- A straight answer. Including "stay where you are" when that's the right call.
We don't work from a set price list. What you pay depends on your business, how you sell, and what your current statement shows, so we put a custom quote together on a short call.
Common questions
What do I need to send you?
Nothing in advance. Book the call and have a recent statement open, on screen or on paper. We read it together and you keep it. If you'd rather share your screen than hand anything over, that works too.
Can I black out my account numbers?
Yes, and you should. Cover the account and routing numbers before the call. We only need the volume totals and the fee lines to work out your effective rate and name the charges, and neither of those needs your account details.
Is it actually free, and is there an obligation?
It's free and there's no obligation. You get the numbers either way, including the effective rate, which is yours to take to anyone else you want to talk to. We'd rather be the people who showed you the truth about your statement than the people who pressured you on a call.
What is an effective rate?
Your total card fees for a month divided by your total card volume for that month, written as a percentage. If you paid $300 in fees on $10,000 in card sales, your effective rate is 3%. It matters because a quoted rate only ever describes one layer of the bill, while the effective rate covers all of it.
Which statement should I use?
A recent one for a normal month. If your business is seasonal, a peak month and a quiet month together are more useful than either alone, because the mix of cards and the volume both change and some fees only bite at low volume.
What if I'm locked into a contract?
Worth knowing exactly what that means rather than assuming. We'll look at the term, the auto-renewal and any early termination fee, and tell you what leaving would actually cost against what staying costs. Sometimes the answer is to wait until the term is up, and we'll say so.
How long does it take?
A short call is normally enough for one statement. Reading the fee lines and working out the effective rate is quick once you know where to look. What takes the time is the part afterwards, where you ask questions about what you are seeing.
Payments handled safely
Your customers' card information is always protected. We follow PCI DSS security standards, the same rules the major card companies require, so every payment is handled safely.