How Bello Poultry Market Saved $100K+ on Card Processing
A busy Long Island market, a custom-negotiated interchange-plus rate, and about $5,000 back every month β two years running. Here is the whole story, with the operations manager telling it on camera.
"Santos came in, assessed everything, and completely overhauled how we handle payments. He set up our POS system, lowered our processing fees dramatically, and weβve saved over $100,000 in fees since switching."
β Talel Sarraj, Operations Manager, Bello Poultry Market
The Situation: Big Volume, Zero Visibility
Bello Poultry Market is a high-volume Long Island grocery β the kind of business that runs thousands of card transactions across every card type there is. Like most busy markets, they were on pricing that gave them no visibility: no clear picture of what each swipe actually cost, no way to tell the processorβs markup from the card networksβ wholesale rates, and fees that kept creeping. When you cannot see the markup, you cannot negotiate it β and the processor is counting on that.
The Fix: A Custom-Negotiated Interchange-Plus Rate
Santos moved Bello to interchange-plus pricing at a lower rate than their old processor was charging. Interchange-plus means the market pays the card networksβ true wholesale cost (interchange) plus one small, fixed, visible markup β so every statement shows exactly where the money goes, and the markup is a number you negotiated, not a number hidden in a blend. For a high-volume grocery with a mixed bag of card types, that transparency is worth real money: no more overpaying flat-rate prices on low-cost debit cards. Alongside the rate, Santos set up a new POS fit for a busy market and stayed on call β one person, day or night, not a 1-800 queue.
The Numbers: About $5K a Month, $100K+ and Counting
The result has held for two years and counting: roughly $5,000 back every month compared to what they had been paying, which crossed the $100,000 mark in total savings. That is not a projection β it is what happened, month after month, measured against their old costs. The usual honesty note applies: every businessβs volume and card mix are different, and results vary. The way to know your own number is a statement review, not a headline.
Is Interchange-Plus Right for Your Business?
Interchange-plus shines for higher-volume businesses where transparency and a negotiated markup beat a one-size-fits-all rate. For smaller shops with small tickets, a compliant dual pricing program is often the bigger win β that is a different mechanism, and it is the one behind our El Salvador Deli story. The honest answer is that the right program depends on your volume, your tickets, and your card mix β which is exactly what a free statement review figures out.
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What Would Your Number Be?
Every business is different β send Santos a recent processing statement and he'll show you exactly what you're paying now and what your options are. Free, honest, no obligation.