Your card statement is designed not to be read.
I read it for you. Every fee in plain English, your real processing rate, and the dollar amount that is actually avoidable. If better terms are justified, I help you get them. Nothing reaches your processor without your approval.
Replies come to me directly. Three recent statements is all it takes.
| Annualized processing fees | $31,800 |
| Interchange and network, unavoidable | $24,600 |
| Processor-controlled fees | $7,200 |
| Achievable reduction | $3,400 to $4,800 |
| Switching and termination costs | $600 |
| Net first-year savings | $2,800 to $4,200 |
The quietest large expense you have
If your business runs $250,000 or more a year through cards, processing costs you thousands annually. The statement that explains why arrives every month, written in a format that rewards not looking: blended rates, tiered surcharges, fees named in abbreviations.
You know the savings on any one contract have never been worth your time. Processors price with exactly that in mind. Rates creep after the first year, new line items appear quietly, and the renewal passes unnoticed.
The problem isn't that you can't read the statement. It's that reading it has never been worth an owner's hour. That is the whole business model.
How the audit works
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Send three recent statements
Uploaded securely or forwarded by email. Account numbers are masked. That is everything the analysis needs to start.
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Get the audit, in plain English
A 20 to 30 minute review: what you paid, your real effective rate, which costs are unavoidable, which are negotiable, and the full calculation behind every number.
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You decide
Negotiate, wait for a notice window, or leave it alone. "Take no action" is a real recommendation, and you'll get it when the numbers say so.
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Better terms, on your approval
If you authorize it, I request a written pricing review from your processor. You approve the exact message before it goes. Savings are verified against your own later statements, not projections.
Why this isn't a broker
A business owner has three ways to deal with card-processing costs. Only one of them works for you.
| Termswell | A "free" broker or rep | Doing nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who pays them | You, and only from savings verified on your statements | The processor, through commissions and residuals on your volume | Nobody |
| What a switch earns them | Nothing, unless verified savings justify the fee | A signing bonus and a monthly residual, whether or not you save | Nothing |
| When your deal is already fair | "Take no action," in writing | A reason to move you anyway | Silence |
| What you get in writing | Every fee itemized and the full savings calculation | A quote sheet built on the seller's assumptions | An unreadable statement |
| Afterward | Monitoring for new fees, rate creep, and renewal deadlines | The residuals continue either way | The next quiet price increase |
What it costs
Free for the 20 pilot businesses.
In exchange, you provide accurate statements, sit for two short interviews, and tell me honestly whether the analysis was clear and useful.
If you authorize a negotiation: 20% of verified first-year savings, agreed in writing before anything is sent, with a cap. No savings, no fee.
After the pilot, this is the planned pricing:
- $49 to $149 per month for always-on monitoring: statement checks, renewal alerts, fee-change detection
- A success fee on verified savings when a negotiation pays off
- Zero processor commissions, at any point, for any reason
From the person reading your statements
I read merchant statements line by line so you don't have to. Not software pretending to be a person: the pilot is me, doing the work by hand, measuring everything, and building tools only for the parts that prove repetitive.
I take no money from processors, so nothing pushes the analysis toward switching. If your setup is already fair, that is the answer you'll get.
Larry
Running the pilot