10 Things to Consider When Choosing a Credit Card Processor: Part 2

Here is Part 2 of our series, 10 things to consider when choosing a Credit Card Processor. In case you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.

10 things to consider when choosing a Credit Card Processor:

4. Free 24/7 Service and Support– This topic was touched on earlier but warrants emphasis.  Downtime in this industry is directly related to lost sales and revenue. Many companies, do not offer live service and support. Imagine how frustrating that could be should a credit card processing device go down during a rush or in the middle of a large sale. Also many of the Merchant Account Providers that do offer live service and support have the audacity to charge for that and it can get extremely expensive.  Imagine further having a Merchant Processing Device go down, losing sales and revenue, then getting hit with a huge charge the following month for having to make that phone call due to the providers faulty product.   FREE 24/7 US Based Service and Support is an absolute necessity.  Merchants should not accept anything less.

5. Research the Company– We cannot stress this enough.  Check out their reviews on Social Media.  Are they rated with the BBB? Check other review sites and bad customer service sites. Most importantly, ask for referrals and references; these will speak volumes. The merchant service industry is unregulated and highly competitive. Many companies have jumped on board and have no clue what they are doing and do whatever it takes to board an account. Being that most accounts can be underwritten and activated via a simple online or emailed application it is easy for providers to hide behind creative marketing campaigns and expensive websites.  They cannot hide from their reviews!!.  Merchants do your homework

6. Get an Accurate Quote– New Merchants to accurately estimate average ticket, monthly volume and growth forecasts. Provided insufficient or incorrect data could lead to a higher rate or a penalty rates if forecasts are exceeding.  Existing merchants should provide 2-3 consecutive credit card processing statements (more if seasonal)  to give an good representation of activity in order to get a solid cost comparison and a valid quote.  As above, be careful of  to whom you provide this sensitive data and try to get at least 3 solid quotes from reputable companies.

Stay tune for Part 3, coming soon!

At 1st National Payment Solutions, we pride ourselves on helping our customers navigate the complicated world of processing and doing so with honesty, integrity, and character.  If you would like to see why thousands of businesses have chosen 1NPS for their processing, please reach out to us at sales@1nps.com or call us at 1-866-964-1622 for a no cost, no obligation statement review!