Pass-through context
Interchange and assessment categories often reflect card-network and issuer cost. The review helps keep those separate from processor-controlled charges.
Interchange fee review
Separate interchange cost from processor-controlled fees.
Interchange fees are a major part of card acceptance cost, but they are not the whole bill. A review helps merchants see what appears to be pass-through cost and what may be markup or operational friction.
Downgrade clues
Some statement patterns may suggest avoidable cost from missing data, keyed transactions, card-not-present activity, or commercial-card handling.
Pricing model questions
A merchant should know whether pricing is interchange-plus, tiered, flat-rate, or blended before deciding how to challenge the bill.
What gets reviewed
Fields that turn a statement into a useful review.
StatementIQ looks for statement evidence first, then separates confirmed values from directional clues. That helps keep the report useful without overstating what one document can prove.
- Interchange, dues, assessments, and network-cost clues
- Processor markup and service charges
- Pricing model indicators
- Downgrade, keyed-entry, and data-quality signals
- Card-present and card-not-present mix
- Total fees, volume, and effective rate
- Statement evidence that supports pass-through claims
- Questions to ask before renegotiation
What interchange does and does not explain
Interchange is usually one of the largest components of processing cost, but merchants still need to understand processor markup, monthly fees, gateway fees, assessments, and operational patterns.
A statement review helps avoid two mistakes: assuming every fee is negotiable, or assuming every fee is unavoidable.
Why pricing model matters
On interchange-plus pricing, pass-through cost and processor markup may be easier to separate. On tiered or blended pricing, the statement may require more interpretation before the merchant can see what is controllable.
The right follow-up question depends on which model the statement appears to show.
Evidence trail
Useful analysis needs more than a summary.
The value of the review is that StatementIQ keeps the merchant statement, extracted fields, review status, peer references, and processor questions connected. That makes the output easier to verify, repeat across months, and use in a real pricing conversation.
Reading path
Useful next questions
Payment cost questions usually connect to neighboring topics. These guides help you follow the path from statement evidence to processor questions.
Merchant processing fee audit
Understand how a fee audit separates interchange and card-network pass-through expenses from processor-controlled markup, recurring monthly charges, gateway fees, and other negotiable costs.
Payment processor comparisonA payment processor comparison should look beyond headline rates to effective cost, fees, contract terms, support, funding, chargebacks, and statement evidence.
Payment processing cost reductionExplore the operational and pricing drivers behind higher processing costs, including downgrade patterns, recurring service fees, processor markup, transaction routing, and payment acceptance practices that may be impacting margin.
Common questions
What is an interchange fee review?
It is a review of the statement evidence around interchange, assessments, processor markup, downgrades, and pricing model so the merchant can understand what may be controllable.
Are interchange fees negotiable?
Interchange itself is generally treated as pass-through card-network and issuer cost, but processor markup, fixed fees, pricing model, and operational causes of higher cost may be reviewable.
Can a statement show downgrade issues?
Sometimes. The statement may include clues about keyed-entry, missing data, card-not-present activity, or commercial-card patterns that deserve follow-up.
Want to separate pass-through cost from markup?
Upload a statement and StatementIQ will look for interchange, assessment, processor-fee, and effective-rate signals.