The Rate You’re Quoted Isn’t the Rate You Pay
The rate a provider quotes when you sign up is almost never the number you actually pay. It’s the entry point to a longer list of charges that mostly only become visible once you’re a few months into a contract and start reading the statement line by line.
PCI Compliance Fees
Roughly £6 a month per terminal is standard practice, clearly itemised by reputable providers, and it isn’t a scam charge, it covers your annual compliance obligation. What’s worth questioning is anything materially above that, or a “non-compliance fee” that appears because nobody flagged that an annual questionnaire was due.
Chargeback Fees
Chargeback fees hit when a customer disputes a transaction through their card issuer rather than coming to you first. Expect £15 to £30 per dispute in the UK, charged whether you ultimately win or lose the case. A business with a chargeback ratio above roughly 1% can also see its transaction rate increase or its account flagged for review, so a pattern of disputes ends up costing more than the sum of the individual fees.
Early Termination Fees
Early termination fees are the ones that catch people out mid-contract. Providers on 12 to 36 month rental agreements can charge £300 to £1,000 or more to exit early, worth knowing before, not after, signing, particularly if your business might move premises, close a location, or simply find a cheaper deal in year two.
Minimum Monthly Charges and Non-Sterling Surcharges
Minimum monthly service charges apply on some plans regardless of how much you actually process that month, meaning a quiet January can generate the same fee as a busy December. Non-sterling transaction surcharges, typically 0.5% to 2.5%, apply when a foreign-issued card is used, relevant for any business near a tourist area or selling internationally.
Calculate Your Real Effective Rate
None of these fees are individually huge. The problem is cumulative: a provider advertising “1.5% and nothing else” who then adds a £15 PCI fee, a £10 minimum monthly charge, and the odd chargeback can end up costing a low-volume business considerably more than the headline rate suggests, once you work out the effective rate (total monthly cost divided by monthly card turnover) rather than just the quoted percentage. The fix isn’t complicated, just slightly uncomfortable: ask for the complete fee schedule before signing anything, in writing, and calculate the effective rate against an actual typical month rather than a hypothetical high-volume one.
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