Most businesses hand over 90–95% of their revenue stream to a payment processor they've never properly vetted, and that processor is counting on you never looking too closely at the bill.

Joe Zahaitis has spent 32 years in payments working for Bank of America Merchant Services, SPS Payment Systems, and now Bank Card International Group and Manirpay. He's seen every trick in the book.

In this episode, we get into the one formula that exposes if your processor is overcharging you, how predatory pricing creeps in when you're not watching, why crypto could eliminate chargebacks, and how to finally build a relationship with your vendor instead of just chasing the lowest price.

About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate.

Chapters:

0:00 - Intro: Who is Joe Zahaitis?

0:52 - How Joe got into payments, the Sears interview story

5:17 - Why payments are taken for granted (and why that costs you money)

5:47 - What to look for beyond just price in a payment processor

8:13 - How to vet your merchant services provider properly

11:23 - Predatory pricing: how to spot if your processor is ripping you off

13:57 - High-risk industries and what that means for your business

17:37 - Crypto, stablecoins, and why there's no chargeback on digital assets

19:37 - Friendly fraud, consumer abuse, and the chargeback war

23:21 - Subscription scams, auto-renewals, and the trap that survives card changes

29:04 - Best practices for any merchant, regardless of budget

32:07 - How to minimize chargebacks (the right way)

38:11 - Rate creep, contract rolls, and the cash discount debate

47:25 - Customer segmentation: your A, B, C, and D clients

Connect with Ready Set Exec:

• John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/
• Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/
• Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec
• Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g
• Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413

Connect with Joe Zahaitis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezahaitis/

#MerchantServices #PaymentProcessing #Ecommerce #Chargebacks #BusinessGrowth

#SmallBusiness #CryptoPayments #SubscriptionTrap #BusinessPodcast #Podcast2026

#HighRiskPayments #PaymentFraud #EcommerceStrategy #FounderMindset #Entrepreneur