{"podcast":{"title":"Click & Convert with Maria Sparagis","slug":"click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413","podcast_index_feed_id":1375413,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/maria-sparagis/","website_url":"https://directpaynet.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/0bfda54a-9b87-4d2d-8065-e279d8530fce/pod-cover-1.png","author":"Maria Sparagis","episode_count":200,"summary":"Maria Sparagis has spent 20+ years helping online businesses find the revenue they didn't know they were losing. As president of DirectPayNet and a payment solutions expert, she knows that the difference between a good business and a great one often comes down to how you handle payments and conversions. On Click & Convert, Maria shares the strategies, tools, and insider knowledge that ecommerce founders and online entrepreneurs need to scale to 6 and 8 figures — from optimizing your checkout flow to maximizing what hits your bottom line. Featured in American Banker, Vice, Coindesk, and Yahoo. Connect at mariasparagis.com or directpaynet.com.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T20:18:52.125688+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413"},"episode":{"title":"#230 What Are You Actually Paying For? Your Merchant Statement Explained","slug":"230-what-are-you-actually-paying-for-your-merchant-statement-explained","published_at":"2026-04-09T21:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413/230-what-are-you-actually-paying-for-your-merchant-statement-explained","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413","url":"https://directpaynet.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/c35e5f6b-ae0b-4288-9098-d354b400afdb.mp3","summary":"What if you’ve been overpaying on your merchant statement without even realizing it? Most businesses don’t actually read their merchant statements — they just pay whatever shows up and move on. But buried inside those statements are processing rates, compliance charges, and other line items that quietly eat into your margins every single month. In this episode, Maria breaks down how merchant statements actually work, what different fees actually mean, which costs are set in stone, where you have room to negotiate, and which charges you should absolutely take steps to eliminate. No matter what type of business you’re running — ecommerce, services, or online subscriptions — understanding your statement is one of the fastest ways to spot unnecessary costs and take back control of your processing. ____________________________________________ 🎯 Key Concepts Covered 🟩 Merchant statement (processing statement) – A monthly report from your payment processor that details all card transactions, fees, and deductions. This is where you can see exactly what you’re being charged to accept payments. 🟩 Flat rate pricing – A pricing model where every transaction is charged the same fixed percentage (and sometimes a fixed per-transaction fee), regardless of card type, risk level, or underlying interchange cost. 🟩 3-tier pricing – A pricing structure that categorizes transactions into qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified tiers, with different rates applied depending on how “qualified” the transaction is. 🟩 Interchange + pricing (interchange-plus) – A transparent pricing model where you pay the actual interchange fee set by card networks plus a fixed processor markup. Often considered one of the most transparent pricing structures. 🟩 Authorization fee – A small fee charged each tim…","meta_description":"What if you’ve been overpaying on your merchant statement without even realizing it? Most businesses don’t actually read their merchant statements — they…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":608,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413/episodes/230-what-are-you-actually-paying-for-your-merchant-statement-explained/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/click-convert-with-maria-sparagis-1375413/230-what-are-you-actually-paying-for-your-merchant-statement-explained.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}