The FT5 Playbook
No jargon. No fluff. Expert breakdowns of payment processing written by people who spent decades inside the industry.
Topics that matter to your bottom line.
Plain-English explanations of interchange, pricing models, and how the payment stack actually works.
Breakdowns of flat-rate vs tiered vs IC+ pricing, with real math on what each model costs at scale.
Deep dives into industry trends, seasonal rate changes, and what merchants should watch for in their statements.
Coverage of emerging payment tech: contactless, biometrics, AI fraud detection, and what's coming next.
Written by people who spent decades inside the industry.
These aren't AI-generated summaries of press releases. This is the real operational knowledge our team accumulated from working inside acquiring banks, building processor networks, and negotiating on behalf of thousands of merchants.
We name the things processors prefer to obscure (tiered pricing tiers, basis point markups, and junk fees).
We do the math for you. Every article includes real examples with actual numbers, not hypotheticals.
We don't have editorial partnerships with processors. No sponsored content. No affiliate links. No agenda.
Every piece of content is free, always. Our business model is consulting, not selling your data or your attention.