Normalized Cost Basis
One defensible view of pass-through cost and processor take.
- Effective Cost Basis model across rates, transaction fees, payouts, support, and value-added services
- Pre/post amendment baseline and executive recommendation
Contract Negotiation
Renegotiate The Processor You Want To Keep.
Straata turns opaque processor economics into a quantified negotiating position and brings enough leverage to make the incumbent compete.
Maintenance, not matchmaking. Keep the incumbent and reset the economics around the volume you already run.
Engagement6 to 12 weeks
Preferred OutcomeIncumbent retained
The Problem
The Blended Rate Hides The Negotiating Surface.
The incumbent already sees its economics fee by fee. The buyer usually starts with one blended number and no clean way to separate market cost from processor margin.
Who It Is For / Not For
For CFOs, payments leaders, and portfolio operators who can provide agreements, statements, forecasts, and executive sponsorship. Not for teams seeking a broad RFP or unwilling to put credible alternatives in play.
Blended Rate Fog RegisterThree Negotiating Gaps
01
Cost Basis
Sticker rates hide actual processor margin and leave finance without a defensible ask.
02
Leverage
A rate request without leverage produces token concessions.
03
Agreement Terms
Headline discounts return as minimums, support charges, or unfavorable tiers.
Information Advantage
ECB normalization removes the fog. Every ask can then be tied to processor take, contract structure, or a comparable alternative.
What You Get
Three Artifacts That Carry The Negotiation To Signed Terms.
You enter the negotiation with one comparable cost basis, dollar-valued asks, a credible alternative, and guardrails for the whole agreement, not merely its headline rate.
Negotiation Decision PackageBuilt Across 6 To 12 Weeks
Leverage Plan
Dollar-valued asks, sequencing, and a credible outside option.
- Prioritized negotiation position: rate floor, fee removals, and re-tiered marginal economics
- Competitive benchmark or targeted alternative offer
- Incumbent outreach and the counter rounds that follow
Negotiated Term Sheet
The full economic package, documented before signature.
- Minimum-fee, term, exclusivity, and migration-incentive review
- Savings clause, amendment baseline, and close recommendation
Commercial Alignment
No savings, no fee.
The engagement structure aligns Straata with the signed economic improvement. It is stated as alignment, with no rate or percentage published.
How It Works
Five Stages From Cost Basis To Closed Amendment.
The sequence creates the anchor, manages each counter against the same model, protects the savings in the agreement, and closes without disrupting the operating relationship.
Negotiation Control BoardFive Stages / Counter Playbook
ECB Normalization
Separate pass-through cost from processor take and value every ask on the same volume.
Opening Anchor
Set the target economics, full term position, and credible alternative before outreach.
Counter Dance
Run each concession through the model and answer with the relevant named play.
Savings Clause
Keep minimums, tiers, support fees, term, and exclusivity from returning the value.
Close
Reconcile the final amendment to the baseline and present the signing recommendation.
Counter-Move Playbook
Procurement can manage a bid table. Straata models how each counter changes the economics, the commitment, and the contractual route out.
01
MFC Escalator Defense
Model the discount and the 3 to 5 year minimum-fee ladder together. Surface synthetic exclusivity before accepting the headline concession.
02
Pre-RFP Defensive Amendment Defense
Keep a preemptive concession inside the benchmark. Its timing does not replace the cost basis, the target position, or the outside option.
03
Material Breach Escape Valve
Preserve the contractual route out when documented failures meet the agreement standard, without turning every operating issue into a threat.
Proof / De-Identified
Negotiated Economics With Material Five-Year Impact.
Each proof point carries an evidence state. Executed means the negotiation reached signed terms. Structural means the line describes how agreement economics behave.
Contract Negotiation EvidencePublic Safe / De-Identified
Forecast from one executed, de-identified processor renegotiation.
Roughly fifteen million dollars across eight de-identified engagements.
Structural
Past 15 bps, minimum-fee structure matters more than headline rate.
Fit Check
Use This Service When The Incumbent Is Still The Preferred Answer.
The engagement earns its depth when the effective cost gap is material, the current processor still fits the platform, and leadership will support a credible negotiation position.
Engagement Fit RegisterChoose The Correct Lane
Strong Fit
Best For
Platforms and marketplaces with meaningful volume and an incumbent worth keeping.
Choose This When
The gap is margin, tiers, ancillary fees, minimums, or contract drift, not processor fit.
Material Gap
Current effective cost is meaningfully above the achievable rate after pass-through costs are normalized.
Preferred Outcome
Keeping the incumbent is the operating preference if the economics and contract terms can be repaired.
Use A Different Lane
Switch Decision Made
Use Vendor Selection when the team has already decided to replace the incumbent.
Money Already Owed
Use Residual Audit when the question is contractual underpayment and recovery.
What Happens Next
Build The Baseline For The Incumbent Negotiation.
The first call tests the effective cost gap, data readiness, executive sponsorship, and whether keeping the incumbent is the intended outcome.
Switch The Processor
Vendor Selection
Run the market when the incumbent is no longer the preferred operating answer.
Compare Vendors
Recover Money Owed
Residual Audit
Reconcile the agreement and payout history when the issue is contractual underpayment.
Size The Claim
Still deciding whether to keep the incumbent? Read Renegotiate Or Switch?