How Often Should You Audit Your Credit Card Processing Costs?

Most businesses audit their insurance annually, review their telecom contracts periodically, and negotiate with vendors regularly. Yet payment processing — often one of the top five operating expenses for any business accepting cards — rarely receives the same scrutiny. A structured audit schedule ensures you never overpay for longer than necessary.

The Annual Audit: Your Baseline

At minimum, every business should conduct a thorough processing cost review once per year. This review should include calculating your effective rate, identifying any new fees that have appeared, comparing your current rates to market alternatives, and evaluating whether your pricing structure is still optimal for your transaction patterns.

Trigger-Based Reviews

Beyond the annual audit, certain events should trigger an immediate review. These include a significant change in monthly processing volume (up or down by 20% or more), a change in your average transaction size, a shift from primarily card-present to card-not-present transactions, notification of a rate increase from your processor, or a contract renewal approaching within 90 days.

What to Review

A thorough audit examines your effective rate trend over the past 12 months, the pricing model you are on (interchange-plus, tiered, or flat rate), every fee on your statement and whether it is justified, your contract terms and auto-renewal provisions, and how your rates compare to current market offers. Document your findings so you have a baseline for future comparisons.

The Cost of Inaction

Processors count on merchant inertia. They know most businesses will not review their statements or shop for alternatives. This is why rates quietly increase and new fees appear without notification. A business processing $30,000 per month that is overpaying by just 0.4% is losing $1,440 per year — money that goes directly to the processor's bottom line instead of yours.

Using Competitive Quotes as Leverage

Even if you have no intention of switching processors, a competitive quote from an alternative provider is a powerful negotiation tool. Present the competing offer to your current processor and ask them to match or beat it. Many processors will reduce rates to retain your business once they see you have alternatives.

Let Mogil Partners Run Your Audit

Mogil Partners conducts comprehensive processing audits for businesses of all sizes. Our analysis is complimentary and identifies exactly how much you could save. Contact us to schedule your annual audit.