Defensible, data-rich analysis of card acceptance — interchange, routing, dual pricing, chargebacks — written for the people who actually read the statement.
You pay one blended number every month. It is built from three very different layers — interchange, assessments, processor markup — and only one of them is negotiable. The fee waterfall, in basis points.
Every number is cited to a public source or framed as an illustrative model. No invented statistics.
Durbin mandates two networks per debit card. Least-cost routing picks the cheaper path — and on a debit-heavy business, the cents compound.
Two programs, two rulebooks. The compliance lines, the 3% credit cap, and the margin math behind shifting card cost to the card.
Nobody gives away hardware. A line-by-line teardown of the lease, PCI, and early-termination fees hiding inside "free."
A dispute isn't a refund — it's a refund plus a fee plus staff time plus account risk. The economics at scale, and the mitigation ROI.
"Zero fees" is a real outcome and an overused slogan. The honest mechanics, where it's allowed, and the founder's rollout playbook.
The lead briefing, in full: the three-layer fee stack, why "interchange discounts" don't exist, and the only line you can move.
One briefing at a time, in plain numbers. Interchange, routing, dual pricing, chargebacks — what they actually cost and how to move them.
Written for founders of $5M+ businesses. No spam, no fluff. Unsubscribe anytime.
