The credit card market has exploded over the years, which can be attributed largely to how technology has changed our lives. This will be harder for small businesses without the ability to accept cards, as it can lead them toward failure within a few years.
New business owners who want to start accepting credit cards will have to go through a few steps. This involves setting up a merchant account, adding a payment gateway, monitoring your monthly statements, and accepting credit cards. Read the detailed steps below for further information.
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Here are the steps on how to set up credit card processing for small businesses.
A merchant account is nothing more than a relationship with a service provider. These merchant account providers then take credit card payments on their behalf. This means they will act as the intermediary between the retailer and the card issuers.
You'll discover that each merchant account provider has a unique area of expertise. For instance, the greatest eCommerce merchant services will offer benefits that complement the eCommerce business. Similarly, it would be simple to choose a reputable credit card processing firm for small business owners.
How do you select a merchant account for credit card processing? Fortunately, there are a few factors that may be used to evaluate all of these credit card processors.
The following are the factors to consider:
You may need to open a new payment gateway account in addition to having your merchant account. Gateways act as middlemen between you and credit card companies, so they must be compatible with each other. Most of them will decline transactions if there is any disagreement, slowing down or even halting businesses completely until things get resolved.
Amazon Pay, WePay and PayPal, etc., are some of the popular options to check out if you are thinking of opting for a payment gateway.
If you want to avoid double data entry and the potential for human error, consider moving transactions within your ERP/accounting software. This eliminates having to process transactions outside of it.
Flat rate pricing can benefit small businesses in addition to interchange plus. It guarantees the same low monthly fee for any type of credit card and makes it easy to see exactly how much you'll be paying each month in processing fees. This is based on a fixed percentage, which is determined by your credit card processor, brand, and issuing bank charge.
It's important to regularly review your statements and speak up if you notice any mistakes. There are times that processors charge merchants by mistake on per-incident items due to a simple data entry error. If you don't monitor or correct the error yourself, no one will do it for you.
Merchants who want to accept credit cards have two options; they can either use a software product or enter their customer’s payment information. Both methods should be simple enough for any business, and merchants must ensure that customers’ security is not compromised when making payments online.
While setting up to accept credit cards, you might wonder how these companies work. Luckily, Processing Card’s article can help you understand more how credit card processing companies work — check it out today!
Wilbur Graham has been writing about mobile payments and POS systems since 2012. He got his degree in Marketing at California State University.
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