Your numbers
All four are required — estimates are fine.
What this tool does
- Computes your effective rate the instant you enter volume and fees — the math happens in your browser
- Plots your rate against a typical range for your business type, so you know if it's competitive, typical, or high
- Shows an estimated Inspivo rate, monthly cost, and what you may be overpaying — one click, one live estimate, and the gauge re-anchors to it
- Tells you if your rate is already fair — that's a real possible outcome, not a sales funnel dead-end
What it never does
- Never asks for your name, phone number, or email to show results
- Never requires a statement upload or a merchant account login
- Never stores the numbers you enter
- Never triggers a sales call — nobody contacts you unless you ask for a quote
What is an effective rate?
Everything you pay to accept cards — interchange, processor markup, monthly fees, PCI fees, batch fees, junk fees — divided by everything you process. Statements are itemized across dozens of line items precisely so no single number jumps out; the effective rate collapses all of it into one honest figure. It's the only apples-to-apples way to compare what you pay against what a business like yours should pay.
The formula is simple: total monthly fees ÷ total monthly card volume. If you paid $1,247 on $48,500 of volume, your effective rate is 2.57%. Whether that's good depends on your industry and average ticket size — which is exactly what the benchmark above tells you. For the full breakdown of what drives the number, read our guide: effective rate, explained.
Why average ticket matters
Two businesses with identical volume can have fair rates that differ by half a point, because every transaction carries fixed per-item costs. A coffee shop running 2,000 small tickets pays those fixed costs 2,000 times; an HVAC contractor running 40 large invoices pays them 40 times. That's why the calculator requires your average ticket — without it, a savings estimate is a guess.