Save Money by Analyzing Your Merchant Statements in 3 Easy Steps
Is it important to review my merchant account annually?
Definitively, YES.
But, you may be asking yourself, how do I do that, how do I prepare my statements for review?
1. Provide Your 3-Month Statements
In order to be fully prepared for a merchant account review, a consultant will typically request 3 months of your merchant processing statements. By analyzing over a period of 3 months, it provides the consultant with enough information to effectively evaluate the merchant account using several different variables. These include volume, interchange fees, costs, junk fees, PCI or Non-PCI compliance fees, as well as several other factors, but these are the most notable.
2. Consultant will Analyze the Volume and Costs
Once received, a consultant will typically review Visa/MC/Discover separately than American Express due to the first 3 card types being considered “bankcard” and Amex is not. By separating the volume and costs, it gives you (the merchant) a clearly defined snapshot of how and what costs are being influenced by the way your business is processing transactions. Whether that be in a retail setting (swiped/card present) versus a non-retail setting (B2B/card not present).
3. Receive a Cost-saving Analysis
Once the data has been collected and analyzed, the consultant will be able to list out what factors they’re able to adjust and control. How you process the payment and the statements provide the auditing team with the data necessary to determine which pricing is best suited for your company. In return, the consultant will be able to provide a cost-saving analysis outlining the savings opportunities available for your business type. At Evolve Payment, we give merchants the information they need to determine whether a transition to a new processor or new process is most profitable for your business.
Next Step
It is extremely important for all merchants to actively review merchant accounts for changes as the card brand associations adjust interchange rates every April and October, and sometimes in between. With the new year upon us, now is the perfect time to take advantage of reviewing your merchant program. The simple steps of collecting 3 months of statements and sending them over to Evolve Payment for review will help your company save money and go through the year in a stronger financial position.