Merchant Processing Savings
Credit card processing is one of the least regulated line items on a small business's books. I work with providers that specialize in reducing these fees: a free statement review, direct negotiation with your existing processor, and ongoing monitoring afterward. They are paid from a share of what they save you, so there is nothing out of pocket and nothing owed if they find nothing.
How This Works
As a partner with OTG Consulting, I consult on what actually fits your business and connect you with the provider that delivers it. OTG is a consultancy that presents the services of other providers rather than delivering them itself.
The capabilities described on this page are delivered and supported by the service provider you select, not by Paul Petro IO or OTG Consulting. My role is helping you choose well and staying reachable after the contract is signed.
I helped win a $45 million network transport contract, which meant a lot of hours on the other side of a pricing table watching how rate structures get built and defended. What I took from it: complexity in a fee schedule is rarely an accident.
Interchange is a pass-through and nobody controls it. The markup layered on top of it is negotiable, and the way it all gets presented on your statement is a choice somebody made. So when I look at a provider for this work, I care whether they can walk your statement line by line before they promise you anything at all. If they cannot read it back to you, they are not going to renegotiate it for you either.
Paul Petro · U.S. Marine Corps veteran, 25+ years in telecom and IT
No Upfront Cost, No Risk
Send Your Statement
That's it to get started. Send me your most recent merchant billing statement and I'll get it in front of the right provider. Nothing else to sign or set up.
No Upfront Cost
The review and negotiation cost you nothing out of pocket, regardless of what's found.
Paid From the Savings
The provider works on a savings-share basis: a portion of what gets saved, and nothing if nothing's found. That is also why they keep digging rather than stopping at the first easy win.
Analyze, Adjust, Audit
Carried out by the providers I work with, not by me. My part is picking the right one for your situation and staying reachable afterward.
1. Analyze
A free, no-obligation review of your payment processing statements to find hidden fees and inflated rates most businesses never notice.
2. Adjust
Direct negotiation with your current processor to reduce rates and eliminate unnecessary charges, without switching processors or changing equipment.
3. Audit
Ongoing monitoring of your statements after the fact, so a rate that quietly creeps back up gets caught before it costs you another year.
Errors and Inflated Fees Are More Common Than You'd Think
Processing rates and fee schedules aren't standardized, and they don't always move in your favor over time. A statement that looked fine when you signed up can quietly get more expensive year after year, and most businesses never go back and check.
Every Card Swipe in a Short Season Counts
High Card Volume, Thin Margins
Waikiki retail, North Shore tour operators, and restaurants doing most of their card volume in a concentrated stretch feel every basis point more than a business with steady year-round sales.
No Equipment Swap
Your terminals, your point-of-sale system, your processor all stay the same. This is a rate and fee review, not a system migration.
Most Never Check
Most businesses have no idea what's actually buried in their statement until someone looks. Takes minutes to send it over and find out.
Questions I Get About Processing Fees
Do we have to change processors or replace our terminals?
No. The work is a renegotiation of the rates and fees on the account you already have, so your terminals, your point-of-sale, and your processor all stay where they are. That is worth saying plainly, because the alternative pitch most businesses have heard is a switch, and switching processors during a busy stretch in Waikiki or on the North Shore is exactly the kind of disruption nobody needs in the middle of a season.
What is actually negotiable on a merchant statement?
Interchange is not. That portion is set by the card networks and passes straight through, and anyone claiming they can reduce it is misrepresenting how it works. What sits on top of it is negotiable: the processor's markup, monthly and statement fees, PCI charges, batch and gateway fees, and the assorted line items that get added quietly over time. Complexity in a fee schedule is rarely accidental, and that layer is where the recoverable money usually is.
Why would fees have gone up if we never changed anything?
Because nothing prevents them from moving. Rate structures are not standardized, agreements frequently allow adjustments with minimal notice, and a statement that looked reasonable at signup can cost meaningfully more several years later without anyone doing anything wrong. That is the ordinary case rather than the scandal. Most businesses have simply never gone back to compare, so nobody noticed the drift.
What does this cost us if nothing is found?
Nothing. The provider is paid from a share of the savings, so a review that turns up nothing costs you nothing. It is also why they keep looking past the first easy win. Their compensation depends on the total they recover, not on getting a signature.
How does seasonality here affect what we should look at?
Volume swings change which fees actually matter to you. A business doing most of its card volume in a concentrated stretch is exposed differently than one with steady year-round sales, and fixed monthly charges hurt proportionally more during your slow months. So it is worth reviewing a statement from a peak month and one from a quiet month rather than a single bill. The comparison usually makes the structural problems obvious.
Get in Touch
Reach out directly, or grab a time on the calendar, whichever's easier.
- (720) 915-0003
- paul.petro@otgconsulting.net
- Serving Oahu, the Hawaiian Islands, and the mainland US
Book a Free Consultation
Pick a time that works for you, no back-and-forth, no forms to fill out.
Schedule on Google Calendar