Main Factors To Consider While Selecting A Payment Processor
Most people are using credit or debit cards to pay for their purchases today. Therefore, you also need to accept the cards to retain your customers and attract new ones. As a result, you will need a payment processor to facilitate the transfer of funds from the customer’s account to your business’s.
Choosing the wrong processor could lead to adverse effects for your business. To help you choose the right one, here are some factors you should consider.
1. Payment Facilitator vs. Merchant Account Provider
Researching trusted high risk payment processors experts in USA begins with determining whether you want a payment facilitator or a processor who offers merchant accounts. Keep into account your business maturity level when deciding on a credit card processor for your business.
Payment facilitators have very few entry barriers, and they set up your account fast. Unless your business has a viable insurance cover, they may hold your funds to cover a higher assumed risk. If you sign up for their services, you will share a merchant account with other businesses.
Merchant account providers give every customer their account, so you need to be underwritten to sign-up with them. They will also require you to share existing merchant and bank statements and financials, which a new business lacks. Therefore, if your business is a start-up, getting a merchant account provider might be an uphill task.
Merchant account providers give their customers additional rate plan options to suit their business size or the processing volume. Also, some provide you with an all-in-one solution, as they also operate as a payment gateway. The solutions make it easy to streamline e-commerce billing.
2. Check the Processing Speed
The speed at which the processor can handle customers’ payments is essential. Also, check the rate at which it transfers money from the buyer’s account to your business account to help you offer end-to-end solutions.
If you are an eCommerce business owner, high processing speed is critical as it leads to a better customer experience and higher satisfaction levels. As a result, customers keep coming back to your site, enhancing business growth. Therefore, you must choose a credit card processor with instant transactions. You can also opt for cloud transfer to enable faster processing speeds and improve your company’s operational efficiency.
3. User Experience
It is vital to ensure that your customer’s details remain secure, especially if you have an online business. So, the provider must have state-of-the-art security that hackers cannot break into.
Also, ensure they have a PCI-DSS certificate payment gateway as it protects you and your customers from fraud. When your customers feel secure on your website, they are more likely to key in their card details and buy from you.
4. Mind The Fees
When researching the fees, the first thing you need to check is the rates that they offer. Most processors will provide you with flat-rate pricing that is easy to track but is not cost-effective, especially if you have a high processing volume. With flat-rate pricing, you pay the same amount for every transaction, making you pay more for low or medium-cost purchases.
Go for providers that offer you a variety of pricing rates so that you can choose one that works well for you. Other pricing rates include:
Simple flat rate
With this rate, you only pay a membership fee and no interchange’s direct cost.
Interchange plan
You pay the processor a certain percentage of the transaction plus a fixed per-transaction fee.
Tiered rate
It is the most expensive and complex pricing plan.
The amount you will pay the processor depends on various factors, such as type of credit cards, risk level, and transaction volume. Also, look out for hidden fees, such as monthly, statement, gateway, batch, and authorization fees.
5. Customer Support
Ensure the processor you choose offers quality support that you can easily access through phone calls or chats at any time of the day. Most providers have email-based support that makes it hard to get instant help when you need it. Some also charge extra when they offer you customer support.
Also, check if you can find solutions to technical issues about your funds and your buyers. Do not risk losing your repeat customers because of a constant system malfunction, which causes credit card rejection.
Also, check if they provide support for data security, as you need to ensure that your customers’ card details are safe. It is essential to ensure you remain PCI compliant. While some vendors offer free PCI compliance to merchants, others charge hefty regulatory or security fees.
Therefore, ensure you research thoroughly to avoid future disappointments because of poor customer support.
6. Ethical Billing
Many credit card processors practice unethical billing today. Therefore, you need to examine your statements and compare them constantly. It will help you note any discrepancies in the labeling of fees or calculations that are not transparent.
Also, ask customer support to explain any inconsistencies. If you do not receive satisfactory answers, they might steal from you. You can also get a no-cost, no-obligation evaluation of your statement from a risk analyst.
Conclusion
The goal of every business owner is to grow and get more customers. Therefore, you must choose a credit and debit card processor that can scale quickly with you. Ensure they have sufficient resources and technology that will make your expansion easy.
