When you are looking for the right way to choose a merchant service provider you may turn to your search engine, ask for referrals from other business owners, hear about someone through word of mouth, or see an advertisement. Keeping all of that in mind, there are some best practices for how to choose a credit card processing company.
The Right Way to Choose a Merchant Services Provider
When you decide you are ready to choose a merchant service provider, it is time to start your research. You may hear about a company or see an ad. You may even be sent postcards and offers from a wide variety of credit card processing companies when you register your business and obtain your licensing to operate. Even if you are a home-based service business, they will reach out to you.
This is not always the right way to choose a merchant services provider. You must take an active role in this initiative. There are a lot of pitfalls to consider. Some of the key areas we find clients have struggled with before they turned to TransAct include:
- No assistance in fighting chargebacks
- A lack of training and support
- Unexpected recurring fees for PCI non-compliance
These are very particular areas of concern for a business and are often not addressed in detail. Many providers focus on the rate rather than the total costs. There are many factors that go into the overall expense of credit card processing and we help to mitigate the costs rather than focusing only on the percentage rate.
What Are the Advantages of Referrals Over Google Searches?
We all know how easy it is to “Google it”. An online search is easy, fast and often returns more results than you could have even imagined. Consider taking it to the next level.
A referral.
What are the advantages of referrals? If you know other business owners in your area (even better, in your industry), you may want to ask them who their service provider is. You can also follow that up with a few other key questions:
- Why do they like the provider?
- What is their support like?
- Did they deliver what they promised in the beginning?
- Do they help when you have a chargeback?
- Did you get enough training to understand the equipment and software?
- Have you ever been surprised by unexpected fees?
Think about why you are looking for a new provider and be sure to ask about that particular issue, too.
The Right Way to Choose a Credit Card Processing Company
While many will start with a search engine, be sure to take it a few steps further to validate a new credit card processing company. Many require long-term contracts, which are not always in your best interests because it may cost you more over the term of that contract.
Your ultimate goal is finding a trusted partner.
TransAct appreciates referrals and positive feedback from clients. We know that finding a trusted partner is difficult, but we work one on one with each client to evaluate what their most important factors are. Then, we work to establish a program to eliminate unnecessary costs (like PCI non-compliance fees and helping to fight chargebacks).
We focus on reducing the overhead of processing, train both management and staff, and provide direct support for each client, not just at the beginning but throughout the time we support you with merchant services. Plus, with no long-term contracts required, if it isn’t working, you are not stuck with us for 2 or 3 years. (That said, many of our clients stay with us even longer because it works for their business; we continue to adapt to help them as their business grows.) Reach out today to learn more.