[David John]

That being said, there are still some basic keys to look for when reading your statement. Here's what I look for in analyzing a merchant statement, in order:

One: The pricing structure - how has the account been set up? Which pricing model does it employ? Is it using tiers (e.g. 3-tier; 4-tier, etc.) or - is it using "Interchange Plus"? (NOTE: most merchants are on a tier pricing model, which, in my opinion guarantees they're being overcharged. Also, there are other pricing structures but tier pricing is by far the most common)

Two: The monthly fees (sometimes called "Other") - next, I look to see what the monthly fees are. This can include: a statement fee; monthly service fee; account maintenance fee (normally, you'd only see one of these although I've seen two - or, you may see the equivalent fee but using a different term); PCI fee; batch fee; and gateway or access fees. Any miscellaneous, but not monthly fees can also show up here - e.g., an annual fee or semi-quarterly.

Three: Processing Fees - this is where the discount rates North American Bancard Sales Partner will be listed. If you are on tier pricing the best statements will print an itemized list showing the "qualified", "mid-qualified", and "non-qualified" (the 3 tiers) rate. If you are on Interchange Plus, you'll see a list showing all the different cards you took, followed by the actual interchange rate for the card, the "dpi" (discount per item), plus the processors mark-up expressed as basis points and a transaction fee (or per item, depending on the term used to list it).