Selecting a processing service for your firm and accepting credit card for small business transactions can turn out to be a daunting task. The industry is intricate and can actually turn out quite complex to understand. This article brings three things you should look for when selecting your merchant account provider.
The actual costs
Generally, the most important factor in choosing a provider of credit card services is the actual cost. The most significant fees can be fitted into two pronounced categories; transactional and monthly fees. The major monthly fees are the minimum fee you have to pay monthly (typically between $15 and $30), the statement fee you pay monthly (around $10 generally), and additionally, if you are accepting debit/credit cards for online transactions, you will need to pay a gateway fee every month (between $10 and $20).
The main transactional fees that should concern you are the discount rate (a fee that is charged up to around 2% of any purchase’s price), the merchant account provider transaction fee (which happens to be about 20 to 30 cents for each transaction), as well as the address verification fee which happens to be around 5 cents for every single transaction.
Speedy and easy account setup
Being capable of easily and quickly setting your account up is the next most critical item to consider when comes to obtaining credit card processing for small business owners. You should make sure that you note the Average Approval Rating of the provider when you are shopping around to make a choice. This is a metric that’s used in measuring the percentage of merchants that are approved to process cards; the higher this metric is, the better. In addition, you should also pay close attention to the length of time it takes to set an account up. The majority of excellent merchant account services providers can set your account up within just 2 days. Ensure that you determine the length of time it could take for money to transfer into your account after any purchase has been made. The better service providers are able to do this within just 2 days.
Excellent client features and service
It can be truly helpful to get excellent client support from any credit/debit card service provider. As owners of small businesses hardly ever take any break, note whether or not their client service agents are available 24/7. Also, verify whether or not they feature email, instant chat, as well as phone support. If you operate your business from any ‘brick and mortar’ establishment or organization, you will have to also check whether the credit/debit card service provider offers any POS service system for you to swipe cards.
Even though choosing a reliable credit/debit card processor and accepting credit card for small business can turn out to be a task that’s somewhat daunting, evaluating the actual cost, speed and ease or signing and starting up, as well as the quality of the provider’s client service can actually make things a lot simpler for you. The three essentials should enable you to easily choose the best possible option.
