I apologize for my industry... a lot.
One of the things that is often the toughest point to get across to potential clientele is that the rate they signed up for a few years ago, is not necessarily their rate now. I often have to show them their current statements showing what they are paying last month and compare it to the contract that they signed three, two, even one year ago. It's often much, much worse when they have not switched for four or five years.
"But I have a contract...?!"
Unfortunately people believe two things: 1) that just like leasing an apartment, that rate is the rate for the term of the contract, and 2) that if they look at the sheet with the rates on it, they do not have to read the rest of the contract. The problem is that the contract says the rate can change. It might as well say that the rate will absolutely change, and that right soon. When businesses have our firm review their rates they are often aghast at what they see and how much they save. Most often it's between $500-$2,000 annually, but in the past fiscal year we have seen businesses overpay by $4,000, $8,000, $11,000, and $22,000+ for a single year. What's worse is that while some are large, others are just average size businesses paying through the nose and not even knowing it.
In these cases we tell people that they more than likely weren't duped, and probably had a fine rate in the past, but they didn't watch it. Well my grandmother had a saying, "Whatever gets measured, gets improved." Boy howdy. Our industry shows that on average 84% of businesses do not read their statement. They throw it in a box, a drawer, and say that eventually they are just going to plow through it. They never do. Included in that group are the 'stenographers.' Bookkeepers and business personnel that open it, but all they do is copy two or three numbers to a spreadsheet, but they don't read it.
An industry paper (which is a VERY boring periodical... avoid it) reviewed a senior man who has been in the industry for about the past thirty years or so and is richer than Croesus where he spoke of his one main job which was the creation of his company's monthly merchant statement. The thing that really made the article interesting was his statement that [he] "couldn't read his competition's statements." In other words they are made to contain as much data and as little information as possible. This is because it is to work hand in hand with the knowledge that no one reads their contract. Well guess what? If you don't read your contract, and you don't read your monthly statement (which is designed not to be read), then when your rate is climbing up, you'll never know it.
Again, I apologize for my industry, but a lot of the burden is square on the businesses' shoulders. They should read the contract and they should read the monthly statements. If you can't read your statement, ask your merchant account rep to come over and explain it to you line by line. If they don't have the time, channel Donald Trump, fire them right then, and get someone who will. My firm actually helps our clients by auditing their account for them every 11.5 months; however, we are not the only ones. I have heard of two other groups that also do this and that's only counting North America. The objective is to allow the business to do what they are in business to do, and take some of the work off their plate.
Responsibility though always rests with the business and they need to learn what they need to do. Education as always is the key. Most do not read their statements as they are designed not to be read, but you do not have to spend three hours with a slide rule and an advanced mathematics degree breaking down your statement every month. There are two methods that we call the '30-Second Audit' and the '6-Second Audit'. Anybody can do either, and both should be done every month. Do them both every month and you will see the spikes as they happen in your account. The rest is up to you.
Call or email us and even if you are not with our firm we will teach you these audits at no charge.
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