Settling with accepting conventional means of payment means cost savings and simpler processes for your business, but it misses out on more opportunities for revenues from customers that prefer to use credit or debit cards. Basically, the more payment options that your business offers, the greater is your customer base. Increasing market competition also influences the way businesses bring innovation with their payment gateways. To seal the deal, the payment must commence in a faster and most convenient way possible.
Merchant Service Accounts
Merchant services is a broad array of financial services intended for businesses. One of its most prominent features is credit and debit payment processing. The only way for businesses to accept credit and debit card payments is to get a merchant account. And there are actually an overwhelming number of merchant service providers in the market today, so there is no shortage of options that will fit into your business model.
Merchant services span from a variety of payment solutions to widen the capability of businesses to accept payments. This is also beneficial for customers and favorable to a business, which encourage them to transact on the spot, simply because it is convenient to do so. Merchant services offer credit card, debit card, and check processing as part of its service. It can also process gift cards and loyalty cards, which is another way of promoting a business using a convenient payment service option.
Merchant services can also offer more financially-related services aside from processing your credit and debit card payment transactions. It can also help you avail small funding solutions like merchant cash advances for an immediate fill for some unexpected gaps in your funding or cash flows.
Getting a merchant account is not an easy decision to make; it requires you to have a firm grip on its impact to your business. Evaluate your needs first to make sure that the benefits will outweigh the costs and risks it will bring. Most sales agents will sway you to avail their services right away, but I discourage you to do so. Carefully weigh your options first by comparing fees and packages from different providers. Make time to read the terms and conditions stipulated in the contract to deter you from making irreconcilable wrong decisions.
What are merchant service providers? They provide you with a merchant account to make your business appear more credible. This could mean a lot of things for you – higher revenues, more loyal customers, good reputation, brand recognition. But to maximize your benefits, you should choose a trustworthy provider. Anything less will cause you more frustrations for the long-term.
How to Get a Merchant Service Account
It is now a bit easier to get approved for a merchant account these days, especially with the growing number of vendors in their market. According to a statistics about business credit cards compiled by CreditCards.com, 80 percent of small business owners who apply were approved. But typically, the higher the risk of your business, the higher is the corresponding fees you have to pay. Normally, it is the startups and smaller businesses that suffer from these expensive fees because they cannot fulfill the required volume of transactions to lower the fees, and the risks are higher for them also.
You must first apply for a merchant service account with an authorized service provider. Another impression of the growing number of competitors in the field is that some merchant account providers are doing cold calling. And perhaps, you received one or more already. The merchant account agent will then discuss with you some key things you need to know about the services and then will ask you to agree to all the terms and conditions stated in the contract. At this point, take due diligence in having a clear understanding of the contract before signing it.
Once you get approved, your agent will give you the details of your merchant account, which includes your merchant identification. This merchant ID is your unique number that the network identifies whenever you transact with the system. All transactions and its pertinent information will be tagged with this number so the system will recognize that it’s yours.
When you already have a merchant account, you can take advantage of a wider customer base because of the variety of payment channels you can offer. A customer’s journey won’t be complete without making and taking-in payments, and one way to give an outstanding and noteworthy experience is to make it fast and convenient.
Important Features to Look For in Merchant Services
The essence of establishing merchant services is to provide a fast, convenient and safe way to process cashless payments and online transactions using credit, debit or gift cards and even checks. With its flourishing popularity due to the rise of e-commerce and mobile payments, merchant service accounts are becoming a must-have for every business who wishes to leverage against its competitors. The way it fulfills the above mentioned criteria in processing your customers’ cashless transactions must be straightforward, and the service must be rendered too with quality and efficiency.
According to a worldwide Mobile Payment User Forecast by Statista.com, the transaction value of mobile payments is expected to exhibit an annual growth rate of 78 percent from 2016 to 2020. This figure shows significant opportunities for revenues that merchant service innovations can open for your business.
It pays to get acquainted with the every nook and cranny of your merchant service account contract. Know what are the merchant service fees that you should expect, and how to implement the service that will give the best value for your business.
Getting a merchant account should give a number of benefits for your business. And in order to do so, it must have the following important features:
- Aligned to mobile technology
It started with Google’s advocacy about enhancing the search engine algorithm to improve in catering to the growing number of people accessing the internet through their mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Since Google is now putting more emphasis on rewarding mobile-optimized websites, businesses are seeing the potential in incorporating sales and payment solutions within the mobile platform. Mobile payments are now rising in popularity, with Google’s Android Pay and Apple’s Apple Pay leading the pack. It is also part of the innovation that is taking place in the payments industry, and your merchant account must be able to process such payments to keep up with the advancements.
- Speed and efficiency in payment processing
Customers are sometimes subjected in purchasing situations when there is a huge amount involved, a need to transact it fast, and find it more convenient than to carry money in their wallets. In that case, they prefer to use credit or debit cards, and it becomes the strongest factor to push the sale. Securing the sale in a faster and more efficient way won’t give your customers a reason to switch to your competitor.
It requires an equipment to process these cashless payments fast and secure. The equipment relies its performance of its machinery, the network and the software it uses. Knowing these factors will help you troubleshoot the equipment as problems occur. In some cases, you might need to check with your network provider for any possible glitches on their side.
Sometimes, when your POS solution system has undergone more software upgrades than it can support, it slows down. You must be responsible in doing an upkeep of your equipment to ensure the smooth flow of payment transactions and processing all the time.
- Top of the line security
Keeping up with the latest innovations in the technology of payment processing might give you that extra edge from your competitors. Especially in the aspect of data security and account protection, it is a must that you comply with the latest standards to ensure that your transactions are always safe and secure. Keep yourself updated with these advancements, and check with your merchant service agency for a possible upgrade. However, put into mind that your customers may encounter some incompatibilities with newer technologies. Keep your old POS terminals just in case you need to cater to customers who haven’t upgraded their cards to be compatible with the new technology yet.
- Flexibility
With the fast paced technology, merchant services isn’t short-changed when it comes to customizable and abundant features to fit every business need. If you are a small business owner, you might not need to load up your system with unusable features. Any excess may cause your system to load up easily and slows down the payment processing itself. Therefore, you must look for merchant services that is flexible to give you only the features that you can actually use, thereby saves you from paying for extra services. It will also be easier for you to understand and learn how to operate the system, when you can go straight to the functions that you will be actually using.
- Excellent customer support
Merchant service provision shouldn’t stop right after the sale has commenced. It is a must that you can rely on a strong and knowledgeable customer service support regardless of the day and time you wish to reach it. Problems arising from payment processing as they take place, must be given a solution in real time, therefore your service provider must be able to help you deal with it quickly. Taking too long might lead you to lose more customers, which can hurt your business and your reputation.
The best merchant service provider can actually help you discover more about your customers – to know how you can better serve their needs and in turn, improve your revenues. With the right tools, you can understand their purchase patterns, their preferred payment options, their favorite products or services from your line, and to know if you have loyal customers which you can give incentives as a way of appreciation. This new found perspective about your customers can help you improve with your relationship with them, and to better cater to more prospects and leads and convert them accordingly.
Ask your merchant service company about the reporting tools that is included in your service agreement. Inquire about the level of reachability and reliability of their customer service to be guaranteed of their strong commitment in supporting your services.
Let the reviews of merchant service providers of CrowdReviews.com help you identify your own needs and preferences when it comes to ensuring that your merchant service’ features will bring more benefits to your business advantage.
Trevor Price
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