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Turn the processing agreement into spendable cash
Settled GMV is not a media budget. The MPA fee schedule is the map. The statement is the check. Put both into the waterfall so you stop bidding cash that never lands.
Pair: Fee waterfall from this MPA on Payments. Name unknown lines with What each processing-agreement fee is. Stage names (sold vs settled vs withheld): Sold is not settled is not in the bank.
Copy the exhibit, not a slide
Open the merchant processing agreement and the latest processor statement. Mark whether discount is bundled (interchange already inside the %) or interchange-plus (markup separate from interchange and assessments). Pick that toggle first.
Type settled GMV for the window. Type the discount percent from the exhibit. On interchange-plus, type the two pass-through percents. On bundled, leave them blank.
Then type dollars for every named line that actually printed: auth, AVS, batch, PCI, gateway, chargeback, retrieval, 3DS, RDR, FX, early termination. Blank is zero. Auth on declines belongs here when the schedule is per attempt.
Type monthly minimum if the exhibit has one. The shortfall is maximum of zero and (minimum minus discount dollars). Type rolling reserve as the hold this window, not as a percent you invented.
Fee versus hold
Fees leave. They are the discount, the pass-through percents, the named dollars, and any monthly-minimum shortfall. The readout’s fee rate uses those only.
Reserve hold is subtracted from spendable and kept out of the fee rate. Calling a reserve “cost of goods” is how teams scale into a freeze.
This only works if
You know PayFac vs ISO vs direct. A PayFac blended rate rarely lists interchange. An ISO exhibit might. Direct acquiring should not hide an ISO markup — confirm.
You used settled GMV, not CRM paid and not captured. You did not paste a consumer 2.9% because the cell felt empty.
Spendable is what you can bid and pay vendors with. Related: Forecast when the reserve actually comes back (the clock on the hold), FX settlement (presentment vs settlement currency), MIDs (this account’s schedule, not a brand blend), traffic (max CAC uses this remainder).
Procedure
- Open this merchant processing agreement and the latest statement.
- Pick bundled discount or interchange-plus before you type percents.
- Type settled GMV, then each printed line. Blank is zero.
- Put reserve in the hold field. Bid what remains.
Failure modes
- Pasting 2.9% plus 30 cents because the exhibit felt empty.
- Putting reserve inside the fee percent.
- Using CRM paid as GMV.
- Adding interchange on top of a bundled discount.
Worked example
None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.
Glossary
- Discount
- Percent of gross sales the merchant processing agreement names. May already bundle interchange on a blended quote.
- Rolling reserve
- Cash held from settlement against later losses. A hold, not a processing charge. Still not spendable.
Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services
FAQ
- Can I type 2.9% plus 30 cents if the exhibit is blank?
- No. That is a consumer-checkout cliché, not this schedule. Leave a line at zero if it is not on the exhibit.
- Why is reserve not inside the fee percent?
- A rolling reserve is cash held from settlement. It is not earned by the processor as a processing charge. It is still not spendable this week.
- Does monthly minimum include interchange?
- Often no. Many ISO floors apply to the processor’s own discount, not to pass-through. The calculator floors discount dollars only. Read the clause if yours is wider.