Stop merchant fee leakage with a practical operating sprint: statement decomposition → anomaly triage → vendor actions → savings proof.
Run the OperationCorePlaybook45 minProcurement and Ops, Finance
Stop merchant fee leakage with a practical operating sprint: statement decomposition → anomaly triage → vendor actions → savings proof.
Primary outcomes:
Cost reduction: reduce avoidable fees and pricing drift
Risk mitigation: improve chargeback/refund discipline and compliance
Carbon impact: not applicable
The most common leakage patterns
pricing drift after contract changes
unnecessary gateway/tool duplication fees
PCI/compliance penalties that are avoidable with basic hygiene
chargeback losses and avoidable disputes
“misc fees” that appear without explanation
weak refund controls creating net fee drag
30/60/90 improvement plan
Days 1–30
build statement decomposition (last 3 months)
compute effective rate trend
identify top 10 fee lines by $ and by surprise
Days 31–60
challenge fees with vendor using an anomaly log
renegotiate pricing deltas where justified
tighten chargeback and refund workflows
Days 61–90
lock monthly review cadence
renewals tracked early enough to create competitive pressure
savings logged with proof links
Templates (copy/paste)
1) Merchant Fee Anomaly Triage
Month
Fee
Amount
Why it’s suspicious
Vendor response
Action
Owner
Status
2) Vendor outreach (pricing drift / junk fees)
Copyable template (TEXT)
We reviewed our monthly statement and identified fees that require explanation or correction.
Please provide:
- fee definitions and calculations
- contract basis (where applicable)
- whether these fees can be removed or reduced
If unsupported, please issue a credit or corrected statement.