It is a real pain to switch merchant service providers. While this is true, it is often necessary to do so as some entrepreneurs will need more out of their credit card processing accounts. For this reason, one should not fear the process and should take it head on. With this in mind, here are four ways to avoid downtime when switching merchant providers.
Time of the day and week:
When making the switch, one should do so in the middle of the night on a slow day. This will allow one to experience the fewest problems since the system will not be overloaded with people trying to make a payment with the merchant account. Remember, it is not going to matter when making the move in the middle of the night as most e-commerce sites or other companies do not accept credit card payments at this time.
Solid business:
It is important to move to a solid company which will help users make the move with no issue. Since most will welcome the new business, this should not cause any problems for an entrepreneur who wants to make the switch without experiencing any delays. Ideally, before choosing a new provider, one should call them and discuss the moving situation as a lot of attention can help one fix any small problems immediately.
Support staff:
It is vital to use the existing IT support team to make the move go smoothly. By keeping everyone on hand and ready for problems, one can fix them quickly and avoid any embarrassing matters. Without a doubt, this is extremely important to do as one false move can cost a company thousands of dollars.
Keep all the old files:
Before making the switch to a new merchant account provider, one should save all the old customer files. This will make things easier in the long run as one will not have to call clients and ask them to submit their information again. Furthermore, when making the move, things will go well when one does not have to worry about losing client data. Simply put, before making a switch, one should save all their information on an external drive or the cloud.
With these four tips, one will have an easier time making the move to a new merchant services provider. One should not take this task lightly as it is easy to make one serious and costly mistake.