Statement fee decoder

The biggest piece of your processing cost (50-70% of total). Goes to the bank that issued your customer's card. Set by Visa and Mastercard, published twice a year. Every processor in the country pays the same amount.

Goes to the card networks themselves (Visa, Mastercard, etc.), not your processor. Small, consistent, and the same no matter who you process with.

The only fee your processor controls and the only one that's negotiable. This is their profit margin on each transaction. On interchange-plus pricing, it shows as a separate line item. On tiered or flat-rate pricing, it's hidden inside the bundled rate.

Charged every time a card is swiped, tapped, or keyed in, whether the transaction is approved or declined. Some processors list this separately from their markup.

Charged each time you "settle" or "close" your batch of transactions, usually once per day. Some processors include this in the markup; others charge it separately.

Charged when the system checks whether the billing address provided matches the cardholder's address on file. Common for card-not-present (online, phone) transactions.

A fixed monthly fee charged by Visa based on your number of locations and how you accept cards. This is a legitimate Visa-mandated fee, but the amount your processor passes through should match what Visa actually charges.

A flat monthly fee for maintaining your merchant account. Sometimes called a "service" or "maintenance" fee. Some processors waive it; others bury it.

Charged for generating and mailing your monthly processing statement. Many processors will waive this if you switch to electronic statements.

Charged for access to the payment gateway that routes your transactions. If you process in-person only and don't use an online gateway, you shouldn't be paying this.

If your total processing fees for the month fall below a set threshold, your processor charges you the difference. Designed to guarantee them a minimum revenue from your account.

Charged for PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance. Your processor claims this covers the cost of maintaining a secure processing environment. Some of this cost is legitimate; some is inflated.

Charged when you haven't completed your annual PCI compliance questionnaire or when your processor claims you haven't. This is a penalty fee, not a service fee, and it's significantly higher than the compliance fee.

Charged every time a customer disputes a transaction, regardless of whether you win or lose the dispute. This is on top of the reversed transaction amount.

Charged when a cardholder's bank requests documentation about a transaction. This is often a precursor to a chargeback. If you respond quickly with documentation, you may prevent the chargeback entirely.

Monthly fee for leasing a card terminal or POS device from your processor. These leases are almost always a bad deal. The equipment typically costs $300-$500 to buy outright.

Charged if you cancel your processing contract before the term ends. Comes in two forms: a flat fee, or "liquidated damages" calculated as the remaining contract value.

A vaguely named fee with no clear justification. There is no regulatory body charging your processor this fee. It's processor profit disguised as a pass-through cost.

Charged on top of the actual card network assessment fees you're already paying. The legitimate assessment fees from Visa and Mastercard are real. This additional "network fee" is processor markup in disguise.