Honesty
In a business about money, honesty is the only real moat. Here is the dishonest playbook we refuse to run, and the defaults we run instead.
In a business that is literally about handling your money, honesty is not a soft value, it is the only real moat. And it is rare, because the merchant-services industry has spent decades perfecting ways to look cheap while being expensive. We are not going to pretend that is not the norm. We are going to show you the exact playbook we refuse to run, and the defaults we run instead, so you can hold us to them.
How the industry quietly overcharges
None of these are illegal. All of them are designed to widen the gap between what you think you pay and what you actually pay. If you have ever felt like your statement does not match the pitch, this is why.
- The teaser rate. “Rates as low as 0.30%” that virtually none of your transactions ever qualify for.
- The downgrade game. Tiered pricing that quietly shoves your rewards and keyed sales into the priciest “non-qualified” bucket.
- The junk-fee stack. PCI fees, statement fees, “regulatory recovery,” IRS reporting fees, individually small, together enormous.
- The auto-renew trap. Multi-year contracts with steep early-termination fees that punish you for leaving.
- The “we’ll lower your Visa fees” lie. Nobody can; interchange and assessments are network-set and identical everywhere.
Why it works
Honest by construction, not by promise
Anyone can put “honest” on a website. What matters is the structure, because structure is what survives after the salesperson is gone. Ours is built so the incentives point the right way.
| The dishonest default | Our default |
|---|---|
| Teaser rate on the ad | Your real, all-in effective rate up front |
| Tiered pricing that hides markup | Interchange-plus, markup stated in writing |
| A stack of junk fees | No junk fees; add-ons itemized and negotiable |
| Multi-year contract + ETF | No long-term traps; earn it every month |
| "We can lower your Visa fees" | We lower the only thing we can: our markup |
| Sell you no matter what | If we can’t beat your rate, we say stay |
The Savings Guarantee
Everything above rests on one promise, and it is the one we are proudest of: if we cannot save you money, we will tell you to stay where you are. We read your statement for free, find your true effective rate, and give you a straight answer. Sometimes that answer is “you are already in good shape.” We would rather say that and earn your trust than win a switch you will resent.
Average savings
for the clients we can help
Statement analysis
no obligation, no pressure
When that’s the truth
we’ll tell you so
How to keep any processor honest
You do not have to take honesty on faith, from us or anyone. Three questions expose the truth fast:
- “What is my effective rate?” Total fees divided by total volume. Watch how quickly, or slowly, they answer.
- “Can I get interchange-plus in writing, with the markup as a fixed percent plus per-transaction fee?”
- “Are there any long-term contract or cancellation fees?”
The receipts
The bottom line
- The industry looks cheap while being expensive, through teasers, downgrades, junk fees, and traps.
- Every trick depends on you not knowing your true effective rate.
- Our defaults are structural: interchange-plus in writing, no junk fees, no long-term traps.
- The Savings Guarantee: if we can’t beat your rate, we tell you to stay.
- Hold any processor honest with three questions about rate, markup, and contract terms.
Common questions
We read your real statement, line by line, and show you your true effective rate and where you are overpaying. If we cannot beat your current setup, we tell you to stay put. The review is free and there is no obligation.
The rest of what we stand for
Ready to stop overpaying?
Send us one statement. We’ll show you exactly where your money is going, and how much we can save you.