Many businesses dislike dealing with credit card processing services, as they overpay for bank card fees and make less money as a result of high processing costs. However, credit card processing is extremely important and although bank card fees can be high through some processing companies, there are plenty of low-cost options available to merchants that want a simple way to handle credit and debit card transactions. There are also quite a few ways to bring down bank card fees and increase profits in a physical or an online store.
The best credit card processing rates go to those merchants that handle a large number of transactions each day or merchants who handle larger-than-average transactions. These types of merchants mean more money for processing companies, so they’re often awarded low rates. Businesses that do a high volume of credit card sales may be able to use their sales as leverage when negotiating with credit card processing companies. However, merchants should never lie or mislead processing companies into believing that sales will be unreasonably high, as most credit card processing companies charge penalties to companies that don’t give a fair estimate of their monthly or weekly sales. The best tactic is to be honest and to submit a reasonable estimate of sales when comparing bank card fees from different credit card processing companies.
Many merchants make the mistake of only considering per-transaction fees when setting up a processing agreement. Per-transaction fees are certainly an important cost, but other fees can quickly eliminate the benefit of a low per-transaction rate. Most credit card processing businesses charge fees for things like server maintenance and monthly memberships, so one of the best tactics for getting lower bank card fees overall is to ask for a detailed breakdown of all of the costs associated with a particular processing service. Without a transparent schedule of costs, it can be very difficult to compare two credit card processors to choose the best option. Merchants should also remember to look at other features of credit card processing services that might affect their bottom line. For instance, if a credit card processing company has good technical support and fast processing times, they might be worth slightly higher per-transaction rates.
Collecting and comparing quotes from credit card processing companies can be worth the time, as this tactic will often yield much lower transaction fees and a more profitable merchant agreement. Ultimately, merchants should remember to look for a reasonably-priced, trustworthy processor that offers a fast and well-supported means of taking bank card payments, as this can be more important than having the cheapest available credit card processing option.