What We Look For In A Payments Contract Review

Four things we check in every review, and the gaps that keep showing up

Most companies sign their payments contract once, and don't read it again until something breaks. By then it has usually renewed for another term, and fixing it costs more than it would have a few months earlier.

We're offering free 20-minute contract reviews through the end of the year. Here's what we actually look at, and what we tend to find.

The Four Things We Check

1. Renewal Terms

When does the agreement auto-renew? How long is the notice window, and when does it close? What does it cost to leave early? Notice windows can close months before the term ends, so the time to check is well before renewal, not the week of it. Our renewal checklist covers this in more detail.

2. Cross-Border Fees

If you sell into a market where you don't have a local setup, you're probably paying extra on every transaction: network cross-border assessments, processor surcharges, and often an FX markup on the way home. Sometimes that's the right tradeoff at your volume. Sometimes a local setup pays for itself. We help you figure out which. For one common example, see why Canadian companies pay cross-border fees on US sales.

3. Your Exit

If you switch providers, can your customers' saved card data move with you, or will every customer have to re-enter their card? And what else stays behind, like subscriptions and payment history? We walked through how this works on Stripe in Leaving Stripe? What Comes With You (And What Doesn't).

4. Compliance

Does the way your money actually moves match the licenses behind it? A payout flow that runs through your own account can turn your business into an unlicensed payments company without anyone noticing. The Payout Flow That Needed A License is a real example.

What We Find

What we find varies by company, industry and risk level. A high-risk merchant's contract looks very different from a SaaS company's. But one pattern shows up a lot: contracts written in the provider's favor, with very little protecting the merchant.

Termination terms that make it expensive to leave. Early termination fees, long notice periods, and liquidated damages clauses that keep you on a provider you've outgrown.

Service levels that are vague or missing. No defined uptime, response times or escalation path, which leaves you with no leverage when something goes wrong.

Contracts that never grew with the company. Terms negotiated when the business was small, still in place after volume, markets and risk profile have all changed.

The Takeaway

The contract that fit you at launch rarely fits you at scale. Reviewing it before renewal is the cheapest point to fix it.

Through the end of the year, we're doing these reviews for free. Twenty minutes, no obligation. Send us a message and we'll set one up.