Control payment processing costs by making fees understandable: inventory → statement decomposition → anomaly detection → governance → renewal leverage.
Primary outcomes:
- Cost reduction: reduce hidden fees, pricing drift, and avoidable penalties
- Risk mitigation: improves payment security posture and chargeback discipline
- Carbon impact: not applicable
Beginner truth: Merchant fees feel “opaque” until you decompose the statement. Then they become negotiable.
What you’ll build
- Merchant account inventory (processors, gateways, merchant IDs)
- Statement decomposition (what you’re actually paying for)
- Fee anomaly log (spikes and new fees)
- Chargeback/refund tracker (loss control)
- Renewal/contract terms tracking (avoid lock‑ins)
Step-by-step
Step 1 — Inventory the payments stack
List:
- processors
- gateways
- merchant IDs
- channels (online, in-person, subscriptions)
- contract end dates (if known)
Step 2 — Decompose statements (minimum)
Capture for each month:
- processing volume ($)
- total fees ($)
- effective rate (%)
- “junk fees” (PCI, monthly minimums, gateway fees, batch fees, etc.)
Step 3 — Identify top leakage patterns
Common leakage:
- fee drift after term changes
- non-compliance fees (PCI)
- chargeback losses
- duplicate gateway/tool charges
- high downgrade rates (if visible)
Step 4 — Install governance
Monthly:
- fee review + anomaly log update
Quarterly:
- QBR with processor/gateway (fees, disputes, roadmap)
Templates (copy/paste)
1) Merchant Account Inventory
| Processor | Gateway | Merchant ID | Channel | Contract end | Renewal notice | Owner | Notes | Evidence link |
|---|
2) Statement Decomposition (monthly)
| Month | Volume $ | Total fees $ | Effective rate % | Interchange/assessment $ (if shown) | Processor markup $ | Fixed fees $ | Chargebacks $ | Notes |
|---|
3) Fee Anomaly Log
| Month | Fee type | Amount | Why flagged | Action | Owner | Status | Evidence |
|---|
4) Chargeback and Refund Tracker
| Month | Chargebacks (#) | Chargebacks $ | Win rate % | Refund $ | Notes | Owner |
|---|
- Vendor Master Data Governance Kit ()
- Contract Repository and Clause Extraction Copy Pack ()
- Renewal Control Copy Pack ()
- Spend Visibility Starter Copy Pack ()
- Merchant Fees Savings Estimator ()
- Savings Realization Proof System ()
Definition of Done
- merchant accounts are inventoried and owned
- effective rate and fee mix are visible monthly
- anomalies are logged and resolved
- renewals are tracked early enough to negotiate