Do you really know what you pay? How to read your merchant statement before October

Ask ten merchants their card acceptance rate and eight will quote the headline number from their signup letter — which is almost never what they actually pay. Merchant statements bury the truth in fee codes, blended tiers and GST lines. Before October's reforms, you need three numbers off that statement. Here's how to find them in fifteen minutes.

The three numbers that matter

Everything Compayr's engine (or any honest comparison) needs about your current deal:

1. Monthly card turnover — total value of card transactions processed.
2. Card mix — the split between debit, credit and international/foreign cards.
3. Total fees paid — every acceptance cost on the statement, not just the percentage line.

From (1) and (3) comes the only rate that matters: your effective rate = total fees ÷ card turnover. That single number is comparable across any provider, any pricing model, any month.

Where they hide

Turnover is usually the easy one — "Total sales", "Settlement value" or "Gross transactions", typically on page one. Use the gross figure (before fees deducted), and average three months.

Card mix appears as a transaction breakdown by scheme: eftpos/debit, Visa/Mastercard credit, international. On some fintech statements it's in the dashboard rather than the PDF. If you truly can't find it, 70% debit / 27% credit / 3% international is a workable Australian in-person default — but your own split is better [3].

Total fees is where statements earn their reputation. Sweep all of it:

• Merchant service fee (the percentage line — may be split by scheme or blended)
• Terminal rental or "equipment fee" (monthly, often on a separate page or invoice)
• Monthly account/participation fees
• Minimum monthly service charges (the sneakiest: a floor you pay when quiet months undershoot)
• Per-transaction cents (some plans add $0.05–0.30 per tap)
• Chargeback fees, paper-statement fees, PCI/"compliance" fees
• International/foreign card loadings

Exclude GST from your comparison if you're GST-registered — you claim it back, so your true cost is the ex-GST figure. (Check whether your statement quotes fees inc- or ex-GST; providers are inconsistent, and it moves the answer by ~10%.)

Worked example

A retailer's statement shows: $42,000 gross card sales; MSF $529.20; terminal rental $29.00; monthly fee $10; one chargeback fee $25.

Total fees = $593.20 → effective rate = 593.20 ÷ 42,000 = 1.41% — against a signup letter that says "1.15%". The gap is the fixed fees and the odd incident charge. That 0.26% difference is $1,750/year of invisible cost. This is why headline-rate comparisons mislead and card processing cost comparisons don't.

Red flags while you're in there

• Effective rate drifting up over six months with no mix change → repricing you weren't told about, or fee creep.
• A "minimum service charge" appearing in quiet months → your plan mis-fits your volume.
• Blended rate above ~1.5% ex-GST on a debit-heavy mix → you're paying credit-card prices for debit taps; October's interchange cuts make that even less defensible [1].
• Fees you can't name. Every code on that statement is either explicable or negotiable.

What this means for you

Fifteen minutes, three statements, one division. Your effective rate is the number that makes every provider conversation honest — theirs and your current one's. Walk into October knowing it, and the reform becomes an opportunity; without it, every "great deal" is unfalsifiable.

Prefer it done for you? Compayr's manual statement review takes your statement as-is and returns turnover, mix, effective rate and a ranked market comparison — no deciphering required. (Coming soon — join the list on the comparison page.)

Got your three numbers? Drop them into the decoder below, then see the providers we compare ranked at your volume. Compare now →

Guidance is general; statement formats vary by provider. Provider details indicative, last verified July 2026.