Getting The Best Merchant Account
If you want to sign up with the best merchant account, no matter what type of account it is, there are several important points that need to be fully understood before you can go and do this.
The reason for this is that many merchant account providers have ‘hard sell’ tactics that can brush over important details.
The first thing is regarding rates. Don’t just focus on a rate that you are quoted. There are many different charges that can added to a merchant account including transaction fees, statement fees, start up fees and different rates can be charged as well.
The different rates can depend on how and when a payment is taken as well as what type of card is used and information that is gathered.
So from a customer point of view it is vital to find out from each and every prospective company exactly what charges they will add to your account, so you can really understand who’s giving the best deal.
Currently, most people do not do this so get quite a surprise when the statement comes through the door. I often get people complaining about just this.
After rates we always then focus on the service that a company offers. Again this is vital, proper support and back up means that no transactions and therefore business is lost. Many companies with poor quality companies regularly have problems.
I personally think that people should only ever look for a company that can offer a different customer service team for each different aspect of an account. This goes from technical to customer issues.
Also be aware that many companies will require you to sign up with them on lengthy contracts, sometimes these can be up to 2 years in length. I can see no reason why anyone should have to sign up on a contract that is that long. It makes no sense. There are plenty of companies that will offer short term contracts or even month to month contracts. I believe that you should be wary of any company that wants you to sign a long term contract.