Merchant Account Fees
There are all kinds of fees associated with a merchant accounts. Monthly Statement fees, transaction fees, interchange fees, credit card transaction fees, gateway fees, and more. Most have two basic fees you need to be aware off.
Monthly Fees
A monthly fee is usually called a statement fee, gateway fee or something similar. This is nothing more that a fee paid every month to use the service. Ranging from $20.00 to $30.00 for the average business. This one is hard to get away from for a real merchant account. Paypal and similar type processors offer plans that don't have this but they make it up with high transaction fees.
Transaction Fees
Every time a transaction is done a fee is charged. This is usually a small flat fee. When dealing with ACH transactions this may be the entire cost of the transaction. Credit cards also charge a percentage of the transaction.
Free Merchant Accounts
Don't want to pay a monthly fee? Third party payment processors will charge you more per month, but don't charge you a monthly fee. These are great if your just starting out, or do very little business.