Detroit, MI · Elevated risk
Credit card processing for Detroit general contractors
Very large tickets on long timelines — the profile that draws reserves and where card may not be the right rail at all. Here is how that plays out for a general contractor operating in Michigan.
Michigan · zero-cost position
Surcharging generally permitted
Our reading as of August 2026. Verified per engagement — not relied on from a web page.
Credit-card surcharging is generally reported as permitted in this state, subject to the card-brand rules: the surcharge may not exceed your actual cost of acceptance, it may never be applied to debit or prepaid cards, and it must be disclosed at the point of entry and again at the point of sale. A cash-discount program is also available if you prefer that framing.
Michigan permits surcharging. In Detroit the recurring cost is authorization-to-settlement drift on repair tickets, where the estimate authorized and the invoice settled differ enough to downgrade the transaction.
What Detroit means for a general contractor
A strong automotive-services and fleet market, where fleet card handling and authorization-to-settlement drift on repair tickets are the recurring costs.
At six-figure tickets, card acceptance may be the wrong instrument. The interchange cost on a $120,000 draw is real money, and the future-delivery exposure over a multi-month build is exactly what triggers a reserve. The honest answer here is often ACH for draws and card only for change orders and deposits.
Where Detroit general contractors lose basis points
- Very large keyed transactions without complete verification data
- Progress draws processed as unrelated one-off transactions
- Level 2 and Level 3 data absent on commercial payments
How we would structure it
- ACH versus card economics compared honestly for each payment type
- Level 2 and Level 3 data capture where card is genuinely the right rail
- Future-delivery exposure addressed in the underwriting file before a reserve is proposed
- Draw schedule and change orders reconciled to settlement
- Zero-cost structured as a surcharge or cash discount program for Michigan, with the disclosure and receipt language installed as part of the work
Built in Chicago
EY Loma Solutions is a Chicago practice, and every piece of software we ship is designed and built here. When we build a general contractor a custom CRM with payments inside it, that work is done by our own people in Chicago — not offshored and not white-labeled from somebody else's platform.
How our CRM builds workQuestions
Detroit general contractors, answered
Can Detroit general contractors legally run 0% cost processing?
Michigan permits surcharging. In Detroit the recurring cost is authorization-to-settlement drift on repair tickets, where the estimate authorized and the invoice settled differ enough to downgrade the transaction. For a general contractor specifically, we would structure this as a surcharge or cash discount program sized against a $4,000–$180,000 average ticket. As of August 2026 that is our reading of the Michigan position, and we re-verify it as part of every engagement rather than relying on a page like this one.
What should a Detroit general contractor be paying to process cards?
The only number worth comparing is your effective rate: total fees divided by total volume processed. For general contractors with a $4,000–$180,000 ticket and a card mix that is large card-not-present progress payments, the cost drivers are specific — very large keyed transactions without complete verification data is the most common one we find. We derive your effective rate from three statements at no cost.
Do you have Detroit references, or are you remote?
We are a Chicago practice and we work with merchants across the United States, Detroit included. Every engagement runs the same way regardless of geography — statements in, arithmetic out, in writing. A strong automotive-services and fleet market, where fleet card handling and authorization-to-settlement drift on repair tickets are the recurring costs.
Is general contractor in Michigan hard to get approved?
General contractors sit in an elevated-risk band. Most acquirers will write the category in Michigan, but the underwriting looks closely at the specific exposures in this vertical, and a well-built file is what avoids a reserve.
Do you build custom CRM software for Detroit businesses?
Yes — all of our software is designed and built in Chicago. Frequently. Draw schedules, change orders, lien waivers and subcontractor payments are where off-the-shelf tools break down badly. Builds are delivered with source code and full data export, with card, ACH and recurring billing embedded in the workflow.
Detroit general contractors: find out what you are actually paying.
A statement review costs you nothing and takes us under an hour. Surcharging generally permitted in Michigan.