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Operations · Glossary

Early Termination Fee

Also called: ETF

An Early Termination Fee is a penalty charged when a merchant cancels a processing contract before its end date. Standard ETFs run $295-595; liquidated-damages clauses can multiply ETFs into the thousands. Negotiable at signing in most cases.

Why this matters to merchants

Early Termination Feesits inside the broader system of U.S. payment processing economics that determine a merchant’s effective rate. Most operators encounter this term on their merchant statement without understanding what it controls, which is how the four hidden fees covered by our methodology slip past unnoticed.

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