Title: How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
1How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
- By
- CheapestMerchantAccounts.com
2How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
The Following is Our Advice for Securing the Best
Deal for Your Business Avoid Worrying About
Rates Focus on Cost As mentioned above the
merchant service providers are very experienced
at marketing to small business owners. So they
try and grab your attention by advertising the
lowest rates available.
3How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
Many even offer available rates on their
websites and youve likely seen banners
offering Rates as Low as X.YZ. This approach
from a small businesses owners perspective is
very effective compare rates find the lowest
sign up. While an effective marketing tool it
is exactly the type of trap that leads to
businesses far overpaying on their processing
costs.
4How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
The reason for this is that the processors
advertised rate only applies to a single card and
transaction type. Visa or Mastercard Business
or Personal High Risk or Rewards each card type
is unique and has its own rates which rate is
determined by the transaction type was the card
swiped or keyed in does the business keep
receipts are the transactions handled online
Each of these impacts the type of rate the
processor can offer.
5How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
This is a long explanation for why focusing on
rates is a trap that many business owners fall
into when what they really need to look at is
overall cost. This is not easy but a trained
and qualified sales representative should be able
to understand your business the type of
transactions and typical card types the business
will see. They can then craft a merchant
account that fits the business and has the lowest
overall cost.
6How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
At All Costs Avoid Specified Length/Term
Contracts One of the most frustrating parts of
the merchant account industry is the use of
contracts. Many processors have standard 3 year
contracts with hefty cancellation costs.
7How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
These contracts have no place in the industry
yet have somehow become the norm. Worse yet is
that some processors are actually devious enough
to have no cancellation fee but do have an
early termination fee or perhaps a clause that
entitles them to a monthly minimum payment each
month through the remainder of the contract.
Avoid contracts at all cost.
8How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
Customer Support and Service Often this is one of
the most overlooked items when comparing merchant
service providers. Many small business owners
assume that if they have a problem the processor
will just take care of it. Unfortunately these
are exactly the types of assumptions that have
made this industry so reviled as those same
merchants find out very quickly that not all
credit card processors are created equal.
9How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
Many processors are small operations maybe even
a single sales rep working out of his basement.
Customer Service is outsourced to the cheapest
bid with the hope that issues will not arise
and even if they do when the merchant is signed
into a 3 year contract what is the penalty to
having a poor customer service experience.
10How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
Level of Trust You are entrusting one of the most
critical aspects of your business to a third
party. It is a relationship that you need to
trust in and to do so you need to trust that you
are working with a processor that realizes their
success is dependent on your success. The higher
your profits the more you can invest in your
business which in turn will lead to more sales
and processing in the future.
11How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
While difficult to quantify in a phone call one
of the best measuring sticks you can use is the
level of knowledge the individual you are
speaking with has about your business and credit
card processing. As noted there are so many
factors that go into setting an account up
correctly any call that does not involve the
processor learning more about your business the
type of cards you will see and the ways you will
processing credit cards is not one to put much
trust in.
12How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
We hope that this guide on what to look for and
look out for can help you find the merchant
processor that with best fit your specific needs.
Each business is unique and finding the best
merchant account for your business is not a
cookie cutter process by asking the right
questions you can put yourself in a great
position for success.
13How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
We here at CheapestMerchantAccounts.com have also
attempted to grade many of the top and most
popular credit card processing companies on the
market today. Our full list of reviews is
available here each has been graded on their
standard rates any dues/fees typically assessed
to merchants along with the customer service
offered and any contract/cancellation fee
concerns. Please use these ratings as a guide
but most importantly make sure you feel
comfortable with the company you speak with.
14How to Secure the Lowest Possible Costs
If you are not being asked the right questions
or the answers to your questions are not what you
expect to hear try someone else! Ideally
finding a merchant account provider will be a one
time process for you set your account up with
the right processor and with very little
maintenance you will be happy with the results
while rushing through the process quickly or
comparing rates through emails means risking
potentially thousands of dollars a year. Good
luck and please let us know if we can help in any
other way.
