In almost every advertisiement I see for merhant accounts these days I see the term “no hidden fees.”  However, when you examine the small print these companies almost always turn out to have just that – lots of hidden fees!  Costco provides a great example of this; they advertise unbeatable credit card processing rates of 1.64% and 1.99% every month in their magazine along with the phrase “no hidden fees.”  Here is a recent add from their magazine:

Any business that signs up for this offer will realize this advertisement is misleading. Expecting to pay these rates, they would be unpleasantly surprised to find out that the actual rates are:

• 1.64% and $.20 for swiped transactions
• 1.99% and $.27 for non swiped transactions
• 2.96% $.32 for rewards, business, corporate, non-AVS, authorizations not settled within 24 hours, and a host of other conditions.
• 3.80% $.32 for government or international cards

No hidden fees? Whatever!  Bottom line: read the small print!