Credit Card Processor – Top Tips For Finding The Right Service For Your Small Business
Various questions come up when you start looking for a credit card processing service such as Will the service improve my trade?, How much will it cost?, Can I rely on them?, Are they trustworthy?, etc. The internet is a first-class starting place to survey the market for credit card processors. But how do you decide which processing service is the solution for your trade requirements?
In this article, we talk about some of the critical factors in selecting a credit card processing service for your business:
Credit card processing fees
The fee charged for service is logically an important factor. You want a service that is within your means and well worth its price. The types of fees charged by processors vary but the most common are described below:
- Startup cost: Lots of card processing firms do away with this fee. For those that do, the fee is around $250. This is a “one time” fee.
- Gateway fee: If you have an online store, you will need a payment gateway to process credit card payments. The gateway fee is charged monthly and ranges widely from $10-$50.
- Statement fee: Most service companies collect a statement fee that averages around $10 per month.
- Monthly minimum fee: Credit card processors charge a monthly minimum in the range of $20-$30 to ensure at least some income from each client.
- Transaction fee: This fee is charged by all card processing companies. A set amount in the range of 24-35 cents is charged per transaction. Apart from this fee, the service also collects a percentage (discount rate) that averages to 2.14%-2.40% of the payment amount processed.
- Address verification fee: Address verification is an additional security measure against credit card fraud. Some companies charge a fee for each address verified. The charge for verifying addresses is around 5-10 cents per address.
Expectations from a credit card processing service
The next step is to find out whether the service can serve all your business requirements. List your requirements against the features of the service.
Category of credit cards accepted
Verify the typical types of cards used by your customers or the card types you would like to accept. Make sure the credit card processing service accepts them. Frequently used card types are Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
Type of services
A credit or debit card processing service should offer all the services required to manage transactions in physical stores or e-commerce outlets.
Some services that should be part of the agreement are:
- merchant account
- virtual terminal
- electronic check clearing services
- point-of-sale (POS) terminals
- shopping cart
- recurring billing
- reasonable payment clearing period
Credit card processing security features
Credit card transactions are vulnerable to scams and thefts. Credit card processing services should provide essential security features such as:
- anti-fraud security
- CVV2 verification
- real time processing
- address verification
- SSL and encryption
Customer support quality
What makes credit card processing services dependable? An almost zero error rate and easy to get to customer support service. Service providers should be able to render help when you need it without losing time. Some features that should be part of the contract are:
- customer support numbers, email, fax, and work timings (around-the-clock is always preferable)
- fixed response times
- toll-free telephone number
- live online chat, if needed
Businesses should weigh expenses and services before selecting a service provider. The deal should not only fit your business budget but also fulfill all your requirements.
Daljeet Sidhu. Credit Card Processing for Small Business advice. Compare credit card processing quotes.