Switching processors, without trading one mystery statement for another.
Most switches start with a statement that grew a few basis points a quarter until it hurt, and end at a new provider doing the same thing more slowly. The fix is not a better promise — it is pricing you can audit: interchange at cost, a published target markup, and a calculator that prices your real volume before anyone asks for a signature.
Interchange-plus, published · Target markup 5 basis points + 5¢ · Your numbers before your signature
Why statements grow, and why switching often fails to fix it
The mechanics of statement creep are boring on purpose — boring survives scrutiny.
Bundled pricing hides the moving part
Flat and tiered plans blend interchange — the card networks’ cost, which is public — with the processor’s margin, which is not. When the blend drifts upward, nothing on the statement says which part moved. That opacity is the product.
Switching to another bundle restarts the clock
A new provider’s honeymoon rate is still a blend, still repriceable, still drifting by notice buried in a monthly PDF. Merchants who switch bundles average a good first year and a familiar third one.
Interchange-plus removes the hiding place
Cost passed through at cost, margin printed as its own line. Our published target is 5 basis points plus 5¢ per transaction with no monthly fee — a target we commit to pursuing on every account, and a line you can check on every statement afterward.
What switching actually involves
Anyone who tells you switching is frictionless is starting the relationship with a lie. Here is the honest inventory.
A new merchant account. Underwriting reviews your business and volume — the application takes minutes, the decision belongs to the acquirer, and we do not promise its timing.
Hardware, reprogrammed or replaced. Some terminals can be re-keyed to a new processor; many are locked. Where new hardware is the answer, qualifying accounts can receive a Clover Mini or Flex placement with no hardware charge, and everything else is priced in writing before you commit.
An overlap week. Sensible switches run the old account alongside the new one for a settlement cycle so nothing bounces mid-migration. Your old agreement’s termination terms deserve one careful read — early-termination clauses live in bundled contracts more often than in transparent ones.
What does not move: your money’s destination. Deposits land in the same bank account you use today.
The proof step costs ten minutes and no signature
Take one recent statement, put its volume and average ticket into the calculator, and read the comparison in your own numbers.
The calculator prices your month at interchange cost plus our published target and shows the arithmetic line by line. If your current effective rate beats it, you will see that plainly — keeping a good deal is also a correct outcome of doing the math. If it does not, the number you saw is the number the application submits, and the switch conversation starts from evidence instead of a pitch.
Asked by every switcher
How long does switching take end to end?
The application takes minutes; underwriting and hardware shipping run on the acquirer’s and carrier’s clocks, which we report but do not promise. Most merchants plan around an overlap week once approval lands.
Will my rates really be lower?
We publish the model instead of promising an outcome: interchange at cost plus a target markup of 5 basis points and 5¢ per transaction. Whether that beats your current statement depends on your current statement — which is exactly what the calculator answers with your own numbers, conservatively framed.
Do I have to change banks?
No. Settlement deposits to the business bank account you already use.
What happens to my existing hardware?
Re-keyable terminals can often be reprogrammed; locked ones cannot. Where replacement is right, qualifying accounts receive a Clover placement with no hardware charge, and any hardware outside qualification is priced in writing first.
What about my current contract’s termination fee?
Read it before you sign anything new — ours included. Early-termination clauses are common in bundled agreements, and the honest move is to weigh that cost against the drift you are escaping, in numbers, before deciding when to switch.
Bring the statement. Leave with the math.
Ten minutes with the calculator turns statement shock into a decision made in your own numbers — and the number you clicked is the number we submit.
Applying carries no obligation. Underwriting, approval and final rates are determined by the processor.
Not sure this is the right account? See every way to apply →