A good deal with two expensive habits

Start with what this statement gets right, because most merchants reading their own would not believe it: £4,144.67 of charges on £549,913.89 of card sales over twelve months is an effective 0.75%. For a bar with tourist and corporate trade, that is a competitive deal, and no honest review of this statement starts with "switch".

The two expensive habits are in the card mix, not the contract. American Express: 46 December payments, £7,841.15, billed at the standard 1.90% for £148.98 - 11% of the volume producing 24% of the card fees. And corporate cards: one single Visa Corporate tab of £3,429.09 cost £63.46 at 1.85%, a tenth of the month's card fees from one payment. Both rates are the sort merchants assume are fixed; the London restaurant in this series pays 0.99% for the same Amex card, which is the strongest possible argument that they are not.

The most useful line is barely a fee at all. UK acquirer statements must now print the contract end date, and this one showed it four weeks away from the statement date. That window - the weeks before a contract rolls - is when a merchant holds every card: renegotiate the Amex and corporate rates with the renewal as leverage, or leave without an exit fee. December's effective rate of 0.93%, driven by festive corporate spending, is exactly the evidence to take into that conversation.