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The basics for choosing the right merchant payment processing provider are fairly obvious. However, recognizing the features that mark the best credit card processing services can be more difficult. This is especially true for merchants that are new to dealing with accepting credit card payments and those who are confused and exhausted by the complexity of the payment processing industry. One way to approach this problem is to think about what a merchant doesn’t want from
credit card processing services, as explicitly demonstrated by complaints that clients voice when leaving a payment processor.
1. Not receiving any personal attention: Though many merchants are similar, none are the same. The experience of trying to work with a large bank that does payment processing is not enjoyable for many merchants. They offer certain benefits, such as the security of “too big to fail,” but these large banks tend to view individual customers as just another number, leading to poor customer service and contracts that are not as fair and helpful as they could be.
2. “Boilerplate” contracts that aren’t negotiable and don’t get changed or updated to meet a specific merchant’s needs and business: most small merchants looking for new merchant payment processing don’t have a great deal of expertise going through the terms of a credit card payment processing contract. But they can still recognize a contract that indicates the writer made no attempt to adapt it to the merchant’s business model. These contracts save the banks time and money, but often cost merchants more in higher fees. The more inflexible a merchant service provider is, the less likely it is that a merchant will end up with an affordable deal.
3. Opaque contracts with hidden fees: along with inflexible contracts, contracts with confusing language are both frustrating and problematic for many merchants. Representatives of payment processing banks tell merchants about enticing low fees and rates for the common charges, disguising other fees that drive the price up. Discovering these extra costs and then getting charged for breaking the contract is both undesirable and problematic.
4. High rates and generally higher expenses: this basically goes without saying, but finding out that a merchant is paying more than other comparable businesses is both frustrating and causes problems. Whether because of confusing or intractable fee structures, surprise charges, or just a bad deal, paying more for merchant payment processing can hurt a small business.
This list is hardly exhaustive, but for anyone in the process of selecting a payment processing provider, it can be helpful to think about these common problems and be on the lookout for them in order to find a quality provider.
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