Tips for Researching a Merchant Account

A merchant account is a necessity for any fledgling business, especially those who want to do business over the Web. Finding quality merchant accounts will save you thousands in fees, and provide a method for dispute resolution while offering excellent customer service. Learn how you can evaluate a merchant account and discover the best option for your business.

Try Something Besides Banks

Banks seem to offer stability, but that stability comes at a price. It might seem simple and easy to go with a bank, but you’ll pay middle man fees to use their systems. Those systems often aren’t all that much more advanced than what’s available online, and at a lower rate. Plus, banks may try to lock certain cards out because their credit card processor fees may be prohibitively high.

Call Account Providers

Small business credit card processing needs good customer service, because you’ll need the help. Imagine one of your registers going down on Black Friday. Not a fun thought. You’ll want to know whether the people on the other line have a technical understanding of what they sell, and that they are available to address your concerns when you need that assistance.

Read Reviews

Read many reviews from multiple customers, and try to look past the isolated incidents. Look for trends. If you notice many people complaining that the customer service takes too long to respond, or that transaction fees are too high, stay away. Isolated incidents are specific disputes, where the person making the complaint feels they have been slighted. You should definitely read these types of reviews as well, just be aware they may not provide a total representation of the business you’ll deal with.

Bio: Charge.com is a low-cost provider of merchant accounts for online businesses. Rated #1 for six years in a row, Charge.com is the most affordable way to accept credit cards online.