Cost altering payment services (“CAPS”) system in association with a distributed enhanced payment (“DEP”) processing system includes a merchant point of sale (“POS”) terminal system and a remote enhanced payment management system (“EPMS”). The remote EPMS receives payment transactions including additional risk mitigating payment transaction (“RMPT”) information and based on that additional RMPT information provides altered transaction costs. The remote EPMS provides facilities for the merchant to review and revise payment management services so as to utilize additional RMPT information received from the merchant POS terminal system so as to alter transaction costs. Such facilities provide information to determine the relative potential transaction cost benefits of various payment management service sets utilizing cost profiles that represent the costs of archival, recorded and projected future transactions. The remote EPMS provides “transaction guidance” technology to be utilized by the merchant's POS terminal system to facilitate prompting for and acquiring additional RMPT information.