Many small business owners sign up for payment processing accounts so they can accept credit cards and other forms of payments. When looking at the paperwork, many busy entrepreneurs fail to notice all the fees and extra charges. This is a serious mistake as some merchant accounts will cost the business owner a lot of money. With that being said, here are five fees to look out for when looking at a merchant account statement.
Equipment rental: When accepting credit card payments, most people do so with a POS system provided by the payment processing company. These machines are not cheap to rent and can often cost the business owner $50 a month. Instead, when accepting credit cards with this method, one should buy the machine to avoid the high monthly cost.
Statement fees: Some banks charge a fee to print and mail the monthly statement. With the Internet and email, this is outrageous as a savvy entrepreneur can check his or her account online and even print it afterwards. Remember, when looking for merchant accounts, keep an eye out for monthly statement fees.
Monthly minimum fees: A small business must watch out for monthly minimum fees on their statements. In a bid to bring in extra cash, some credit card processing companies will make up the difference and charge clients a nominal fee to bring the account to a minimum threshold. Luckily, a consumer has plenty of choices and can find a merchant services company that does not charge this annoying fee.
Payment gateway fees: If an organization uses the Internet to receive payments, they may see this charge on their statement. Other times, the company will call it a software fee. While this cost is difficult to avoid, one should to minimize it by shopping around for the best deal chart understated
Annual or quarterly fees: Some payment processing firms will not stop with the charges and will try to tack on any fees they can justify. For example, some shady companies will charge a quarterly or annual just to keep the account open. This is a hard one to justify and any serious entrepreneur must look for another company who does not charge this unjustifiable fee.
When looking out for these five hidden fees, one can save a lot of money and avoid overpaying for the same services offered by other firms.