Payments, software & cost savings explained

Cut costs.
Grow more.

Most businesses are losing money in places they never look — from overpriced payment processing to bloated software stacks. Merchant Plus helps you find every dollar you're wasting, and shows you how payments can put money back in your pocket too.

Free statement analyzer
See exactly what you're overpaying to accept cards

Upload your merchant statement and get a full breakdown of your interchange costs, junk fees, and real savings — in seconds.

Chase, CardConnect, TSYS, Elavon & more
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No credit card. No commitment.
40%
Average cost reduction
2,500+
Businesses served
$8M+
Saved for clients
Cost reduction — payments

Merchant Services

If your business accepts card payments, you're almost certainly overpaying. Hidden fees, tiered pricing, and undisclosed markups cost businesses thousands every year. We break it all down — clearly and for free.

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Cost reduction — software & ops

SaaS & Business Costs

From Microsoft 365 and ERP systems to cybersecurity tools and cloud infrastructure — most businesses are paying far more than they need to across their software stack. We audit it all.

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Revenue generation

Virtual Cards

There is a lesser-known opportunity on the issuing side of payments. When your business issues virtual cards, you earn interchange revenue on every transaction — a passive income stream most businesses never knew existed.

Learn more →
Why Merchant Plus
We look where others don't.

Our background in merchant services means we understand payments deeply. And our broader cost reduction work means we look at the full picture — from processing fees to software subscriptions to telecoms contracts.

Deep payments industry expertise

We know how processors structure fees, where markups hide, and how to negotiate from strength.

Full business cost review

Card processing, SaaS, ERP, cloud, cybersecurity, telecoms — every recurring cost reviewed.

Education first, always

We explain everything in plain language. Informed businesses make better decisions — no jargon, no pressure.

Free analysis, no obligation

We show you where your money is going before you ever make a commitment to us.

100% free — no obligation

Send us your statement or software list. We'll find your savings.

Whether it's a merchant processing statement or a list of your SaaS tools — send it over and we'll give you a full cost analysis at no charge.

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No credit card. No commitment.

Ready to see what you're actually spending?

Most businesses discover significant savings within the first conversation. Let's start there.

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Merchant services & credit card processing

Understanding what you're paying — and what you shouldn't be.

Credit card processing is one of the most complex and least transparent costs a business faces. Most merchants are overcharged from day one — not because processors are dishonest, but because the system is designed to be difficult to understand.

How the industry works
The layers between a card swipe and your bank account.
Every transaction passes through multiple parties — each taking a cut. Understanding who gets what is the first step to reducing what you pay.
The interchange fee

Set by Visa & Mastercard — not your processor

Interchange is the base cost of accepting a card. It varies by card type and data quality. Many merchants overpay here simply because they're submitting the wrong transaction data.

The processor markup

This is where the real negotiation happens

On top of interchange, your processor adds their own margin. On tiered pricing this is hidden in qualified buckets. On interchange-plus, it's fully transparent. Most businesses are on tiered pricing and overpaying significantly.

The junk fees

Monthly, annual, and per-transaction fees that add up fast

Statement fees, PCI fees, batch fees, annual fees, IRS reporting fees — many are negotiable or entirely removable. We find them all.

Real example — before & after
A $180k/month B2B merchant, before and after our review.
This business was on tiered pricing with hidden markups and no Level 2/3 data setup. Here's what changed.
Monthly volume
$180,000
B2B corporate cards
Previous rate
2.94%
Tiered pricing model
New rate
1.87%
Interchange-plus + L2/L3
Monthly savings
$1,926
$23,112 per year
Before — Tiered pricing
Fee itemRate / amount
Qualified rate (debit)1.69%
Mid-qualified rate2.39%
Non-qualified (corp cards)3.49%
Monthly service fee$29.95
PCI non-compliance fee$39.00
Batch settlement fee$0.25 x 22
Statement fee$9.95
Annual fee$99.00
AVS fee (per txn)$0.10 x 340
Effective rate2.94%
Total monthly cost$5,292
After — Interchange-plus + L2/L3
Fee itemRate / amount
Interchange pass-throughvaries
Processor markup0.25% + $0.10
Monthly service fee$10.00
PCI compliance (included)$0.00
Batch settlement fee$0.05 x 22
Statement fee$0.00
Annual fee$0.00
L2/L3 rate reduction-0.50% avg
AVS (bundled)$0.00
Effective rate1.87%
Total monthly cost$3,366

Level 2 & Level 3 data — a major savings opportunity for B2B merchants

For businesses accepting corporate, purchasing, or government cards, submitting enhanced transaction data unlocks significantly lower interchange rates. Most B2B merchants are eligible but never set it up — leaving basis points on every single transaction.

Level 1 — Standard

Basic card data only

Card number, expiry, amount. What most merchants submit by default.

~2.70%
Typical corp card interchange
Level 2 — Enhanced

+ Tax amount & customer code

Adds tax data and a merchant reference code to each transaction.

~2.10%
Saves ~60 bps vs Level 1
Level 3 — Full detail

+ Line-item purchase data

Adds product codes, quantities, unit prices, freight and duty per line.

~1.90%
Saves ~80 bps vs Level 1
Card typeL1 rateL2 rateL3 rateMax BPS savingMonthly saving*
Visa Corporate2.65%2.05%1.85%80 bps$1,080
MC Corporate2.65%2.10%1.90%75 bps$810
Visa Purchasing2.70%2.10%1.80%90 bps$540
MC Purchasing2.70%2.15%1.85%85 bps$306
Government / GSA2.45%1.95%1.55%90 bps$162
Total combinedavg 84 bps$2,898/mo
*Based on $180k/month B2B volume. Most B2B merchants can be set up for Level 2/3 data within their existing gateway — we handle the entire process as part of our free statement analysis.

Send us your statement. We'll find your savings.

Free, no-obligation analysis. Most businesses discover they're overpaying within 24 hours.

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SaaS & business cost reduction

The software costs quietly draining your business.

The average business wastes 30% of its software budget every year. Unused tools, forgotten subscriptions, duplicate platforms, and contracts that auto-renewed at inflated rates — it adds up to thousands. We find it all and help you cut what you don't need.

Most businesses have no idea what they're actually spending on software.

Without a centralised view of subscriptions, costs grow invisibly — one auto-renewal at a time.

30%
of SaaS budget wasted
$45k
avg annual waste per SMB
3x
tools doing the same job
Where we find savings
Every category of software your business uses — reviewed.
We go through every software category systematically, benchmarking what you pay against what you should pay.
Productivity
Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace

Most businesses overpay on Microsoft and Google licensing — wrong tier, too many seats, or features they don't use. We right-size licences and negotiate better renewal terms.

Microsoft 365TeamsSharePointGoogle WorkspaceOneDrive
Typical saving: 20-35%
Enterprise software
ERP & Business Systems

ERP contracts are among the most expensive and least reviewed in any business. From licensing to support agreements, there's almost always room to reduce costs without losing functionality.

SAPOracleNetSuiteSageMicrosoft DynamicsQuickBooks Enterprise
Typical saving: 15-30%
Security
Cybersecurity & Compliance

Cybersecurity is essential — but many businesses pay for overlapping tools or enterprise-grade products they don't need at their scale. We benchmark spend and find consolidation opportunities.

Endpoint protectionSIEMVPNIdentity managementEmail securityCompliance tools
Typical saving: 20-40%
Analytics & data
BI, Analytics & Data Platforms

Business intelligence tools are frequently over-licensed. We audit actual usage vs paid seats and identify whether cheaper alternatives exist for your reporting needs.

TableauPower BILookerSnowflakeDatabricksSalesforce Analytics
Typical saving: 25-45%
Sales & marketing
CRM & Marketing Automation

CRM and marketing platforms are notorious for seat creep and feature tier upsells. We benchmark contracts, audit active users, and help you negotiate at renewal.

SalesforceHubSpotMarketoPipedriveZohoActiveCampaign
Typical saving: 20-35%
Infrastructure
Cloud & Hosting

AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud bills are notoriously complex. We identify unused resources, right-sizing opportunities, reserved instance savings, and architectural inefficiencies.

AWSMicrosoft AzureGoogle CloudCloudflareHosting & CDN
Typical saving: 25-50%
Communications
Telecoms & Unified Comms

Phone systems, broadband, mobile contracts, and unified comms platforms are frequently overpriced and under-reviewed. We benchmark and support renegotiation.

VoIP & PBXMobile contractsBroadbandZoomRingCentral8x8
Typical saving: 15-30%
Dev & operations
DevOps & Project Management

Engineering and ops teams accumulate tools fast. We audit your development and project management stack for duplication, unused licences, and overpriced tiers.

JiraGitHubGitLabAsanaMondayNotionConfluence
Typical saving: 20-40%
HR & people
HR, Payroll & Recruitment

HR platforms, payroll systems, and ATS tools often carry hidden per-employee fees that scale poorly. We audit your people-tech stack and find where you're overpaying.

WorkdayBambooHRADPGustoGreenhouseLinkedIn Recruiter
Typical saving: 15-25%
How we do it
A systematic review of every recurring cost.
We go through your software spend category by category, benchmarking every tool against market rates and real usage data.
01

Full inventory

We map every subscription and recurring cost — often uncovering tools the business has forgotten about entirely.

02

Usage audit

Which tools are actively used? Which are ghost subscriptions or half-empty licences? We identify what can be cut immediately.

03

Market benchmarking

We compare what you pay against current market rates for each tool and flag where you're significantly overpaying.

04

Negotiation support

Armed with data, we help you approach renewals with leverage. Most vendors will negotiate when asked the right way.

Find out what your business is overpaying.

Send us a list of your tools and subscriptions. We'll show you where the savings are — for free.

Get a free cost audit
Virtual cards & issuing

The other side of payments — and how your business can earn from it.

Most businesses only think about payments from one angle: the cost of accepting cards. But there is a second side — the issuing side — where businesses can actually earn revenue on every transaction made with a card they issue.

The issuing side explained
What most businesses don't know about payments.
The payments industry has two sides. Most businesses only ever experience one of them.
Acceptance side (familiar)

You accept cards — and pay fees

When a customer pays you by card, you pay interchange and processing fees. This is what most businesses know — and where most cost reduction work happens.

Issuing side (less known)

You issue cards — and earn fees

When your business issues cards to employees, clients, or partners, you earn a share of the interchange fee every time one is used. Passive revenue that scales with usage.

Why it matters

Two levers, not one

Most businesses pull only the cost-reduction lever. Virtual card issuing gives you a second lever — one that generates revenue rather than just saves it.

How it works
From issuing a card to earning revenue.

Your business becomes a card issuer

Working with an issuing programme partner, your business can create and distribute virtual cards instantly and digitally, with full spend controls.

Cards are issued to employees or partners

Virtual cards can be issued for travel, procurement, expenses, or any spend category — each with configurable limits and merchant restrictions.

Every transaction earns interchange

When a cardholder uses a virtual card you have issued, a portion of the interchange fee flows back to your business — automatically, on every transaction.

Revenue scales with spend volume

The more your issued cards are used, the more you earn. For businesses with high employee or supplier spend, this generates meaningful recurring revenue.

4716 .... .... 3821
Acme Corp
Virtual - Exp 12/27
Merchant+
Earn interchange on every transaction

Every time a virtual card you have issued is used, you receive a portion of the interchange fee — passively, automatically, at scale.

Example — 50 employees, $2,000/mo spend each
Total monthly card spend$100,000
Avg interchange earned~1.5%
Monthly revenue earned~$1,500/mo
To get started, we'll need: A 12-month employee or supplier spend file so we can estimate your interchange earning potential and confirm programme eligibility. Send it over — analysis is free and confidential.
Key benefits
More than just revenue.
Virtual card issuing combines passive income with better spend control across your business.

Full spend controls

Set merchant category restrictions, spending limits, and expiry dates on every card — better visibility than corporate cards.

Passive income at scale

Interchange revenue is earned automatically on every transaction. No ongoing effort required after setup.

Instant issuance

Virtual cards can be issued in seconds — no waiting for physical cards. Ideal for ad-hoc spend, travel, or one-time purchases.

Reduced fraud risk

Single-use or restricted virtual cards dramatically reduce fraud exposure compared to shared corporate cards.

Want to learn more about virtual card issuing?

We will walk you through how it works, whether your business is a good fit, and what setup looks like — no commitment required.

Get in touch