Merchant Knowledge Center

Understand every fee. Then cut it.

Plain-English lessons on how card processing actually works — pricing models, statements, surcharging, funding speed and compliance. No jargon, no sales pitch, just the math.

Pricing & Fees

Understand exactly what you pay and why.

Where your effective rate actually goesInterchange, assessments, and processor markup — and the only number that matters.Read lesson →Interchange-plus vs flat rate: which actually costs lessSame three costs, shown two ways — and which wins on your card mix.Read lesson →Tiered pricing: the most expensive model you've never auditedQualified, mid, non-qualified buckets — and why they quietly cost the most.Read lesson →Effective-rate benchmarks by industryWhere retail, e-commerce, and healthcare should each land.Read lesson →Your card mix is the biggest lever you're not pullingDebit, credit, rewards, corporate — the mix that decides your rate.Read lesson →The true cost of accepting Amex (and when it's worth it)What OptBlue changed and when Amex actually pays off.Read lesson →The 10-cent problem: why small tickets get crushedOn a $4 sale the fixed per-transaction fee becomes your biggest cost.Read lesson →The debit routing lever most $20M founders ignoreDurbin, regulated debit, and least-cost routing, explained.Read lesson →

Junk Fees & Audits

Find and kill the lines that bloat your statement.

Gateway, statement, batch: the recurring junk-fee auditThe small recurring lines that quietly bloat your statement.Read lesson →PCI “compliance” fees: the junk line in your statementThe monthly PCI fee and the scarier non-compliance fee, decoded.Read lesson →

Dual Pricing & Surcharging

Offset processing cost — legally.

Dual pricing and the path to ~0% processingHow dual pricing works, where it's allowed, and the playbook.Read lesson →Cash discounting vs. surcharging in 2026The compliance and margin math behind the two offset programs.Read lesson →Surcharging legally in 2026: the state-by-state rulesCaps, debit rules, and where passing fees is allowed.Read lesson →

Statements & Disputes

Read the paperwork and protect your margin.

How to read your merchant statement, line by lineFind your real effective rate in a statement built to be skimmed.Read lesson →Chargebacks as a hidden taxThe dispute economics and the ratio that puts your account at risk.Read lesson →

Getting Paid

Funding speed and payment methods that move money.

Same-day vs next-day funding: what faster deposits are worthBatch cutoffs, ACH settlement, and the working-capital value.Read lesson →ACH vs cards: when bank transfers quietly beat plasticFlat-per-transaction vs percentage — which wins, and when.Read lesson →Card-present vs card-not-present: the rate gap nobody explainsWhy keyed and online cost more than dipped or tapped.Read lesson →

Switching & Equipment

Change processors and hardware without pain.

How to switch processors without a day of downtimeA step-by-step migration playbook with zero downtime.Read lesson →Your 'free' terminal's 36-month TCOA line-by-line teardown of what a free terminal really costs.Read lesson →

No lessons match — try a different term.