MERCHANTS HAVE MORE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING FEES THAN EVER!

In the last few years, I have personally seen merchant accounts incur more and more monthly fees that have never existed before.  For example:

MONTHLY ASSOCIATION FEES (RETAIL)

 $0.83 NYCE
 $0.75 PULSE
 $1.00 STAR
 $0.75 JEANIE
 $0.67 ACCEL
 $1.25  MC annual
 $1.25 MC location
 $2.00 Visa FANF
 $8.50  TOTAL

This is like an additional monthly statement fee.  The PIN Debit annual fees are broken out as monthly but represent a $55 annual fee.   Keep in mind this is in addition to other fees that are also going up constantly.

Discount Fees
Transaction Fees
Interchange and Association Fees
PCI Compliance
PCI Non-Compliance
Breach Protection
Monthly Statement
Online Reporting

Therefore no one should be surprised that everyone is paying more than ever to accept plastic.  And dont be surprised that one rarely sees these fees listed in agreements.  Maybe its in the fine print 20 pages in.  My question is what has changed from a business standpoint to warrant these constant increases?  Is there any added value to these fees?  I don't believe so.  In fact if everyone is encouraged to be compliant with EMV technology, then we should see the cost of accepting cards go down since we are told that EMV is the best level of fraud protection yet.  Don't hold your breath.