Credit card acceptance is on the rise. With fewer consumers desiring to tote a wallet full of cash and the fear of Covid-19 or future pandemics, it is important for merchants to locate the best debit card and credit card processing solutions. As a national leader in point-of-sale support, Valued Merchant Services offers tips to help business owners find the cheapest credit processing rates.
Why Search for Affordable Credit Card Processing Fees?
When a business already has credit card processing software and point-of-sale card readers that are PCI compliant, the cost to process electronic payments are also important.
As with any business operating expense, an entrepreneur should understand the cost of her merchant processing fees.
Every transaction that gets electronically processed via a dip, swipe, tap or manually keyed could impact a company’s return on investment.
Knowing which costs to look out for can empower a business owner to shop for the cheapest credit card processing terms.
What are the Best Credit Card Processing Deals?
Within the merchant processing industry, many hardware manufacturers, software providers and credit card processing companies will claim to offer the cheapest rates.
A variety of factors are used to determine a merchant’s processing costs, such as the type of equipment used, number of credit card transactions and the monthly sales volume. In some cases, the type of business can impact a merchant’s processing fees.
Review the six items mentioned below, when shopping to locate the cheapest credit card processing deals.
Pricing Structure:
Interchange-plus, Flat-rate, Tiered Rates, Cash Discounting
Credit-card issuers charge interchange fees to merchant processing companies that share some of the costs with independent sales organizations. With interchange-plus pricing, a percentage of the cost per transaction gets added to the interchange rate.
Some independent sales reps promote merchant processing services that are priced according to a flat rate per transaction. Others offer programs that allow you to recover the some or all of the cost of processing through surcharging or cash discounting.
Processing Fees:
Whenever a business accepts credit cards or debit cards, processing fees are incurred.
So, how does a company find the cheapest credit card processing fees?
To determine whether it is more advantageous to subscribe for flat-rate pricing, interchange-plus pricing, tiered pricing or surcharging/cash discounting a business owner will need to evaluate several factors, such as the company’s average number of electronic payments that are processed per month, transaction size and the number of in-person sales versus online sales.
Monthly Fees:
While shopping for low-cost merchant processing services, a business owner must consider a variety of pricing options. In addition to pricing methodology, other fees must be factored into the overall costs to get a true apples-to-apples comparison. Some companies charge monthly subscription fees that could range between $10 and $200.
Other Costs:
Some of the most popular merchant processing companies offer branded types of hardware, software and other equipment, such as point-of-sale terminals, secured card readers and wireless card-reading devices.
Merchant processing firms also lease and sell reputable point-of-sale equipment for businesses who want value-added benefits, savings and PCI compliance versus paying for branded equipment to accept credit cards and debit cards.
The cost to purchase or to lease merchant processing equipment should also be added toward a company’s monthly expenses.
Ease of Use:
Compare the difficulty level against the business’s operational needs. Take note of any time-consuming steps to export data, to obtain other reports or toward a lengthy learning curve to understand how credit card processing works on a specialized system.
Reliable Customer Support:
Ensure that the merchant processing firm has a stellar customer service rating. Rock-bottom credit card processing rates will not matter too much, if the company does not provide 24-hour customer support.
Valued Merchant Services is a recognized company within the electronic payment industry that provides unbeatable credit card and debit card processing rates.
Contact us today for more information about affordable ways to accept credit cards in-store and online.
