It is a standard practice in the industry to charge an early termination fee. This is understandable - considerable time and effort goes into underwriting and boarding a new account, time is spent on customer service, etc. An early termination fee is a way for a merchant account provider to make sure they will recoup their initial investment into a new merchant account. These fees are usually range from $200 - $500 depending on the provider. However, some entities enact extremely unethical early termination fees. For example, some merchant account providers will charge a mutliple on the earnings from the largest volume month over the past 12 months. Some providers will go so far as charge a multiple on their profit + interchange + dues and assessments! Two examples that I have encountered: 1) Big Bank - I had a merchant processing with this bank. They wanted to cancel, and were prepared to pay what they thought was a $295 early termination fee. They receive a communication from the
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