Key Takeaways:
- Global Payments raised discount rates effective August 2026, ranging from 1% to 2.25% depending on the account.
- Heartland notified merchants of increases effective September 1, 2026, without stating the amount in the notice.
- The fastest way to spot any changes is your effective rate. Divide total fees by total volume for September, then do the same for August, and compare.
- A rate increase from your processor is different from an interchange change from Visa or Mastercard, even when the notice mentions both.
If you process with Global Payments, your statement this month was likely higher than last month. Reported increases range from 1% to 2.25% depending on the account. If you process with Heartland, which Global owns, your rates went up on September 1, 2026, but your notice likely doesn’t include specific percentages or dollar amounts.
This post covers the Heartland Payment Systems and Global Payments rate increases, what to expect, and alternative options for the businesses impacted financially by this unexpected rate change. Read on to learn more.
Global Payments August 2026 Discount Rate Change
Global Payments raised its discount rate, which is the percentage it takes on every transaction you run. The increase showed up on accounts effective August 2026, so it appears on the August statements that merchants receive in September.
The rate increase varied by account. The smallest documented increase was 1% or 100 basis points, and the largest was 2.25% or 225 basis points. Global Payments applied different rate increases across its whole merchant base, so your increase might be different from another store using the same processor.
Heartland Payment Systems September 2026 Rate Increases
Global Payments has owned Heartland since 2016, which it acquired for $4.4 billion along with more than 300,000 merchants. Heartland merchants have been seeing Global branding replace Heartland branding on their statements over the past year.
Heartland sent its own notice announcing processing fee increases effective September 1, 2026. Those accounts were not part of the August increase described above. The notice did not include the increase amount, so Heartland merchants won’t know what they will pay until the statement arrives.
Learn more about how credit card processing works and save your business money with this free eGuide.
How to Find the Increase on Your Statement
Processors do not print “we raised your rate” anywhere on a statement. What you can do is calculate your effective rate for two months and compare them. Here’s how:
- Find your total fees for July. Use the all-in number, including discount rate, per-transaction fees, monthly fees, and assessments.
- Find your total processing volume for July.
- Divide fees by volume, then multiply by 100. That is your effective rate as a percentage.
- Repeat for August.
- Compare. If August is higher and your sales mix did not change much, the difference is the increase.
PRO TIP!
Do this calculation before you call anyone. Walking into a conversation with your processor with numbers rather than broad stroke questions will make your conversation much more effective. Our guide to reading a merchant processing statement breaks down which line items belong in the fee total.
Calculate your Heartland Fee Increase Rate
You can also use the calculator below to run the numbers right here, right now. That way, when you show up for a conversation with your processor, you’ll be informed and have more negotiating power.
Enter the totals from two statements. The calculator works out your effective rate for each month and shows what the difference costs you over a year.
Fill in both months to see the comparison.
Use the all-in fee total from each statement, including your discount rate, per-transaction fees, monthly fees, and assessments. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
Interchange Versus Processor Markup
Your processing cost has two parts:
- Interchange and assessments go to the card networks and the bank that issued your customer’s card. Your processor collects that money and passes it along, and it keeps none of it.
- Processor markups are what the processor charges you for its service.
Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover adjust interchange categories twice a year, usually in April and October. Those changes are not your processor’s decision, and they do not require your processor to raise its markup. When an increase notice mentions upcoming network changes and a rate increase in the same paragraph, know that the rate increase is a separate business decision on your processor’s behalf.
PRO TIP!
This part causes the most confusion (and sometimes processors rely on that confusion to squeeze more money out of retailers).
Rate Increase Calculator: How Much Extra are Retailers Spending?
Sometimes a 1% rate increase sounds small, but it can add up. With a 2.25% increase, every million dollars you process costs an additional $22,500 a year. Use the table below to see how a rate increase affects your annual volume and how much it might cost you in dollars.
| Monthly card volume | Annual card volume | Added cost at 1% increase | Added cost at 2.25% increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $300,000 | $3,000 | $6,750 |
| $50,000 | $600,000 | $6,000 | $13,500 |
| $100,000 | $1,200,000 | $12,000 | $27,000 |
| $250,000 | $3,000,000 | $30,000 | $67,500 |
Other Processors That Raised Rates in 2026
Global Payments is not alone here. Rate increases have been rolling out across major processors this year, often to different merchants at different times. Check out the rate increases across processors in our table below:
| Processor | What changed | When merchants saw it |
|---|---|---|
| Global Payments | Discount rate up 100 to 225 bps, applied unevenly | August 2026 statements |
| Global Payments | Discount rate up 0.20% | January 2026 |
| Heartland (Global-owned) | Processing fee increase, amount not disclosed in notice | Effective September 1, 2026 |
| Heartland (Global-owned) | Annual Reporting Fee of $245 or $410 per location | December 2025 statements |
| Elavon | Increases to basis points, per-transaction charges, and batch fees | February 2026 |
| Worldpay | Mid-qualified and non-qualified tier increases from 0.05% to 0.80% | January 1, 2026 |
| PNC Merchant Services | $109.95 annual fee | September 2026 statements |
PRO TIP!
Increases often go out in waves. Fiserv gave one group of merchants the same 0.10% plus $0.10 increase in September and a different group the same increase in November. So if your neighbor on the same processor did not get an increase, yours wasn’t a mistake, and they will soon.
What to Do If Your Rate Went Up
Most processing agreements allow rate changes with notice, so the increase is usually permitted under your contract. That does not mean that you have no agency, though. Here’s what you can do:
- Calculate your effective rate for July and August as described above, so you know the actual dollar impact.
- Call your processor and ask for the increase to be reversed. This works more often than merchants expect, especially if you have volume and a clean processing history.
- Ask for the change in writing, and check the following statement to confirm it was applied.
- Get two competing quotes on an interchange-plus basis, so you can compare markup directly.
- Check your contract for early termination fees and the remaining term before you commit to switching.
Why You May Not Be Able to Switch Processors
Many store owners get this far, find a cheaper processor, and then hit a wall. To get a cheaper deal, they have to buy a whole new POS system. This happens when the company that sold you your POS also processes your cards, or when your POS works only with one processor. Heartland is a good example because many Heartland customers run Heartland’s POS. The same thing happens with card terminals that came free or cheap from your processor. They usually only work with that processor.
If that is your setup, changing your rate is not really a phone call anymore. It means new software, new hardware, retraining your staff, and moving all of your products and customers into a new system. Most owners look at that and decide to just pay the higher rate.
Processor-Agnostic POS Systems Can Help
Some POS systems work with several processors instead of only one, which means you can change who processes your cards and keep everything else. KORONA POS works this way, and our team can make the switch super easy for you, if switching is something you’re interested in.
Wrapping Up: Check Your Statement This Month
Your August statement is the only place the rate increase is visible, and nobody is going to point the changes out to you. Pull July and August, calculate the effective rate for both, and compare.
If it went up, call and ask for it to be reversed. If the answer is no, you at least know your real number before you start shopping. And if you want to make a switch to increase your processor flexibility in the future, a processor-agnostic system like KORONA POS can help.
Payment processors giving you trouble?
We won’t. KORONA POS is not a payment processor. That means we’ll always find the best payment provider for your business’s needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my Global Payments rate go up in September 2026?
Global Payments raised its discount rate effective August 2026, which appears on the August statement you receive in September. Reported increases ran from 100 to 225 basis points and were not applied uniformly across accounts.
Can my processor raise my rate without my approval?
In most cases yes. Standard merchant agreements permit pricing changes with advance notice, and that notice is often a line in a statement or an emailed message rather than a phone call. Check your agreement for the specific notice terms.
How do I calculate my effective processing rate?
Divide your total monthly processing fees by your total monthly card volume, then multiply by 100. Comparing that percentage across two months is the clearest way to see whether your cost actually changed.
Is an interchange increase the same as a processor rate increase?
No. Interchange goes to the card networks and issuing banks and is passed through by your processor. A processor rate increase raises the processor’s own markup. A notice can mention both at once, which makes them look connected when they are not.
Can I keep my POS and change credit card processors?
That depends on your POS. A processor-agnostic system integrates with multiple processors, so you can change one without changing the other. A bundled system usually ties the two together, which means a processing change becomes a software change.
Should I switch processors after a rate increase?
It depends on the size of the increase, your remaining contract term, any early termination fee, and whether your POS is tied to your current processor. Ask for the increase to be reversed first, since that costs you nothing and often works.
