What You Need To Know About Merchant Accounts.
The merchant account industry can be a very tricky place to be if you are not sure what you are doing. There are many companies out there keen to provide their services for small and medium sized businesses, because there is a lot of money to be earned from it.
That is why is is so hard sell. To be able to get on well here and really find what you want and a company that can work well for you, knowledge of how the companies work is vital.
Firstly, if you are looking for rates when you go to a company you are going about things in the wrong way from the very beginning. The rate that is actually charged to some changes a lot depending on the type of card used and how a purchase is made.
This is very important to realize as many companies will advertise a really low rate.
This very low rate should always set alarm bells going and will represent either a rate that is given for a special introductory period or one that is available only when purchases are made under certain circumstances which lead to the best rates being available.
Also remember to check with each and every company you speak too what other charges will be added to your account if you sign up. By this I mean fees that will be accrued such as transaction fees and things like statement fees.
From here you need to draw you attention to what type of service level a merchant account provider will be able to give to you. It really is important that this is high and any potential company must be serious enough to have different teams for each different are that will affect your business, such as the technical and customer service aspects.
These are really important to get right, I don’t think that I can stress that enough. When there are problems as there inevitably will be, there needs to be quick and supportive back up to get you back taking orders again as quickly as possible. It doesn’t matter how cheap the rates are, if for some reason you can’t process payments.
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A couple of additions worth noting;
1. Many merchant service providers lock merchants into contracts with up to 3-year terms, then charge a cancellation fee much like mobile/wireless companies. I’ve run into more than a few companies who’s sales reps lie about those exact terms just to get the business. So it goes without saying that you MUST read your entire contract before signing up.
2. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. I can’t say it enough. There is sooooo much competition out there that it doesn’t make sense for you to hand over your business to the first Yahoo that you think has given you a good deal. Play a few of these guys against each other, so you can get a better deal.
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Best of luck to you on your search.