Looking for articles on how to take payments smarter?

If you’re looking for the single best way to take payments online, the short answer is that there isn’t one. Now more than ever, customer’s are making more online payments in 2020 compared to previous years, and more businesses are looking for ways to make it easier to collect money.

Payment Gateway vs. Payment Processor: What's The Difference? If you're a business owner, chances are you've already heard about payment gateways and payment processors. Both are related to any...

If you run a small business, invoices are your best friend. You can reduce billing errors for services/products, provide a summary of the transaction, track current and potential orders, verify...

One of the key challenges that small businesses face is their employee’s decrease in productivity over time. While there are many factors that may be attributed to this, repetitive tasks related to...

See What Options Your Business Can Use To Accept ACH Payments Through Your Bank Account Or Through QuickBooks More often, merchants are looking for less costly alternatives to credit cards for their...

With E-Check Payment Processing Available For Merchant Accounts; Credit Card Transactions Are No Longer Needed The world of payments is changing, and now merchants are gaining the ability to replace...

There’s a lot of debate over whether or not it’s okay or not for a business to surcharge customers to cover their credit card fees. We are asked constantly by merchants if adding that extra percentage to their customer’s bill is a good business decision.

The truth is it’s a bit complicated.

Asking your customers to pick up the cost of processing for you by adding fees on their transaction sounds appealing, but it can have negative repercussions.

So what’s the right course of action?

Keep reading and we’ll tell you if it’s a good idea to surcharge your customers to cover your processing fees.

One of the most common questions we get from a customer is why their credit card processing rates can’t be under 1% per transaction.

Lots of businesses receive phone calls on a weekly basis from some salesperson promising they could only pay 1% if they would switch to their services.

The sad truth is there’s no such thing as a 1% processing rate. No matter what a salesperson tells you, it is impossible to be charged that little when processing a credit card.

How do we know that?

We’re not trying to become the killjoy, but 1% processing rates are just one of those promises that can never be true (unless your processing company is losing money every time they sign up a new customer).

There are universal rules on how processing costs are calculated, and we can help you understand why the 1% processing rate is a lie. Our goal is to prevent you from accidentally overpaying a processor who promised you a 1% flat rate.

Ever hear an offer that’s suspiciously too good to be true? It’s pretty standard to hear a lot of enticing promises from payment processing companies, and they will tell you a lot of misleading information to get you to sign up for their services.

Navigating what’s a good deal is a challenge in an industry where merchants are kept in the dark about what they should be paying for processing services.

Large institutions and persuasive salespeople will throw out a lot of bad ideas that could cost your business a lot of money in the long run.

So how do you know what’s a lie and what’s true?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Today we’re going to cover three types of payment processing solutions a salesperson will try to hook you with, that is not as good of a deal as they promise.

PCI Compliance is an often misunderstood part of having a merchant account. You’re probably wondering what PCI Compliance means, who decides if your business is compliant, and why there’s a monthly fee involved if you’re not compliant.

A lot of payment processing companies are not good at explaining it. It’s almost never mentioned in the sales process, and some processors only mentioned once a year without really giving a merchant the tools to be able to complete their questionnaire and avoid the fine.

Well, have no fear, because today we are going to over what PCI Compliance is, how you can achieve it, and why it’s important.

Ever look at your processing statement and wonder what all those fees are?

You’re probably curious why they are on your statement, to begin with, and if you can avoid paying them.

Well, there’s a lot of different types of fees and services that you will be charged for having a merchant account. Some are valid and you can’t avoid them no matter who you process through. However, not all of the fees you see on your statement are not legit and are only there to line the processor’s pockets.

We’ve compiled a list of the most common types of fees you will see on your statement, valid and not valid. So pull up your credit card processing statement, and let’s take a look at what you’re being charged.

We’ve covered how processing works in the past, and gone over some of the ways processing rates are calculated, but we haven’t explained in detail why a business might be charged a specific rate.

You’ve probably wondered why your business is on a different pricing structure than the one down the street, or if you are even on the right pricing structure; flat rate, tiered, or interchange plus.

There’s no easy answer as every business and processing company is different, but we are going to try and explain the most common pricing structures, and list the pros and cons of each.

Do you ever feel like people try to put your business in a box?

In payment processing industry there’s a lot of “one solution fits all” options that salespeople like to push. They don’t take the time to get to know how your business works and what tools you use.

The reality is no two businesses are the same. You and your competitor might be using a different website, accounting software, or point-of-sale system from you, but a lot of payment processing companies would offer you the same solution.

In many ways, it’s difficult to give a straightforward solution for each business, because there are multiple ways your payment processing services integrate with another part of your business.

To find the right payment processing solution, you should make sure your payment processing solution integrates with your tools.

If you ever want to feel overwhelmed the easiest way to do it is to look at all the available online shopping cart solutions for your E-Commerce Store.

From all the different shopping carts and the variety of capabilities they come with it can be a challenge to find the right one for your store.

Once you begin carrying more items or complex add-ons, you’ll need a product managing shopping cart that can calculate custom orders or possible discounts.

There are so many solutions, but there are some key factors that merchants tend to overlook when selecting an online shopping cart for your business.

Have you ever looked at a processing statement and thought about what it represents?

Sometimes you only see a service bill as a negative; it’s just another item taking away your hard earned cash. But what does a service bill represent? It’s not only an amount you owe but a reflection of work you received.

Payment processing services are like that. It feels like just another bill you have to pay, and yes, some processors are like that. Charge an amount, and do nothing to improve your business in how you receive payments.

But payment processing can go beyond buying a terminal and paying a monthly statement. Credit card processing can expand into protection and improve your daily company operations if you work with the right solutions.

There’s been a surprising amount of credit card fraud happening lately. As a business, it can be a very costly situation to find yourself in.

One case of fraud can be enough to put a hard stop on growth and can leave you struggling to make ends meet as you make up the loss.

The chance for fraud increases when the card is not present. Accepting orders over the phone or through an E-Commerce store can make you even more susceptible.

Instead of hoping your business never ends up in this situation, you can take control and protect your business from fraudulent charges and loss of inventory.

You’re going to come across some fraudulent charges in your time as a business owner, but knowing what to look for can minimize the chances of large costly, losses.

Here are some things to keep an eye out for when you’re handling payments over the phone or online.

Today we want to bring attention to a specific issue that could affect your business.

Lately, there have been a lot of credit card processors who have been charging fees for not having an EMV credit card terminal to accept payments.

The most recent one we’ve seen is a processor charging $299 yearly fee for not having an EMV terminal.

Which to put mildly, is a load of garbage.

There’s no justifiable reason for charging a merchant a fee for not having an EMV card reader, and we want to explain why this is nothing more than an excuse for credit card processors to line their pockets.

If you want to learn how to avoid paying $299 for not having an EMV terminal, stay tuned to the end!

Having a multi-location franchise is a fantastic thing. It means your business is growing and bringing in extra profits.

But managing how your franchise accepts payments can be a different story.

As you grow, it’s logical to think you need to use a big bank to handle all your payment processing requirements. But working with a larger bank means a lot of restrictions and a lot of waiting. Having a person who handles your accounts is a fantasy.

What’s worse is larger financial institutions traditionally want to give you a flat rate and give you one big statement for all your locations.

But that might end up costing you more money in the long run.

Do you run a project based business that requires a down payment and final billing at a later date?

Managing a project based business can be frustrating when it comes to the bill. Traditionally, you receive the down payment at the beginning of the project, and then send out an invoice at the end of the project.

When working on any project that requires you to be on-site, it can be difficult just to leave your client with the bill, and wait for them to pay it.

By and large, this is the status quo for project-based businesses. This practice can damage their growth, disrupt their cash flow and leave unpaid invoices from 30-60 days out.

Retail sales can be hard, especially when you have to consider the cost of a point of sale (POS) system mixed in the payment processing costs.

Payment processing and POS solutions go together hand in hand. However, it can be incredibly difficult to find a merchant service provider who will give you a quality piece of equipment and not overcharge you on processing fees.

When we originally looked into selling point of sale systems to clients, it was shocking to see how many of our customers were being overcharged with their rental equipment costs and processing fees.

When you rent a POS, you will have to sign a contract, because you are leasing an expensive piece of equipment, that’s pretty common. But if you don’t read the contract carefully to make sure there are no hidden fees, or that you are obligated to pay for any faulty equipment. Failure to do so can cost your business a great deal.