The businesses today need to operate with all the latest technology and provide the best services, as most of the transactions are online. Processing of credit cards has become a vital necessity for online customers as well as for customers walking into a store. When a business starts to accept credit cards, it needs a provider of Merchant Services, who for a certain fee will actually process the debit and credit card payments. These Merchant Services have to be carefully selected in order to avoid certain pitfalls which are quite common. This correct choice is particularly important to businesses which are small as a single bad experience can really spell disaster for the company.
If you are a small business and do not want to be cheated into paying crazy rates for processing, you will need to do some research and study the providers. This website explains that there are guidelines which will prove to be quite helpful when you are making a selection.
DO NOT SELECT BANKS
Most of the banks outsource the processing work to actual providers of Merchant Services and hence their rates will be high.
ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
- What is the provider's reputation and whether they are reviewed by Better Business Bureau?
- How many years have they been operating?
- Whether they give technical support?
- What type of customer service do they provide and how can it be accessed? (Toll-free phone numbers and long hours of service is better)
- How accurately they report online?
KNOW ABOUT ALL POSSIBLE FEES
- There should not be any fees for signing up or a cap on the volume every month.
- The service should be flexible on a monthly basis.
- Are they charging higher rates for lower sales calculated on an average?
- Whether there are any extra fees over and above the usual fee per transaction and the rate monthly.
DO THEY CATER TO YOUR LINE OF BUSINESS?
- Do they cater to digital products and subscription sales?
- Do they have value-added services and processing for e-commerce?
UPFRONT PAPERWORK
- All documents should be studied carefully
- See if there is any clause for cancellation and if there are any fees attached to it.
- Do not make any payments until you have gone through all the relevant documents and terms of agreement.
Vigilance is necessary when you have hired a provider of Merchant Services, and the best way is to monitor merchant services Canada complaints on a regular basis to see if your provider's name is mentioned in connection with any scams or problems encountered by other clients. There are many reported illegal operations of MSI in Canada and the contracts signed with them have been rendered invalid. This establishment is being scrutinized for breaching contracts, not paying their employees and operating illegally in Canada. EVO is another Merchant Services which has got a lot of complaints and has been reviewed negatively by customers with BBB. This company operates under the guise of different websites which are goevo.com, theplatinumservicesgroup.com and evotractmerchant.com.
Two of the Merchant Services who have been performing strongly in the industry are Moneris and Merchant Accounts CA. Moneris is a joint venture between two reputed banks of Canada and CA is reputed for accepting transaction currency with online credit cards.
Almost 70% customers prefer paying by credit cards and hence Merchant Services is vital to any business and getting the right provider will spell success for that business.
