3 Things to Consider When Selecting a Credit Card Processing Service

November 27th, 2009 by Alexander C. Hemenway | Filed under finance.

Selecting a credit carding processing service can be a complicated task since many processors tout themselves as being the best in the market. Here are 3 important things to consider when shopping for a credit card service provider.

The Critical Costs

Cost is probably the most important factor when selecting a processing company. There are 2 main types of fees, Transactional Fees and Monthly Fees. In terms of monthly fees, pay attention for the monthly statement fee (around $10), monthly minimum fee(between $15-30), and if you are doing credit card processing over the internet the monthly payment gateway fee (between $10-$20).

Important transactional fees to consider are the discount rate fee (in the 2% range) and the account provider transaction fee (about 20-30 each transaction) and the address verification fee (5 cents each time).

Account Setup Ease and Speed

Quality and speed of account setup is another important criterion to consider when picking a merchant account provider. Average Approval Rating is an industry term that shows the approval percentage of merchants that apply for an account. It is prudent to looking for a credit card service provider with an approval rating greater than 95%.

Since in business, time is money, be sure to evaluate the setup time. A good provider can setup an account in 2 days. In addition enquire about the amount of time it takes from purchase for funds to be transferred into your account, again, 2 days is optimal.

Good Customer Service and Features

Having access to good customer support for your merchant account can save you a lot of hassle. Find out if customer service is available 24/7, whether they have phone, instant message and email based support.

If you have a physical store you will need to enquire if the account provider supplies POS (Point of Service) Hardware.

Although selecting a credit card processor can be a daunting task, evaluating cost, ease and speed of start up and quality of customer service can make things a lot simpler.

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