The line items, decoded
Total volume & transaction count
Usually at the top. Every rate on the statement only means something relative to these two numbers — keep them handy. New to the terms? Check the glossary.
Interchange
What the card-issuing banks take. Set by the card networks, regulated in Canada. On an interchange-plus plan this is pass-through — not your processor's profit.
Assessments / network fees
Small per-transaction or percentage fees from Visa, Mastercard, or Interac themselves. Legitimate, but they should match the published schedules — this is where "new" fees sometimes appear.
Processor markup
Whatever your processor adds on top of interchange and assessments. On flat-rate plans it's baked into the single rate; on interchange-plus it's the explicit "+" line. This is the negotiable part of your bill.
Per-transaction fees
The "+ $0.10" in "2.65% + $0.10". Small per sale, large in aggregate — especially for low-ticket businesses.
Monthly fees
Statement fees, account fees, gateway fees. Watch for the same fee under two names — "statement fee" plus "monthly service fee" is a classic double-charge.Worth checking
PCI / compliance fees
Monthly or annual charges for PCI compliance programs. Sometimes legitimate, sometimes a junk fee in a compliance costume — compare against what the program actually includes.Worth checking
Batch / settlement fees
Charged per daily batch close. If you batch twice a day, you may be paying it twice — often fixable with a settings change.
Minimums
"If your monthly fees are below $X, we charge the difference." Quietly expensive for seasonal or low-volume businesses.Worth checking
The three pricing models (and how to tell which you have)
Flat-rate
One percentage + one per-transaction amount on every sale. If your statement shows a single rate line and no interchange breakdown, you're on flat-rate. Compare published flat rates in the rate guide.
Interchange-plus
Interchange and assessments itemized at cost, plus an explicit processor markup. The most transparent model — and the easiest to audit, because the markup is the only number the processor controls.
Tiered ("qualified / non-qualified")
Transactions sorted into rate buckets the processor defines. The buckets are the processor's invention, which makes savings claims on tiered plans nearly impossible to verify. Most merchants do better on flat or interchange-plus.
Where markups hide
- Renamed duplicates. The same monthly fee under two different names ("statement fee" + "account maintenance fee").
- Non-qualified buckets. On tiered plans, an ever-growing share of transactions lands in the expensive bucket — by design of the bucket definitions.
- Unpassed interchange reductions. When the card networks lower interchange, some processors keep the difference instead of passing it to you. Your rate stays put while their margin grows.
- Creeping per-transaction fees. A few cents added to the per-transaction line every year or two — invisible per sale, material per month.
Compute it for the last 3–6 months. If it climbs while your volume mix hasn't changed, you're paying more than you were — and something on the statement moved. Our effective-rate calculator does the arithmetic for you.
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