Small Business Made Easy.
Orange County
Joined August 2009
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I started Merchant Maverick in 2009 because I was frustrated.
Misleading quotes. Hidden fees. Contracts designed to trap people. The credit card processing industry was — and often still is — built to confuse small business owners.
We’ve spent 15+ years reviewing hundreds of processors and helping over a million businesses make smarter decisions. But reviews alone don’t solve the core problem: every business is different.
That’s why we built Maverick Match. A free tool that matches you with processors that actually fit your business, with pre-negotiated rates you can’t get on your own.
60 seconds. Free. Try it at match.merchantmaverick.com
#MerchantMaverick #MaverickMatch #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #Entrepreneurship #StartupStory #SmallBusinessTools #MerchantServices #FounderStory
Before you sign a credit card processing contract, look for these three red flags.
1. Long-term contracts — three-year terms used to be standard. They’re not anymore. Plenty of great processors offer month-to-month.
2. Early termination fees — if they won’t let you leave without a penalty, ask why.
3. Automatic renewal with a narrow cancellation window — miss the 30-day window and you’re locked in for another year.
A processor confident in their service doesn’t need any of these.
Find the best credit card processor for your business.
match.merchantmaverick.com
#ProcessorContracts #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #ContractRedFlags #PaymentProcessing #BusinessContracts #MerchantServices #SmallBusinessTips #BusinessProtection #MerchantMaverick
Online fraud isn't just a big-business problem. Small businesses are easier targets because they have fewer defenses.
Three layers of protection that actually work:
1. AVS (Address Verification) — checks billing address against the bank's records
2. CVV verification — filters out stolen card numbers sold without the security code
3. 3D Secure — shifts chargeback liability from you to the bank
Most modern payment gateways offer all three. If yours doesn't — or if they're not turned on — you're exposed.
Find the best credit card processor for your business.
match.merchantmaverick.com
#FraudPrevention #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #Ecommerce #PaymentSecurity #3DSecure #AVS #OnlineFraud #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Should your business accept Apple Pay and Google Pay? Yes. And here’s the part most owners don’t realize: if your terminal accepts contactless, you already do.
No extra fee. No additional setup. And digital wallets are actually more secure than a regular card swipe — the real card number is never transmitted.
Faster for the customer. More secure for you. No extra cost. Increasingly expected.
The only thing you need to do is let your customers know. A little signage goes a long way.
#ApplePay #GooglePay #DigitalWallets #ContactlessPayments #SmallBusiness #CreditCardProcessing #PaymentProcessing #Fintech #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Tap, chip, or swipe — it seems like it shouldn’t matter. But it affects what you pay.
Swiping the magnetic stripe is the oldest and least secure method. Highest fraud risk, highest in-person rate.
Chip (EMV) generates a unique code per transaction. Harder to counterfeit, lower rate.
Contactless tap is the fastest and often the cheapest — same chip tech with extra tokenization.
The per-transaction difference is small, but across thousands of transactions a month, it adds up. Encourage tap and chip whenever possible.
#TapToPay #ContactlessPayments #EMV #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #POS #PaymentSecurity #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
How you accept payments changes everything about which processor you should use.
In-person transactions are cheaper — lower fraud risk, lower rates. Online transactions cost more and require a payment gateway, fraud tools, and chargeback management.
Do both? You need a processor that handles both channels without making you cobble together multiple providers.
Your sales channel mix isn’t just an operational detail. It’s the single biggest factor in choosing the right processing setup.
#PaymentProcessing #Omnichannel #SmallBusiness #Ecommerce #RetailPayments #CreditCardProcessing #OnlinePayments #POS #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Merchant Maverick retweeted
How you accept payments changes everything about which processor you should use.
In-person transactions are cheaper — lower fraud risk, lower rates. Online transactions cost more and require a payment gateway, fraud tools, and chargeback management.
Do both? You need a processor that handles both channels without making you cobble together multiple providers.
Your sales channel mix isn’t just an operational detail. It’s the single biggest factor in choosing the right processing setup.
@merchantmav
#PaymentProcessing #Omnichannel #SmallBusiness #Ecommerce #RetailPayments #CreditCardProcessing #OnlinePayments #POS #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Merchant Maverick retweeted
I started Merchant Maverick in 2009 because I was frustrated.
Misleading quotes. Hidden fees. Contracts designed to trap people. The credit card processing industry was, and often still is, built to confuse small business owners.
We’ve spent 15+ years reviewing hundreds of processors and helping over a million businesses make smarter decisions. But reviews alone don’t solve the core problem: every business is different.
That’s why we built Maverick Match. A free tool that matches you with processors that actually fit your business, with pre-negotiated rates you can’t get on your own.
60 seconds. Free. Try it at match.merchantmaverick.com
@merchantmav
#MerchantMaverick #MaverickMatch #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #Entrepreneurship #StartupStory #SmallBusinessTools #MerchantServices #FounderStory
Not every rate increase comes from Visa or Mastercard.
Some processors use interchange updates as cover to raise their own fees and hope you won't notice.
The good news? Your processing statement tells the story if you know where to look.
Amad shows you exactly how to spot processor-added markups and make sure you're only paying what you should.
Did your processing costs go up recently? Did anyone tell you? Probably not.
Twice a year, Visa and Mastercard adjust interchange rates. Your processor passes those increases through automatically. That’s the legitimate part.
The shady part? Some processors slip in their own rate increases on top — hoping you’ll assume it all came from the card networks.
I explain the mechanism, how to spot processor-added markups, and exactly what to compare on your statement to catch it.
@merchantmav
#RateIncrease #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #Interchange #PaymentProcessing #HiddenFees #ProcessingFees #BusinessCosts #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Think your processing statement is just paperwork?
It could be quietly costing your business money every single month.
The trick is knowing where to look.
Amad walks through the four sections that actually matter so you can spot hidden fees, inflated rates, and other red flags in just a few minutes.
Watch the video, then grab your latest statement and see what you find.
Your processing statement might be the most important financial document in your business that you’ve never actually read.
That’s by design. These statements are confusing on purpose.
But only four sections actually matter: the summary, the transaction detail, the fees section, and the rate breakdown. I walk through each one and tell you exactly what to look for.
Grab your latest statement and spend 10 minutes with it. You’ll be surprised what you find.
@merchantmav
#ProcessingStatement #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #BusinessFinance #FinancialLiteracy #ProcessingFees #MerchantServices #SmallBusinessOwner #MerchantMaverick
Don't just check your processing rate.
Check the fees underneath it.
If you can't explain a charge, don't assume it's supposed to be there. 👇
There are fees on your processing statement right now that exist for one reason: to pad your processor’s profit margin.
PCI non-compliance fees. Batch fees. Statement fees. Vague “regulatory” charges. Annual fees buried in a single month.
Some are legitimate costs inflated beyond reason. Others are pure profit extraction. I call out five specific ones and tell you what to do about each.
Pull up your latest statement. Circle anything you can’t explain. Then call and ask.
@merchantmav
#HiddenFees #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #ProcessingFees #JunkFees #PaymentProcessing #BusinessCosts #MerchantServices #SmallBusinessTips #MerchantMaverick
The best restaurant payment processor depends on your business - not just the biggest brand.
We compare Square, Helcim, Dharma Merchant Services & CDGcommerce to help you choose the right fit.
Comparing payment processors shouldn't require decoding four different pricing models.
The best quote isn't the one with the lowest advertised rate - it's the one with the lowest total cost for your business.
Amad explains the difference in 60 seconds. 👇
Flat-rate, interchange-plus, tiered, membership. Four models, four completely different ways of quoting you.
This is where most business owners get stuck — and honestly, it’s where processors want you stuck. When you can’t compare apples to apples, you can’t tell who’s offering the better deal.
The secret is to ignore the advertised rates entirely and focus on one thing: what will my total cost be at my volume?
I explain how to cut through the noise in 60 seconds.
Use our new tool Maverick Match to make it easy: match.merchantmaverick.com/
@merchantmav
#PricingModels #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #ProcessingFees #BusinessDecisions #CostComparison #MerchantServices #SmallBusinessTips #MerchantMaveric
Using Xero and Square together?
Here's how to connect them, automate your sales data syncing, and spend less time on bookkeeping. 👇
A flat monthly fee instead of a processor markup.
That's how membership pricing works - and for the right business, it can be one of the cheapest ways to accept credit cards.
Here's how to tell if it's worth it.
What if you could pay wholesale prices for credit card processing, the way you pay wholesale at Costco?
That’s membership pricing. You pay a flat monthly fee and get interchange at cost — no percentage markup from the processor.
For businesses processing enough volume, it’s often the cheapest model available. But if your volume is too low, that monthly fee eats your savings.
I walk through the model, the rough break-even point, and how to know if it’s the right fit.
@merchantmav
#MembershipPricing #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #WholesalePricing #ProcessingFees #BusinessSavings #Payments #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Looking to save time managing your inventory? Erica walks you through how to use Claude AI to organize, track, and manage inventory more efficiently. 💪
If your statement says "non-qualified," your processor is probably making more money than you think.
If your processing statement mentions “qualified,” “mid-qualified,” and “non-qualified” — you’re on tiered pricing. And you’re almost certainly overpaying.
Tiered pricing lets your processor sort your transactions into vague buckets and assign each one a rate. The catch? They decide which transactions land where. And most of yours end up in the expensive buckets.
It’s the least transparent pricing model in the industry, and it consistently produces the highest effective rates.
I break down why it exists and what to do if you’re on it.
@merchantmav
#TieredPricing #CreditCardProcessing #SmallBusiness #HiddenFees #PaymentProcessing #ProcessingFees #MerchantServices #BusinessOwner #Transparency #MerchantMaverick
Need to connect Xero to Stripe?
Erica walks through the setup process step-by-step so you can sync payment data and reduce manual bookkeeping.
Want to understand your processing statement? Start with interchange.
Same sale, same amount — but one card costs you five times more than the other. Why?
Interchange. It’s the fee set by Visa and Mastercard that goes to the bank that issued your customer’s card. Your processor doesn’t control it. Nobody negotiates it.
A standard debit card might cost you 0.5%. A corporate rewards card entered manually? Over 2.5%.
This is why your monthly fees fluctuate even when your volume stays the same. Understanding interchange is the key to understanding everything else about your processing costs.
@merchantmav
#Interchange #CreditCardProcessing #RewardsCards #SmallBusiness #PaymentProcessing #ProcessingFees #DebitVsCredit #BusinessCosts #MerchantServices #MerchantMaverick
Most business owners don't know which part of their processing fees is actually negotiable.
Hint: it's not interchange.
If your processor won't show you the breakdown between interchange and their markup, that's a red flag.
Great explanation from Amad 👇
Interchange-plus is the pricing model your processor probably hopes you never learn about.
Instead of one flat rate on everything, you pay the actual wholesale cost of each transaction (interchange) plus a small, transparent markup. You see exactly what the card cost and exactly what your processor charged.
For most established businesses, it’s cheaper than flat-rate. And it gives you real data to negotiate with.
If your processor won’t show you interchange, ask yourself why.
@merchantmav
#InterchangePlus #CreditCardProcessing #PaymentProcessing #SmallBusiness #TransparentPricing #ProcessingFees #BusinessSavings #MerchantServices #Payments #MerchantMaverick