Send us a recent statement. We’ll tell you what it actually says.
Merchant statements are built to be hard to read. Send one in and we’ll go through it line by line, separate genuine costs from provider margin, and flag what you could stop paying.
Every line, in plain English.
Once each charge has a name, it’s much easier to judge whether it’s fair. Here’s how the typical lines split between genuine cost and provider margin.
Merchant service charge Margin + cost
The headline percentage on your card turnover. It’s the figure most often quoted, but on its own it says very little about what you really pay.
Interchange Cost
A wholesale fee set by the card networks and paid to your customer’s bank. No provider can waive it. Transparent statements show it separately; blended ones hide it.
Scheme fees Cost
Per-transaction fees paid to Visa and Mastercard. Small individually, significant in total, and a pass-through cost rather than provider margin.
Acquirer margin Margin
What your provider keeps. Interchange-plus pricing shows it as a fixed figure; blended pricing folds it into the headline rate.
Authorisation fees Margin
A small charge on every authorisation request — including the smallest sales, which is where it hurts most.
PCI fees Margin
Charges for data-security compliance, plus a monthly non-compliance fee if your annual self-assessment lapses.
Minimum monthly service charge Margin
A monthly floor charged regardless of turnover, so quiet months can cost more than the rate suggests.
Terminal rental Margin
A separate, often longer agreement that can outlast everything else on your statement and wipe out the savings of a cheap processing deal.
It’s rarely just the rate.
When merchants are overpaying, it’s usually down to a few familiar causes. These are the first things we look for.
Pricing model
Moving from blended to interchange-plus pricing can cut costs significantly if most of your customers pay with UK consumer debit cards.
Fees you don’t need
PCI non-compliance fees, duplicate service charges, statement fees and minimums that no longer match your turnover.
Hardware costs
Paying rental on more terminals than you use, or on devices you’ve long since paid for several times over.
Card mix
Premium, commercial and international cards cost more. Pricing that reflects your real mix can make a real difference.
Outgrown pricing
Rates agreed when you were smaller. As turnover grows, your pricing should improve too — it often doesn’t unless you ask.
Contract timing
Knowing when your term and notice window end, so you can switch without exit fees — or negotiate with your current provider.
Have these to hand.
We’ll ask for them by email once we’ve heard from you — you don’t need to attach anything to the form.
- One or two recent monthly merchant statements (all pages)
- Your terminal rental or hardware agreement, if separate
- Your contract start date and term, if you know it
- Roughly how your customers pay — in person, online, by phone
Please don’t email full card numbers or passwords. Statements are fine — they don’t contain your customers’ card details.
Get a straight read on what you pay.
Fill in a few details and we’ll follow up by email — send your statement when we reply. It’s free, there’s no obligation, and no sales call unless you ask for one.
We read your statement
And separate the genuine costs from the margin.
We tell you plainly
Whether you could do better, and by roughly how much.
If you could, we quote it
If you couldn’t, we’ll say so. Either way, you’ll know.