How to Read Your Chase Paymentech Statement

Is the title a statement or a question? It’s up to you to decide. But let’s shed some light on this, and maybe it’ll help you make up your mind.

I discuss this kind of statement in my latest book, The Great American Heist – How Credit Card Processors Steal Businesses’ Profits. In Chapter 13, titled “Different Billing Types: Zero Disclosure/Numeric Billing,” I cover how credit card processors often use hidden codes to represent interchange categories, instead of using the already complex official interchange categories.

To clarify, while interchange categories are complicated, they can still be understood with enough time and expertise. For instance, “EIRF” stands for Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee, a term that might mean little to the average merchant. However, with some research, you can learn that it often indicates a missing or incorrect zip code, depending on your Merchant Category Code (MCC). Yes, it’s confusing—and that’s exactly how the issuing banks and processing networks want it.

Below is an example of how your interchange fees should be displayed. If your statement looks like this, we can review each line item and explain why a transaction was downgraded. A downgrade means the transaction settled or cleared at a higher interchange rate. We can also determine whether your credit card processor charged you the actual interchange fees or if they inflated them. Now, before we get too far, you might be thinking, “Of course they’re charging the right amount.” But what many don’t realize is that merchant processing isn’t regulated. Credit card processors can inflate or even invent fees. For more on this, see, “How Can I Have the Lowest Discount Rate and the Worst Deal?”

Interchange fees make up about 90% of your total processing costs. So controlling your interchange fees is the most important step to controlling—or reducing—your overall processing costs. Part of that involves ensuring that each transaction clears at the lowest possible rate. But to do that, you first need to understand how the transaction settled and where it might have gone wrong.

Below is how your interchange should be disclosed. If your statement includes this information, we can tell you whether your transactions are settling at the best possible interchange fees or if there are settlement issues.

We can also determine if your credit card processor is inflating your interchange fees. For more information, check out an article I wrote for Forbes on this exact issue.

Now, let’s take a look at a Chase Paymentech statement below.

Instead of providing the actual interchange category, such as “MC-BUS LEVEL 3 DATA RATE I,” they use a code like “V148.”

Did the transactions clear at the lowest interchange rate or the highest? If you don’t know, how can you improve it? Are they inflating the interchange fees? This is a question I explore further in the Forbes article.

Why are they hiding the interchange categories? Generally, things are hidden when someone doesn’t want you to see something. Could it be that they’re inflating or padding the interchange fees? Take a close look at the image below—a Chase Paymentech statement where two of the largest credit card processors settled for $52 million after being accused of inflating interchange fees. Even after the settlement, they maintained they did nothing wrong and stated they would continue conducting business as they had been.

I wish I could say, “Call us, and we’ll make Chase Paymentech transparent,” but unfortunately, that’s not possible. They’d rather lose merchants than reveal their secret coding system.

Merchant processing is not regulated, which means any processor you deal with can hide fees, inflate them, or even add made-up charges. If you’re like most merchants, you’ve probably switched credit card processors a few times, only to find yourself facing the same situation—being taken advantage of again.

This is why some of the largest companies in the world turn to us for help in navigating this highly complex part of their business. On average, our clients pay 40% less in fees after they start working with us. To be clear, we don’t sell credit card processing. We audit credit card processors, negotiate, and vet agreements. Our guarantee is simple: if you find a company that saves you more money after hiring us, we’ll refund you double what you’ve paid us over the last six months. Plus, everything we do is backed by a Love-The-Results-Or-Don’t-Pay Guarantee.

This is why Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank says we truly are a NO-BRAINER!

And why Trevor Gleason, Treasurer of Facebook UK, called us “a company not to be overlooked.”

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