Zero Fees.
Zero Compromise.
We eliminate Monthly Recurring Billing and Membership credit card processing fees for merchants through legally compliant Dual Pricing and Cash Discount programs — permanently, without disrupting your operations.
Vendor-agnostic · Surcharge-compliant · Zero downtime migrations · Free feasibility study
Every Swipe Costs You Money.
It Doesn't Have To.
The average merchant pays 2.5–3.5% on every card transaction. On $500K/month in volume, that's up to $210,000 per year — gone. Compliantly eliminating that cost is not just possible, it's standard practice.
The Hidden Tax on Revenue
Processing fees are a direct reduction of net revenue. Unlike other operating costs, they scale with your success — the more you sell, the more you pay. A $2M/year business paying 2.8% in fees loses $56,000 annually that never appears on a P&L as a line item.
The Compliant Solution Exists
Visa, Mastercard, and Amex all permit compliant surcharging and dual pricing programs. When properly implemented — with correct registration, signage, and disclosure — merchants can pass processing costs to card-paying customers entirely, reducing their effective rate to near zero.
The Risk of Getting It Wrong
Poorly implemented surcharge programs expose merchants to card brand fines, chargebacks, and state law violations. The difference between a compliant program and a non-compliant one is in the details: registration timing, signage placement, receipt formatting, and debit card exclusion logic.
Three Programs.
One Goal: Zero Fees.
We design the right program architecture for your business model, customer mix, and state regulations.
Dual Pricing
Two prices, zero confusion
Present a cash price and a card price at every point of sale. Customers who pay with cash receive the lower price; card users pay the standard price that covers processing costs. Your effective processing rate drops to near zero — permanently.
- Compliant with all major card brands
- Works for retail, restaurant, and online
- Transparent to customers — no hidden fees
- 30-day average implementation
Cash Discount
Reward cash, recover costs
The listed price reflects the card price. Cash-paying customers receive a discount at checkout. Fully compliant with card network rules and state surcharge laws — and psychologically easier for customers to accept than a surcharge.
- Preferred model in surcharge-restricted states
- No surcharge registration required
- Ideal for high-volume retail environments
- Seamless POS configuration
Surcharge Compliance Audit
Protect what you've built
Already running a surcharge program? We conduct a comprehensive compliance review against all card brand mandates and state-specific regulations, delivering a remediation roadmap to eliminate legal and financial risk before it becomes a problem.
- Card brand registration verification
- State law compliance mapping
- Signage and disclosure audit
- Receipt formatting review
From Analysis to Zero Fees
in Four Steps
A structured implementation process built over 20 years of payment migrations — designed for zero disruption and maximum compliance.
Feasibility Assessment
We analyze 12–24 months of your processing statements to calculate the exact dollar amount you can eliminate. You see your savings before committing to anything.
Week 1Compliance Architecture
We design a fully compliant surcharge framework aligned with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex card brand rules, plus all applicable state regulations.
Week 1–2System Implementation
Our team configures your POS, payment gateway, and processing stack to support dual pricing with zero downtime. We handle API integrations, hardware, and staff training.
Week 2–4Migration & Go-Live
A phased cutover ensures business continuity. We monitor transaction data post-launch to confirm compliance and optimize performance.
Week 4Calculate Your Savings
Move the sliders to see your fee recovery — then select your state to see how that savings translates into increased real estate value.
Estimates based on full fee elimination via compliant dual pricing. Actual savings calculated during free feasibility study.
Real Estate Valuation Uplift
How Your Savings Increase Property Value
For owner-occupied businesses, eliminating processing fees directly increases Net Operating Income (NOI). Select your property type and state to see the implied increase in your property's market value using sector-specific cap rates.
Property Type
Source: Cushman & Wakefield Self-Storage Outlook 2025
How It's Calculated
Projected Property Value Increase
Self-Storage in Texas — 7.1% cap rate
Projections are illustrative estimates based on the income capitalization formula (NOI ÷ Cap Rate = Value). State baselines are blended commercial averages. Property type adjustments are derived from CBRE H2 2025 Cap Rate Survey, Cushman & Wakefield Self-Storage Outlook 2025, and Marcus & Millichap Net Lease Report 2025. Parking cap rates reflect suburban/secondary market assets; urban premium assets may trade at materially lower cap rates. Actual valuation impact depends on property condition, location, lease structure, and prevailing market conditions. Not financial, appraisal, or investment advice.
Recurring Revenue Businesses
Built for Zero-Cost Processing
Pilothouse Payments specializes in businesses with monthly recurring billing, memberships, and subscription-based revenue — where eliminating processing fees creates a permanent, compounding EBITDA advantage.
The "Net-Zero" Expense Initiative
In the real estate and storage sectors, processing fees are often miscategorized as fixed G&A costs. By implementing a Dual Pricing strategy, operators move the cost of card-brand rewards back to the consumer — ensuring 100% of every dollar of rent collected is available for debt service and operational maintenance.
Performance Blueprint: Commercial Parking Group
A regional parking group operating 12 garages is losing an estimated $84,000/year to processing fees. The Pilothouse Performance Blueprint for this profile calls for deploying an automated Dual Pricing kiosk system across all locations. Upon implementation, the operator is projected to achieve 100% fee recovery within 30 days — redirecting $7,000/month in recaptured cash flow toward operational priorities such as security, maintenance, or debt service.
All Industries Served
Your Branded Virtual Terminal
Payment Portal
Every Pilothouse Payments client receives a fully customized, branded virtual terminal and customer payment management portal — built for your business, at no cost.
Your customers see both options at checkout — they choose, you save.
Monthly Recurring Billing Too!
Fully Branded Portal
Customized with your logo, colors, and business name. Your customers see your brand — not ours.
Customer Payment Management
Full customer profiles, stored payment methods, recurring billing schedules, and payment history — all in one interface.
Full Backend & Reporting
Real-time transaction reporting, batch settlement summaries, chargeback management, and exportable data for your accounting team.
No Processing Fees
Under our compliant Dual Pricing and Cash Discount programs, your effective processing cost is eliminated — not reduced. Zero fees.
Next-Day Funding
Funds deposited to your account the next business day. No waiting 2–3 days for settlement — your cash flow stays intact.
ACH Payment Capabilities
Accept bank-to-bank ACH transfers directly through the portal — ideal for high-ticket transactions, recurring memberships, and B2B invoicing.
Compliance Is Not Optional.
We Make It Automatic.
Every program we design is engineered to satisfy all six compliance pillars — protecting you from card brand fines, chargebacks, and state law violations.
Card Brand Registration
Surcharge programs must be registered with Visa and Mastercard a minimum of 30 days before implementation. We manage the registration process on your behalf, ensuring your program is legally authorized before a single transaction is processed.
State Surcharge Laws
As of 2025, surcharging is prohibited in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York (as currently interpreted), and restricted in several others. We map your operations to applicable state laws and design programs that are compliant in every jurisdiction — using cash discount programs in surcharge-restricted states to achieve the same economic result.
Surcharge Cap (Visa: 3% / MC: 4%)
Visa caps surcharges at 3% (effective April 15, 2023). Mastercard caps at 4%. In all cases, the surcharge may never exceed the merchant's actual cost of acceptance. Our programs are engineered to the lower Visa threshold — 3% or cost of acceptance, whichever is lower — to ensure cross-brand compliance.
Entry & POS Signage
Physical and digital disclosure at the point of entry and point of sale is mandatory. We provide professionally designed, card-brand-compliant signage templates for all environments — retail, restaurant, ecommerce, and mobile.
Receipt Line Items
Surcharge amounts must appear as a distinct line item on every receipt. We configure your POS and gateway to produce compliant receipt formatting automatically — no manual intervention required.
Debit Card Exclusion
Surcharges cannot be applied to debit card transactions, even when processed as credit. Our implementation includes the technical logic to correctly identify and exclude all debit transactions at the gateway level.
Vendor-Agnostic. Every Platform.
We work with your existing systems — or migrate you to the right one. No vendor lock-in, ever.
Common Questions
Straight answers to the questions every merchant asks before getting started.
Start With a Free
Feasibility Study
Send us your last 3 months of processing statements. We'll calculate your exact savings and design a compliant program — at no cost, no commitment.
Why Pilothouse Payments
Pilothouse Payments is the merchant services division of Pilothouse Structured Debt Finance & Payments Advisory — a premier structured debt and capital advisory firm serving the lower-middle market.
Visit Pilothouse SDFSafe Harbor Statement & Legal Disclaimer
Important Disclosures — Please Read Carefully
Entity Disclosure
Pilothouse Payments is a registered trade name (DBA) of Rhino Consulting LLC, a limited liability company. All services, agreements, and contractual obligations are entered into by and through Rhino Consulting LLC. The use of the name "Pilothouse Payments" is for marketing and brand identification purposes only and does not constitute a separate legal entity.
Basis of Information
All content, analysis, benchmarks, industry averages, and market commentary published on this website are derived from (i) over 20 years of direct payment processing industry experience and (ii) publicly available data sources, including but not limited to card network publications, Federal Reserve payments studies, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, and industry trade associations. No proprietary, confidential, or non-public information has been used or disclosed.
Calculators & Forecasts
The savings calculators, real estate valuation uplift tools, and any financial projections or forecasts presented on this website are provided for illustrative and educational purposes only. Outputs are estimates based on industry averages and user-supplied inputs. They do not constitute financial advice, a guarantee of results, an appraisal, or a commitment to any specific outcome. Actual results will vary based on individual business circumstances, processor agreements, transaction mix, and market conditions.
Performance Blueprints
Performance Blueprints are prescriptive strategic models based on representative operator profiles and projected outcomes. They are not case studies, completed engagements, or representations of past performance by Rhino Consulting LLC or Pilothouse Payments. Blueprint projections are hypothetical in nature and are intended solely to illustrate potential outcomes for a defined business profile under stated assumptions.
Mandatory Review Requirement: All information, data, projections, forecasts, calculator outputs, and Performance Blueprints obtained from this website must be independently reviewed for accuracy and applicability by the client's or prospect's legal counsel, financial advisors, and internal finance teams prior to making any business, financial, or operational decisions. Pilothouse Payments and Rhino Consulting LLC expressly disclaim any liability arising from reliance on website content without such independent review.
Nothing on this website constitutes legal advice, financial advice, tax advice, investment advice, or a solicitation of any kind. Pilothouse Payments and Rhino Consulting LLC are not registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, attorneys, or licensed financial planners. All visitors are encouraged to consult qualified professionals before acting on any information presented herein. Use of this website is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.