Why statements are deliberately confusing
High-risk processor statements typically contain 30–80 line items across multiple sections. The headline rate ("3.5%") rarely matches the actual effective rate (often 5.5–7%). The gap is hidden in:
- Interchange downgrades — transactions that fall to a higher-cost tier because of how they were processed (manually-keyed vs. swiped, AVS mismatches, B2B card surcharges)
- Scheme fees — Visa NABU, Mastercard Network Access, etc. — pass-through but variable
- PCI compliance / non-compliance fees — monthly charges that escalate if you miss attestation deadlines
- Reserve withholding — not a fee but a working-capital cost (see 180-day reserve)
- Gateway markup — Authorize.Net, NMI fees billed separately
- Statement minimums — monthly minimums that mostly hit low-volume months
What a real statement audit produces
A proper audit takes 24–48 hours and produces:
- Your true effective rate across the last 3 months, broken out by transaction tier
- The line-item delta between your current statement and what PeptideRails would charge for the same volume mix
- Your working capital locked in reserve (a number rarely shown on the statement itself)
- Estimated annual savings with sources cited per line
How PeptideRails uses statement audits
Statement audit is the foundation of how we price. We do not publish a rate card — we line-item your existing processor's costs against our underwriting model and quote a number you can verify against your own statement. If our audit shows we cannot lower your total cost of ownership in year one, we decline to onboard you. This is the won't-board guarantee.