When choosing a merchant account provider there are many things that one will need to know before choosing the correct one. Every processing company operates differently and it’s hard for the consumer to know which one is the best to choose. Pricing isn’t always the top concern when choosing a provider, you would want a company that is well established and has the support that is able to work with your business.
1) Full Disclosure Pricing: All credit card processing companies claim that they have the best processing rates. Most companies will offer merchants a teaser rate that will make their company appear to have the best rates. When the bill finally arrives, the merchant has been charged multiple ancillary(added) fees. Most business owners don't notice these ancillary fees. Most processing companies label their fees differently making them very hard to figure out. Some companies take it one step further and hide the ancillary fees within the multiple pages of transaction data. When talking with a processing company you want to go over every fee that you will be charged per month and how they structure their card processing fees.
2) Integrity: The processing company your business is going to work with should have integrity within the industry. When speaking with a representative find out as much information about the company as you can. Aside from their rates, see how they want to work with your business and help you with all of your processing needs. Read reviews from other merchants processing with the company. See what they have to say about their business practices. Don’t just accept the company with the best rates. Make sure they follow ethical business practices and disclose everything with honesty.
3) Company Reputation: The reputation of a company should be taken into account when choosing a merchant account provider. When researching your company you should be able to find information about them easily. You should be able to find reviews and testimonials from current customers . Some simple research about the company can tell you a lot about how they functions and how they are regarded in the payment community.
4) Support: Your merchant account provider should be able to support your business at all times. They should have 24/7 customer support to provide your business with its billing or processing needs. They should also have 24/7 technical support for whenever your terminal or other technical problems need to be addressed.
5) Technology: The merchant account provider that you choose should be able to support any of the new processing methods that are available. Whether you’re processing face-to-face, wireless, mail order telephone order, or Internet sales, the company you choose should be able to support all these features. When you business is ready to expand you want to be able to smoothly process transactions no matter where you do them from.
6) Clear and Easy to Read Statements: When you receive your statements from you processor you want to be able to read them clearly and thoroughly. Before you choose your payment processor ask for a sample statement and have your sales representative go over the entire statement with you so you can understand the charges that they have. This will allow you to be educated on how they are charging their clients and will give you better insight into what to look for when you receive your statements.
7) Application Process: The application process should be clear and simple with everything stated right up front. You should not have to pay any fees for your application. When going over your application every fee that the processor can charge you should be there. Make sure that you go over everything and have your sales representative explain the entire application for you. Make sure there are no ancillary fees hidden in the fine print and discuss anything you find with the company.
8) Protection Against Consumer Fraud: Your payment provider should inform you how they are going to protect your transactions. Ask them about the methods they use to protect your account and private business information. You don’t want to experience unnecessary charge-back fees because your payment provider didn’t provide enough protection for your sales.
9) Trust: Building trust with a company is always the best way to run your business. You should be completely thorough with your payment provider choice. Asking them about their business practice, making sure they’re established in the industry and full disclosure of all pricing is necessary in building trust with the company. If you do not trust what you are hearing or seeing from the company walk away and do business with someone else.
