The reality: hidden fees and complex pricing can quickly inflate costs. In one industry survey, 42% of merchants say they’ve been hit by “hidden fees” in their contracts. Another report found over 90% of small businesses pay more in processing fees than they expected. It only takes a few cents or percentage points here and there to shave thousands off a busy store’s profits each year.
For example, Global Payments recently auto-enrolled merchants in a “free trial” of its FraudSight fraud-protection service. If a merchant misses the opt-out deadline, they suddenly pay $0.05 per transaction plus a $19.95 monthly minimum per merchant ID. Miss one email and you could see hundreds of dollars in surprise fees added to your statement each month.
Or consider Worldpay (now part of Global Payments): lawsuits allege the company “deliberately obscures” fees in fine print, leaving merchants “blindsided with numerous unanticipated and excessive fees” after signing up. Worldpay even agreed to a $15M settlement over hidden surcharges charged to small businesses. This shows how easy it is to be locked into a bad deal without realizing it.
Even Stripe has quietly added fees. In mid-2025 Stripe introduced a $15 “counter-dispute” fee for fighting chargebacks, meaning a lost dispute now costs $30 instead of $15. One analysis found that after adding all markups and fees, a $100 sale on Stripe can effectively cost merchants $8–$9, far above the sticker rate of 2.9%.
Always dig into the details.
Ask your processor to itemize every fee and explain when each one applies. A low advertised rate can hide dozens of charges, including interchange and network assessments, gateway or statement fees, PCI/PCI-DSS fees, and chargeback or chargeback management fees. Don’t let surprise line items erode your margins. Calculate your actual cost per transaction (not just the base rate), and question any new fee before it shows up on your statement.
If you want to understand exactly what you’re paying for, we’d be happy to help. Transparent pricing, straightforward answers, and exceptional human service.