Hidden Fee Finder for Subscription Businesses: Check Your Merchant Statement

How this works: the assumptions behind your numbers

Every number above comes from the totals you enter plus the assumptions below. Assumptions are estimates, not verified rates.

• Industry average effective rate by segment: retail 2.55%, restaurant 2.75%, ecommerce 3.15%, services 2.90%, healthcare 2.65%, b2b 2.80%, high_risk 4.25%. Source: TouchSuite pricing assumptions file (estimates only; replace with verified figures before launch).
• Comparison tolerance band: ±0.25 percentage points counts as 'close to average'. Source: Tool design assumption to avoid flagging trivial differences.
• Last month is representative: Monthly fee amounts are multiplied by 12 to annualize. Source: Tool design assumption; seasonal businesses should treat annual figures as rough.
• Annual fee frequency: Annual fee entered as a once-a-year amount, multiplied by 1. Source: Tool design assumption.
• Early termination fee: Treated as a one-time cost, not annualized. Source: Tool design assumption.
• Fee classification tags: Interchange and card brand fees tagged 'typically pass-through'; listed account-level fees tagged 'typically processor-set'. Source: General industry structure; actual billing varies by processor and contract, so tags read 'typically'.
• Sanity check bounds: Warn if effective rate is above 15% or below 0.5%. Source: Tool design assumption to catch data-entry mistakes.

Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

Why statements look different for subscription businesses

Most subscription revenue is card-not-present. Customers enter a card once, and you charge the stored card every week, month, or year. Card-not-present transactions generally carry higher interchange than tapped or dipped cards, so expect your effective rate to sit above a typical retail counter. That is why this tool compares you to the eCommerce & subscriptions benchmark. When you fill in the tool, choose eCommerce as your business type.

Ticket size matters more than most owners expect. A fixed per-transaction fee hits a $9.99 monthly plan much harder than a $120 quarterly box. As a hypothetical, a $0.25 fixed fee is 2.5% of a $10 charge but only 0.25% of a $100 charge. The tool's cost-per-transaction and average-ticket numbers show you where you fall.

Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

Recurring billing also creates fees a storefront never sees. These include gateway fees on every renewal attempt, fees on declined retries, card updater charges, and chargeback fees when a subscriber says they forgot to cancel. Some of these have no checkbox of their own. Make sure they are counted in your total fees. If your gateway bills them, tick Gateway fee.

Worked example: a hypothetical subscription box business

All numbers here are hypothetical. Picture a monthly subscription box with $40,000 in card volume, 1,000 renewals, and $1,480 in total fees last month. The free results would show: - Effective rate: 3.70% - Cost per transaction: $1.48 - Average ticket: $40.00 - Industry average (assumption) for eCommerce: 3.15% - Gap: 0.55 percentage points, so the status reads Above the industry average

Now say the owner also entered these amounts: - Interchange: $820 - Card brand fees: $70 - Gateway fees: $125 - Chargeback fees: $75 - Monthly service fee: $15 The full breakdown would then show: - Pass-through costs: $890 a month - Estimated markup: $590 a month, which is about 1.48% of volume and 39.9% of total fees - Annual total fees: $17,760 - Annual cost above industry average (assumption-based): $2,640 - Annual processor-set fees: $2,580 (gateway $1,500, chargebacks $900, service fee $180)

The takeaway for this owner is not that they are overpaying by a fixed amount. It is that the gateway line and the chargeback line are the two biggest controllable costs, and both are worth a direct question.

Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.

Fees subscription businesses should question first

Gateway fees. Subscription businesses usually pay a monthly gateway fee plus a per-transaction fee. Ask whether that per-transaction fee also applies to declined attempts and automatic retries. If you retry failed renewals several times, the fees can stack up on charges that never collect.

Chargeback and retrieval fees. Disputes along the lines of "I didn't recognize this charge" or "I thought I cancelled" are a common pattern in recurring billing. Clear billing descriptors, renewal reminders, and easy cancellation can reduce them. Still, ask what you pay per dispute and whether you are charged again when you win one.

PCI fees. Card-on-file billing means your PCI scope matters. A PCI non-compliance fee usually means a questionnaire or scan has not been completed. That is often fixable, and the fee may stop once you finish it. Ask what is outstanding.

Non-qualified surcharges and monthly minimums. On a tiered statement, card-not-present and recurring charges often land in Mid-Qual or Non-Qual buckets. Ask how recurring transactions are categorized. A new subscription business with low early volume should also check whether a monthly minimum is being triggered.

Choosing a fair month and reading a good result for subscription businesses

Subscription volume is lumpy in ways other businesses' volume is not. Renewals may cluster on the 1st or 15th. Gift subscriptions can spike around the holidays. Annual plans can make one month look huge. The gated annual figures multiply last month by 12, so use a month that reflects your normal billing mix. Do not use the month your annual renewals run.

Refunds and prorated cancellations can also distort the month. Use volume and fees from the same statement period. If your effective rate comes out above 15% or below 0.5%, the tool will flag it. Usually that means a section of fees was missed, or volume came from a different report.

A good result for a subscription business usually has three parts: - An effective rate close to or below the eCommerce benchmark assumption - Few fees tagged Typically processor-set - A clear split between pass-through costs and markup If your processor has classified you as high-risk, compare against that benchmark instead. This can happen with trial-to-paid offers or certain product categories.

If the results raise questions, take the pre-written questions from the full breakdown to your current processor. You can also talk to a TouchSuite payments specialist.

Frequently asked questions