Most of your merchant bill is set in stone, and a smaller slice is up for grabs. Thewhole skill is telling them apart, because you can only negotiate the money your
processor actually keeps. Interchange and assessments, the parts paid to the
card networks and your customer’s bank, can run something like 70 to 90
percent of your processing costs, and no processor alive can lower them. [1]
Everything else is a starting offer, not a final price.

Here are the fees that are actually on the table. Same list whether you pour drinks or ring up a case of beer.

• The processor markup. The main event, and the only line that’s truly theirs. Ask for an interchange-plus
  quote with no tiers, then hold it against a competitor’s. Nothing moves this number faster than a rival’s
  offer sitting on the desk.
• Monthly statement and account fees. Paperwork charges that are mostly pure margin. A surprising
  number vanish the moment you ask what they’re for.
• The PCI compliance fee. Negotiable on its own, and the ugly non-compliance penalty is avoidable
  entirely by finishing the questionnaire nobody enjoys. [2]
• The monthly minimum. A floor that quietly punishes your slow months. Ask to lower it or drop it,
  especially once your volume gives you something to point at.
• Batch and gateway fees. Little recurring charges for closing out the day and reaching the network. Easy
  to overlook, often trimmed or folded into the markup when you push.
• “Regulatory” and “network access” fees. Official-sounding line items that tend to shrink or disappear the
  second you ask what law or network actually requires them.
• Early termination and equipment leases. Best handled before you sign, but even a printed lease can
  sometimes be bought out or reworked. Never assume the number is final just because it’s in ink.

And the two you can’t: interchange and assessments. Anyone promising to lower those is either confused or
fibbing, so don’t waste a phone call on them. [3]

Your real leverage isn’t grinding line by line, it’s timing and a second quote. Processors sharpen their pencils
at three moments: contract renewal, a jump in your volume, and the day you mention a competitor. Whether
you run a taproom or a corner store, the move is the same. Ask, and bring a number they have to beat.

Sources

1. https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/finance/calculate-credit-card-fees
2. https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/merchants/
3. https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii-about.htm