Know Your Merchant Processing

Do the research ahead of time so you know your merchant processing system and the options available to you. For example, a few systems out there promise simplicity, but they are focused heavily on the fee calculation and not in the ways it can affect your business.

In this post, we address issues that clients who have started out with Square but have left their system because it was far more complicated than advertised.

Support

In the beginning stages of a new merchant processing system, there may be questions. In many cases, our clients have appreciated the live support that is offered.

Our support extends also to charge backs and POS interface, too.

Compare this to just an FAQ, online resource library, or e-mail support which offers a response hours, or even days later.

Transaction Processing 100% or Net

Be sure to understand how the funding will come through to your bank. What is the turn around time? How will you be paid?

With TransAct, you receive the total transaction and then each month the processing fees are deducted based on the types of cards that were processed.

With Square, deposits can come through as a “net of fee” deposit (and on every transaction). This can have significant impact on accounting and bookkeeping to verify the number of sales, amount due to the business and reconciliation to POS system reporting.

In addition, can you integrate with QuickBooks to assist in the bookkeeping and accounting process? (Learn more about integration here.)

Hardware Options

Will you have options to select from a variety of equipment, or even to re-use existing equipment? Can you still use your current POS?

Or, do you have to agree to a mandatory lease and only have access to proprietary equipment that won’t be reusable should you change systems later?

Ideally, you should have the option to buy or lease based on your preference.

With all of this there are pros and cons to weigh. It is better to evaluate them ahead of time and before you enter into a long term, non-cancellation agreement.

Learn the options so you can know your merchant processing system inside and out before you commit.

Take the time to ask questions and clarify how the process works. You will then be able to make the best choice for your business now and into the future. Schedule a free, 20-min consultation to learn more.