Most small businesses check their payment bill once a month, glance at the headline rate, shrug, and move on. The problem is that the headline rate rarely tells the full story. According to Nicholas, after 12 years of auditing merchant statements, the same pattern appears again and again: business owners are paying far more than they realise. This guide breaks down the hidden fees, uplifts and charges that quietly eat into an SME’s cashflow, and what to look out for when reviewing your bill.

The trap of the “great debit rate”

Many providers advertise an attractive debit card rate. But we see the same issue in almost every audit:

• Debit rate looks great

• Credit card fees are quietly inflated

• Business debit rates are even higher

• Additional uplifts are added per transaction

  So although the first number looks cheap, the real total is far from it.

The uplift nobody notices

One of the most shocking findings we see is an uplift added to the base debit rate. In some cases:

• +0.77 percent added

• Or an extra 10p per transaction

  Multiply that across hundreds or thousands of transactions, and the cost explodes. These uplifts are rarely highlighted. They sit buried inside the breakdown.

PCI compliance fines that can crush a small business

Many SMEs don’t know they’re paying PCI-related fees. Worse, some providers apply a PCI non-compliance fine that can reach up to 0.3 percent of total turnover. For a small business turning over £500,000 a year, that could be £1,500 paid for nothing more than a checkbox that was never explained properly.

Interchange and scheme fees

Card schemes and interchange fees vary between card types. Nicholas often finds:

• Business cards costing more

• Premium cards costing more

• Overseas cards costing more

  This is normal, but poor providers bury these details so a business owner cannot plan or understand their true blended rate.

Why most SMEs never see the full picture

We've reviewed statements for over a decade. The biggest issue is simple: most business owners never read past the first line of the bill.

Which means:

• High credit fees go unnoticed

• Added uplifts stay hidden

• PCI penalties continue for months

• Blended rate is never calculated

• No one checks whether the rate matches what was promised

A simple step-by-step to review your own bill

You don’t need to be an expert. Check these:

1. Debit card rate

2. Credit card rate

3. Business debit and business credit rates

4. Any “uplift” or per transaction adjustment

5. Monthly PCI charges

6. PCI non-compliance charges

7. Minimum monthly service charges

8. Extra fees for early termination. Fixing these alone often saves thousands per year.

Conclusion

The payment industry is full of noise. Many providers focus on a single “great rate” in their advertising. But your cost is never one rate. It’s a collection of charges, uplifts and conditions that need to be viewed together. If you want a clear, honest breakdown of your current bill, Omnigo will look at it line by line and show you the true cost.