How Payment Processing Works
Three numbers add up to your rate. Only one of them is actually negotiable.
Your total cost = Interchange + Assessments + Processor Markup
Interchange Fees
Non-negotiable costs set by the card networks and paid to the card-issuing banks for each transaction. They cover fraud risk, processing infrastructure, and the cost of extending credit.
Assessment Fees
Non-negotiable charges set by the card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex) to cover the cost of maintaining their payment rails. They apply to every transaction.
Processor Markup
You Control This
The only part of your pricing you can control. This includes per transaction markup, monthly fees, annual fees, and any additional charges your processor adds on top of interchange and assessments.
Your free analysis shows you all three numbers, separated, line by line, in plain English.
Where Processors Hide Extra Margin
Padding that looks like interchange or assessments
Hidden markup disguised as non-negotiable fees.
Non-qualified transactions that should be qualified
Vague or bundled line items
Per Transaction Markup
Monthly and Annual Fees
Account fees, statement fees, PCI fees, and more. Some are legitimate, many are inflated.
Unnecessary ancillary fees
Extra Junk and Hidden Fees
How these issues appear on a typical statement
Padding that looks like interchange.
Example merchant statement showing MC World Elite Merit billed at 1.80% with a true cost of 1.65%, a 0.15% padding markup.
Non-qualified transactions that should be qualified.
Example merchant statement showing a transaction billed at 1.95% that should have qualified at 1.65%.
Vague, bundled line items.
Example merchant statement showing a $47.50 Service Fee with no itemized breakdown.
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