Capability
Payment intelligence
Payment intelligence means understanding what is driving your payment costs before anyone proposes changing them.
The problem with headline rates
A statement can show a total cost without making clear what produced it. Percentage rates, per-transaction fees, gateway charges, terminal rental, PCI charges, commercial-card costs and international-card costs all contribute, and each responds differently to a change in trading pattern.
What we establish
- Effective blended rate across all payment costs
- Average payment cost per transaction
- Fixed versus variable cost proportion
- Channel profile: card present, card not present, payment link
- Exposure to commercial and international card costs
Structure before switching
A provider change made without understanding the structure can move cost rather than reduce it. Analysis first, decision second.
Headline rate against effective cost
The headline merchant rate quoted by a provider is the percentage applied to a qualifying transaction. The effective cost is the total of every charge over a period divided by the total value processed, and it is usually higher. The gap between the two is created by card mix, transaction mix and fixed charges, which is why two businesses on an identical quoted rate can pay materially different amounts.
What moves the effective cost
- Domestic consumer cards against commercial, corporate and international cards
- Card-present transactions against card-not-present, link and online transactions
- Transaction mix, where a small number of large sales dominates monthly value
- Fixed charges such as terminal rental, gateway, PCI and minimum monthly fees
- Authorisation, refund, chargeback and non-qualifying transaction charges
- Currency, settlement timing and any cross-border handling applied by the provider
BlueIxia reads these components from the statements a business already receives and sets out where its cost genuinely arises. No saving is promised, and any figure produced is an indicative comparison rather than a quotation. Actual pricing, eligibility and terms are determined by the relevant authorised provider on the basis of the merchant profile.
Request a Confidential Payment ReviewCommon questions
Answers
- Does BlueIxia guarantee a saving?
- No. BlueIxia does not publish benchmark rates or guarantee savings. Pricing depends on merchant profile, transaction mix, card mix, underwriting and provider terms.