Check your statement monthly

I can't tell you how many times merchants hand me their credit card processing statement still sealed in the original envelope. But, I can't say as I blame them as many of these statements are difficult to decipher. In fact, most processors know, from experience, that a very small percentage of merchants really take the time to look at them. Good for them....bad for you.

If you feel that it is near impossible to really understand your statement, and all it's various charges, you need to ask the questions. You could contact your rep, if they're still around. The Customer Care department of your service provider, would be another suggestion, and they should be happy to walk you thru it, line by line. Or, you could contact me and with my years of experience, and I'll be able to help you figure it all out.

Often, you will see at the top of your monthly statement, something called "Important Notice" or "Statement Messages". Here is typically where you will see notes on upcoming changes to your statement and subsequently, your processing costs.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. With the increased credit card fraud and data breaches of late, most processors are passing on some sort of "fee" to you to help "protect" you and your business. Typically, they will notify you in the Statement Message section of your statement of upcoming charges. One processor I know of, notified their merchants of a monthly $9.99 Data Breach Service fee that was going to be charged to them. They gave merchants a couple months for free with the opportunity to call in and opt out if they didn't want it. However, the majority of merchants never read those little notes and months later, some of them start calling in asking what the fee is and who authorized it.

I've also seen merchants that are still getting statements from processors that they previously did business with, and are still paying monthly minimum fees to because they never cancelled the agreement. This, of course, is just money being thrown away.

Probably the most disturbing thing I find is that, over time, a merchants rates have continued to rise, without the knowledge of the merchant because they haven't looked at their statement in detail each month. Or, there are services they are paying for, but not utilizing and therefore costing them unnecessarily.

So, the bottom line here is....how is this affecting your bottom line? Let me urge you, please, please, please, take the time, each and every month, to look at your statement in detail. Make certain that you fully understand every charge and why you're paying it. If, when you make your call, you feel as if you're getting the runaround, please don't hesitate to contact me utilizing any of the contact methods found on this blog.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Be blessed and be a blessing.