Markup above contract
Basis-point or per-transaction markups billed above the rates in the pricing schedule.
Merchant Processing Fee Audit
Merchant processing fee audit against your processor agreement.
AllCaps audits merchant processing statements against your processor agreement and pricing schedule to find markups and fees that do not match what you negotiated. Each finding shows the statement line, the contract term, and the calculation.
Typical leakage
Where the money goes
Processing statements combine network costs and processor charges, which makes contract drift hard to see.
Fees not in the agreement
Monthly, compliance, statement, or program fees that the agreement does not list or that exceed its caps.
Unnotified pricing changes
Rate or fee increases applied without the notice the agreement requires.
Pass-through items with added margin
Costs the agreement treats as pass-through that arrive with a markup.
Tiers not applied
Volume-based pricing that should have stepped down once processing volume crossed a threshold.
Charges after a service ended
Gateway, terminal, or add-on fees that continue after the service was cancelled.
Evidence
What the audit checks
The audit uses your agreement and the statements your processor already sends.
Processor agreement
The merchant agreement, its pricing schedule, and any amendments.
Merchant statements
Monthly statements with fee and volume detail, as PDFs or exports.
Change notices
Pricing and fee notices from the processor, where you have kept them.
Service records
Records of cancelled gateways, terminals, or add-on services.
Example
What a finding looks like
A finding separates what the agreement allows from what the statement charged.
| Issue | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Markup billed at 0.28% against a contracted 0.20% | $4,000,000 monthly volume × 0.08% × 9 months | $28,800 |
| Monthly program fee absent from the agreement | $1,250 per month × 9 months | $11,250 |
| Total questioned | $40,050 | |
Illustrative example with sample figures, showing how a finding is calculated.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if my payment processor is overcharging me?
Compare each fee on your merchant statement with the rates, caps, and fee list in your processor agreement and pricing schedule. AllCaps does this line by line and shows the contract term behind every exception.
Can AllCaps reduce interchange?
Interchange is set by the card networks, so an audit does not change it. AllCaps focuses on what your agreement governs, such as processor markups, fees, and whether pass-through costs were passed through as agreed.
What do we need to send?
Your processor agreement with its pricing schedule and any amendments, plus historical merchant statements. No integration is required for the Proof Audit.
Does this replace our payment processor or reconciliation tool?
No. AllCaps is a contract-level audit layer that works alongside your processor and reconciliation tools.
Will AllCaps contact our payment processor?
Not without your approval. Findings come with contract and clause support so your team can review them first, and any external action remains subject to your approval.
How is a merchant fee audit priced?
The Proof Audit is a one-time fee scoped and priced to your contracts and statements. Ongoing audit is a subscription based on contract and invoice volume.
Start with your own contracts and invoices.
Send up to three contracts and 100 historical invoices. Review evidence-backed findings, then decide what comes next.