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Acumen Connections » Blog » A Payment Processing Statement Evaluation Can Find These Common Red Flags

A Payment Processing Statement Evaluation Can Find These Common Red Flags

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Let’s face it, payment processing statements can be difficult to understand. There is a lot of jargon, terms, and acronyms used that most people have trouble understanding. We have over 22 years of experience in the payment processing industry, and in that time, we have seen it all. Other providers do some shady stuff trying to rip their business customers off financially. Some salesmen make false promises to adjust future fees. Some payment processing providers write in additional illegitimate fees hoping that you will not notice. Some might just outright try to nickel and dime you in each section. Other payment processing providers do this because they do not think the customer will notice what they are doing. Or they think they can hide things in the statement that the customer will not notice. Sadly, they are right. Most companies do not notice they are getting ripped off by their payment processing provider. Either because they do not understand what each fee is for, or they do not know they are being overcharged.

There is a reason people recommend seeking a second opinion for a medical diagnosis. There is a reason people recommend having a second set of eyes proofread something before it goes live. When more than one person looks at something, they are more likely to notice errors. A second doctor might recognize a better treatment option. A second proofreader might notice a line that is repeated twice. Having more than one set of eyes look at something can help ensure it is accurate. These same practices should be done for payment processing statements. It could save your company money every month.

At Acumen Connections, we are all about helping your businesses’ bottom line. Whether you are looking for a credit card processor or already have a payment processor, we can help. We proudly provide free statement evaluations. This service is free for everyone, even if you are not our customer.  Send us the most recent statement from your current payment processor, and we can explain each section. We will walk you through each line and explain what the charge is and why it costs that much. We will also double check that everything looks legit. And if you are a current customer, we would be more than happy to walk you through your most recent statement, too.

Red Flags to Look Out For

Have you seen any of these suspicious behaviors?

  • Salespeople promising to, “adjust certain fees” to save you money, and then never adjusting them or even up charging those same fees
  • Charging you a setup fee
  • Not being able to explain what each charge is for
  • Threatening to charge you a contract fee for breaking contract and leaving them
  • Refusing to answer your question about a recent statement
  • Having you purchase a terminal or point of sale (POS) item, and still pay an additional monthly usage fee

If you have seen any of these suspicious behaviors, you might want to get a free statement evaluation. We will walk you through the statement, and let you know if we see any strange or suspicious fees.

Unlike other payment processing providers, Acumen Connections does not nickel and dime you. We do not charge a contract fee if you leave, or a setup fee if you start business with us. If you purchase a terminal or POS item with us, then we charge you for the purchase of that item. We do not charge a monthly usage fee on top of that. You would not buy a copy machine for the office only to have to pay a monthly fee to use it; would you? The only time we charge a monthly usage fee is if you choose to rent a terminal or POS item from us, instead of purchasing it. We do charge an annual $89 fee for PCI compliance in December. Being PCI compliant is required for businesses that take money transactions with a credit card or debit card. Any processor that you work with would charge anywhere from $89 – $119 a year for this.  

>How to Understand a Statement

We know that statements can be difficult to read. That is why we have taken steps to help you understand our statement more easily. Our monthly statement can be broken up into four sections: the Business in Review cover page, the Summary of Card Types, the Summary of Card Fees, and the Total Charge to Your Account.

Acumen Connection customers will have access to the website First View. Here, companies can log in to their private account and have access to all of their business info on credit card transaction processing. Companies can also use the website to customize their monthly statement. They can have the cover page displaying specific data. There are plenty of options that companies can choose from. One option would be a Sales Volume by Month bar chart so that you can easily see which months you have the most sales and identify any seasonal trends that your business has. Another option is an Average Sales Volume by Weekday bar chart, which shows which day(s) of the week you have the most sales. There are plenty of other options available in First View, so we recommend checking it out!

The Summary of Card Types shows you a breakdown of how much customers bought at your store by card type. You can see how many items Visa card users bought and how much those sales were worth. You can also see how many returns they made, the net income from those sales, and even the average purchase amount. You can see the same information for Mastercard users and Discover card users too.

The next section is the Summary of Card Fees. This section shows each fee that the credit card companies (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) charge. This section is separated by card type so that you can see the total that each card company charges you. For each fee, we have broken it out so that you can see both the percentage charged and the volume of sales applicable. At the end of this section, we show you the sum of all of the card fees. 

The final section is the Total Charge to Your Account. This section totals the monthly fees and displays the total amount due. In this section, you will see the total card fees (from the previous section) and a few other fees that were incurred that month. Of course, if you ever have a question about your Acumen Connections statement, we would be happy to help! We can do a free statement evaluation so that you feel confident you know what each fee is.

Are you a current Acumen Connections customer that wants more information about their recent statement? Send us an email at support@acumenconnections.com and let us know!

Are you a company that would like to understand their payment processor’s statement? Check out our website AcumenConnections.com and contact us via phone at 800-864-4644 or via email at sales@acumenconnections.com.

Ariel Westphal

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“Hi there! I’m Ariel, the Marketing Director for Acumen Connections. I led the team in establishing Acumen Connections’ identity and processes when Brian J. Staver purchased the company in 2017. Nowadays, Renee and Anna do most of the heavy lifting on the content writing side as I oversee all marketing initiatives, but our team works together to create an environment that supports Acumen Connections’ mission of “Building Business Connections”.

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