Free tool
Rolling Reserve & Processing Cost Calculator
A rolling reserve traps cash you have already earned. Most tools show you how much. This one also puts an annual cost on it, the cost of capital on money you cannot deploy, and folds it into your effective all-in rate. Adjust the inputs and the figures update as you type. Nothing to sign, nothing gated.
Start from a vertical
Typical 5-15%. High-risk placements often sit at 10-20%.
Typically 90-180 days before the first funds release.
Cash trapped at steady state
€120,000
€24,000 is newly withheld each month and stays held for roughly 5.0 months before the first tranche releases.
What the trapped cash costs you per year
€9,600 to €18,000
Cost of capital on the held balance, at 8% (low) to 15% (high). Most operators feel this as growth capital they cannot deploy, not a line on an invoice.
Effective all-in rate
MDR 6.50% + reserve drag 0.55% = 7.05% effective
Reserve drag spreads the mid cost of capital across your annual volume, so the headline rate and the real rate sit side by side.
How the balance builds
M1
€24,000
M3
€72,000
M6
€120,000
The reserve fills month on month until the first funds release after 150 days, then settles at the steady-state figure above.
Indicative only. Reserve percentage and hold length are negotiable at placement, and the right acquirer for your profile can change both. We are not a payment processor: we structure the banking and, where processing is needed, introduce a vetted partner PSP.
No obligation. We use it only to send this breakdown and, if you want, a read on whether better terms are placeable.
Rolling reserves, priced honestly
What is a rolling reserve?
A rolling reserve is a portion of each card transaction that your acquirer or PSP holds back for a set period before releasing it to you. It is security against future chargebacks, refunds, and fraud losses, and it is standard practice for high-risk merchants in verticals like iGaming, forex, crypto, and adult.
Two numbers define it: the reserve percentage (how much of each transaction is withheld) and the hold period (how many days the money is held before it starts releasing back to you). Because new funds are withheld every day while older funds release on a rolling basis, the held balance builds up to a steady state rather than sitting still.
How is a rolling reserve calculated?
The trapped balance at steady state is your monthly card volume multiplied by the reserve percentage, multiplied by the hold period expressed in months. For example, on 200,000 EUR of monthly volume with a 10% reserve held for 180 days (six months), the steady-state balance is 200,000 × 0.10 × 6 = 120,000 EUR sitting with your provider at any given time.
Each month you newly withhold monthly volume × reserve percentage. Funds withheld in a given month start releasing once the hold period elapses, so the balance climbs for the first few months and then levels off once the oldest tranche begins releasing at the same rate new funds are withheld.
What does a rolling reserve really cost?
Most calculators stop at the trapped figure. That understates the real cost, because trapped cash is not free: it is working capital you cannot deploy. The honest way to price it is the cost of capital on the held balance. Applied to a 120,000 EUR steady-state balance, an 8% to 15% cost of capital is roughly 9,600 EUR to 18,000 EUR per year, every year the arrangement runs.
Fold that back into your headline rate and you get the effective all-in rate: your MDR plus the reserve drag (the annual cost of capital spread across your annual volume). A 5% MDR can quietly become a materially higher effective rate once the reserve is priced in. That is the number worth negotiating on, not the MDR alone.
Is a rolling reserve negotiable?
Yes, more often than merchants assume. Both the reserve percentage and the hold length are set by the acquirer against your risk profile, and both can move as you build processing history, lower your chargeback ratio, or present a cleaner file. The right acquirer for your vertical can also start you at a lower reserve than a generic high-risk PSP would.
The lever is placement. Being introduced to an institution whose risk appetite fits your profile is usually what changes the terms, not haggling with the provider you already have. That is where a pre-approval check earns its keep.
How this calculator works, and what it assumes
Reserve percentage
Typically 5-15%, and 10-20% for higher-risk profiles. Set against your vertical, history, and chargeback ratio.
Hold period
Usually 90-180 days before the first funds release. Longer holds trap proportionally more cash.
Cost of capital
Applied as an 8% (low) to 15% (high) band on the trapped balance, with an ~11% mid-point driving the effective rate.
Steady state
The held balance builds over the first months, then settles once the oldest tranche releases as fast as new funds are withheld.
Every figure is indicative and directional. Actual reserve terms are set by the acquirer and are negotiable at placement. We are not a payment processor: we structure the banking and, where processing is needed, introduce a vetted partner PSP whose risk appetite fits your profile.
Where the reserve fits in the bigger picture
Frequently asked questions
Is this rolling reserve calculator accurate for my business?
It gives an indicative figure based on the inputs you enter. Real reserve percentages, hold periods, and MDR vary by acquirer, vertical, and your own processing history and chargeback ratio. Treat the output as a directional estimate to negotiate from, not a quote.
What is a typical rolling reserve percentage?
Reserves commonly sit between 5% and 15%. Higher-risk placements, or merchants with a thin history or elevated chargeback ratio, often see 10% to 20%. The hold period is usually 90 to 180 days.
How is the annual cost of the reserve worked out?
We apply a cost of capital to the steady-state trapped balance, shown as a band from 8% (low) to 15% (high). This reflects the opportunity cost of capital you cannot deploy while it is held, which is the real economic cost the trapped figure alone hides.
What is the effective all-in rate?
It is your MDR plus the reserve drag: the mid-point annual cost of capital divided by your annual card volume, expressed as a percentage. It shows the true cost of processing once the reserve is priced in, alongside the headline MDR.
Can BankMyCapital reduce my rolling reserve?
We are not a payment processor and cannot change any provider’s terms directly. What we do is structure the banking and, where processing is needed, introduce a vetted partner PSP whose risk appetite fits your profile, which is usually what moves the reserve percentage and hold length in practice.
Find out whether better reserve terms are placeable
The calculator prices the reserve you have. A pre-approval check tells you, in writing and under NDA, whether a lower reserve and a shorter hold are realistic for your profile, and with which kind of institution.
Free pre-approval check
Tell us where it hurts. A written read on your options in 48 hours.