How to read your card machine statement
Your card machine statement shows what it cost to take cards last month. Every provider lays theirs out differently, but they share the same building blocks. Here’s what each part is for, in plain English.
First, find your statement
Some providers call it a merchant statement, an invoice or a billing statement. Whatever the name, you want the monthly document that lists what you took on cards and what it cost.
- Check your email. Search your inbox for “statement”, “invoice” or “merchant”. It may come as a PDF each month.
- Check your online account. Use the login from when the card machine was set up, then look under statements, invoices or billing.
- Still can’t find it? Ask your provider to email you the latest one. A paper copy is fine too.
While you’re in your online account, look for a summary box as well. Some providers show one, with your key prices and contract terms in one place.
Start with two numbers
Near the top you should find a summary. It shows the month, your business name and your merchant number, which is how your provider knows your account. It may also show when your contract ends.
Two lines in that summary matter more than the rest:
- how much you took on cards that month
- what it cost you in total
Put those two side by side, month after month. If the cost goes up and your takings don’t, something has changed. The lines further down will tell you what.
It also helps to know how you’re paid. Some providers take their fees off before the money reaches your bank. Others pay you the full takings and send a separate bill for the fees. Knowing which makes the numbers in your bank make sense.
The charges for each type of card
Next comes a table of the payments you took, split by type of card. Debit cards, credit cards, business cards and cards from abroad can each cost a different amount to accept. So two months with the same takings can cost different amounts, just because people paid in different ways.
Some statements show one simple rate for each type of card. Others split every payment into three parts: a part for the customer’s bank, a part for the card network, and your provider’s own charge. Both layouts are normal. The second takes longer to read, but it shows you more.
The other charges underneath
Below the card table sit the other charges. Some come every month. Others depend on what happened that month. Read them slowly.
- Authorisation fees. A charge for checking that each payment can go through. It’s usually a flat charge per payment, whatever the size of the sale. So it weighs most on small payments: on a coffee it’s a noticeable slice of the sale, on a set of tyres you’d barely see it. On some contracts it’s charged per attempt, so a card that declines and gets tried again counts twice.
- Minimum monthly service charge. A top-up that appears when a month’s fees come in under an agreed level. How the minimum charge works
- PCI fees. Charges linked to the card industry’s security rules for businesses that take cards. One kind stops once a yearly check is done. What a PCI non-compliance fee is
- Terminal rental. What you pay for the card machine itself. If you hire it from a different company, it won’t be on this statement at all. How card machine contracts work
- Refund and chargeback fees. A refund can carry its own charge. A chargeback is when a customer disputes a payment through their bank, and there can be a fee on top of the money.
- Anything called “other”, “sundry” or “miscellaneous”. Ask your provider what it is. It’s a fair question.
Why the total can change
Card machine fees higher than when you signed? It doesn’t have to mean something’s gone wrong. Four things can move them:
- An introductory price comes to an end.
- The first term finishes and the contract rolls onto standard terms.
- Customers pay with a different mix of cards, and each type can cost a different amount to accept.
- Fees set further up the chain, by the card networks, get passed through.
The statement is where to look to see which one it is.
Questions worth asking your provider
If a line doesn’t make sense, ask. Four questions go a long way:
- What is this charge for?
- Is it charged every month, or only sometimes?
- Where is it in my contract?
- What would make it stop?