Free checklist · 3-minute read · Print-friendly

The 5 fees hiding in your merchant statement

Grab your most recent processing statement and check it against this list. Most owners find at least two. Every one of these is either removable or a sign you're on the wrong pricing model.

01

PCI non-compliance fee

Look for: "PCI Non-Compliance," "PCI NC," or "Non-Validation Fee" — usually $19.95–$99.95/month. This is a penalty for not completing a free annual security questionnaire. Many processors quietly let you stay "non-compliant" and collect it forever.

Fair version: $0. Completing the questionnaire takes ~20 minutes, and a good agent does it with you.
Found it on my statement — amount: $______/mo
02

Monthly minimum fee

Look for: "Monthly Minimum" or "Min Discount Due". If your processing fees don't hit a set amount, you're charged the difference — you pay a penalty for a slow month.

Fair version: $0 for most established businesses. It's negotiable and often waived entirely.
Found it on my statement — amount: $______/mo
03

Statement / paper / regulatory fees

Look for: "Statement Fee," "Paper Fee," "Regulatory Fee," "IRS Reporting Fee," "Annual Fee" — $5–$25 each. These are pure junk: the processor charging you for its own paperwork. They stack.

Fair version: $0–$10 total in fixed monthly fees, clearly itemized.
Found them — total: $______/mo
04

Batch & AVS fees

Look for: "Batch Fee" ($0.10–$0.40 × ~30 batches/mo) and "AVS Fee" charged on every keyed transaction. Small numbers that quietly add up to real money on high-volume accounts.

Fair version: Pennies, or bundled at no charge.
Found them — total: $______/mo
05

"Non-qualified" surcharges (tiered pricing)

Look for: "Non-Qual," "Mid-Qual," or "Surcharge" lines with rates far above your quoted rate. This is the big one — tiered pricing lets processors reroute most of your cards into the expensive bucket. The rate you were "quoted" only applies to a fraction of your sales.

Fair version: You shouldn't be on tiered pricing at all. Interchange-plus or a cash discount program shows the true cost of every transaction.
Found it — effective rate on those lines: ______%

Your tally

Add up what you checked. $50/month in junk fees is $600/year — and that's before the percentage-rate overcharge, which is usually the bigger number. To find that one, divide total fees by total card volume: that's your effective rate. Over 3%? You're overpaying.

Want us to do this for you — with your real numbers?

Send one statement to our free savings check. It reads every line, calculates your effective rate, and shows the exact dollar amount you're overpaying. If your deal is already fair, we'll tell you that too.

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