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Featured Secure Payment Processing Article

Choosing a Merchant Account

By: Michael Zittel

3 Points of Choosing A Provider

Point 1:

Do you need a merchant account? If you are a new business, with limited funds and you anticipate processing less than $1000 a month in credit card payments, we do not recommend a formal merchant account. The associated monthly minimums and bank statements of accepting credit cards may not be cost effective. You might want to consider a 3rd party processor such as PayPal, 2checkout and others as they have a Pay As You Sell model. There are risks involved with 3rd party processor such as lack of charge back protection and legitimacy. However, shoe-string business’s may find the saving out weigh the risks and lack of legitimacy.

Point 2:

If you are an established business, or a new business anticipating more than $1000 in credit card payments a month, then begin by comparison shopping online. Do not settle for what your local bank offers. All major processing banks use independent sales offices and agents called ISO’s and ISA’s, who often have web sites offering their merchant services. You can find an extensive non biased list of retail and e-commerce providers at Merchant Service Directory.

http://www.121merchantaccount.com/Directory/index.html

Many of the listed ISO’s will have agents in your area and will be available to meet you in person. By comparison shopping online you may discover your bank is charging much higher fees than you need to pay. This is a very common occurrence with local banks and can be avoided with a few minutes spent on line.

When comparison shopping, look at the discount rate, per transaction fees, bank statements, monthly minimums, length of contract, and cancellation fees.

A) Discount Rate and Per Transaction Fees.

The discount rate and per transaction fees are usually the most important items to consider. The discount rate is the percentage of each sale the processing bank will keep. The standard rate for a “swiped” merchant account is around 1.59%. This means for every $100 you accept in credit card payments, the processing bank will keep $1.59. A “non swiped” rate is usually around 2.29%. Both require a per transaction fee of some sort. Per transaction fees are an additional fee per transaction ranging between $.10 and $.99. A common pitfall of merchants is thinking lower discount rates and higher transaction fees are more cost effect. This may be, but you have to do the math to be sure. If you average small sales less than $20 a ticket, you will be better served by negotiating a contract with a higher discount rate and lower ....[MORE]

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