Why statements are deliberately confusing
High-risk processor statements typically contain 30–80 line items across multiple sections. The headline rate ("3.5%") rarely matches the actual effective rate (often 5.5–7%). The gap is hidden in:
- Interchange downgrades — transactions that fall to a higher-cost tier because of how they were processed (manually-keyed vs. swiped, AVS mismatches, B2B card surcharges)
- Scheme fees — Visa NABU, Mastercard Network Access, etc. — pass-through but variable
- PCI compliance / non-compliance fees — monthly charges that escalate if you miss attestation deadlines
- Reserve withholding — not a fee but a working-capital cost (see 180-day reserve)
- Gateway markup — Authorize.Net, NMI fees billed separately
- Statement minimums — monthly minimums that mostly hit low-volume months
What a real statement audit produces
A proper audit takes 24–48 hours and produces:
- Your true effective rate across the last 3 months, broken out by transaction tier
- The line-item delta between your current statement and what PeptideApprove would charge for the same volume mix
- Your working capital locked in reserve (a number rarely shown on the statement itself)
- Estimated annual savings with sources cited per line
How PeptideApprove uses statement audits
PeptideApprove now leads with fixed pricing: 5% all-in for approved card processing merchants. A statement review can still help compare your current effective rate against the PeptideApprove program, but pricing is no longer hidden behind a custom quote process.