Competitors are renaming and raising annual fees in 2026. Heartland / Global Payments merchants are staring at infrastructure charges around $499, with more reported. Shift4 merchants are staring at a $2,000 Annual Service & Maintenance Fee.
Cloud 9 Payments does not charge those fees. That is not landing-page copy. It is how the books are built.
What we refuse to put on your statement
- No Infrastructure Upgrade fee
- No Annual System Enhancement fee
- No Annual Service & Maintenance fee at four digits
- No PCI non-compliance penalty theater
- No statement fee for a PDF we already generate anyway
- No batch fee nickels that add up to a second rent
If a cost is real (interchange, dues, a transparent markup), it shows up with a name you can explain to a bookkeeper. If it is a portfolio tax, it does not belong on a Chagrin Falls merchant's statement.
How we make money instead
Interchange-plus / national pricing: card networks set interchange; we add a clear markup. You can see both. Merchants moving off opaque tiered pricing often go from roughly 2.8 to 3.5% effective toward 1.8 to 2.3% effective depending on mix. Exact numbers come from your statement, not a brochure.
When it fits, cash/card dual pricing can take merchant processing cost toward $0 while staying compliant. Where surcharge is appropriate, we pass card cost to card payers under brand rules. And the relationship is month to month. We keep the account by being useful, not by early-termination math.
Local support is the product
National platforms spread annual fees across a huge merchant base and staff a call center. We work Northeast Ohio from 10 N Main St, Suite 5, Chagrin Falls: Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Hudson, Warren, and the valley in between.
When a Flex dies on a Friday, we would rather drive than invent a $2,000 "maintenance" line to fund a ticket queue.
How 2026 fees compare
Heartland / Global Payments pattern: about $499 in infrastructure-style annual fees, with more reported. Cloud 9 does not charge that.
Shift4 pattern: $2,000 annual service and maintenance. Cloud 9 does not charge that.
Cloud 9: transparent markup, optional dual pricing, and no surprise annual platform tax.
Read the deep dives: Heartland fee, Shift4 fee, and the 2026 surprise-fee guide.
Proof is a statement
We will not ask you to trust a blog post. Send one recent processing statement. We annotate interchange, markup, and junk fees, and tell you whether switching is worth it. Call or text 1-855-297-6722. No long-term contract. No infrastructure fee waiting in August.