Merchant Services For Small Business
There are many factors that can and will determine the success of a small business. One of these crucial factors is the availability of flexible payment options for your customers. Understandably, the thought of spending your hard-earned revenue on the procession of credit cards can be an uncomfortable and stressful factor in handling payments. Small business owners have credit card processing fees that can be overwhelming on their income. A 2016 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that fifty percent of small businesses fail due to a mismanagement of funds. Finding the right merchant services provider for your small business can point you in the right direction for success.
Most small business owners find that once their business expands, they are more likely to encounter a diverse range of customers. Although it’s wonderful as a small business to have increased demand, having diverse payment options can quite literally pay off. While some customers may prefer classic credit cards, others may opt for more modern options like PayPal or Apple Pay. A successful small business owner has the responsibility to keep all of their customers satisfied. Therefore, the only way to achieve this is by using a reliable online merchant service provider such as FinTech Group.
What Small Merchant Services Providers Can Offer
The goal of any merchant services provider is to offer convenient and flexible ways for your business to get the payment processing services you need. Merchant services for small business platforms should help you turn your revenue into exponential benefits and continued success. It’s important to understand that most banks do not offer merchant services and will often use a third party to manage the project. Working with a reputable provider of merchant services for small business gives you direct access to merchant services instead of sending you to a third party redirect website. You will gain secure protection against fraud, and guarantee yourself a smooth cash flow with safe credit card transactions. These settings encourage a prompt collection of receivable accounts and an automatic procession of paid invoices. Such services assist in continued success for a small business, and at FinTech Group we understand the importance of that.
Although all merchant service providers may not be the same, most offer important features, all-in-one solutions, and services for small business owners. In fact, the best merchant services providers typically offer comprehensive payment solutions for the businesses they serve. These solutions may range from Merchant Accounts, End-to-End Payments Processing, Payment Gateways, and Point Of Sale. Other features include; Built in Chargeback Mitigation, Integration with all Major Gateways & Shopping Carts, No Reserve Account Required, Recurring Billing, and Next-Day Settlement and Deposit of Funds. Working with a company that can serve all your needs facilitates ease of doing business, while also ensuring there is little or no mix-ups in your accounting system.
Determining The Best Merchant Service Providers
Small business owners looking for companies that specialize in merchant services and online transaction processing have a variety of options to pick from. However, it is crucial to carefully evaluate the merits and demerits of each company before making a choice. Always be sure to do enough research about prospective merchant service providers to gain a level of understanding and trust. Ultimately, the best merchant services for small business providers would be those that perfectly serve your needs. An example of some of the attributes that hit most small business owners needs are; Excellent Customer Service, Security Orientated, and Flexibility.
A Foundation Of Excellent Customer Service
As with most businesses, the nature of online merchant services is such that complaints are almost inevitable. However, the best providers of merchant services for small businesses set themselves apart by promptly and efficiently resolving customer complaints. This may serve as a cue that a provider values your business as a client, and considers you a top priority. Having an open communication line for resolving glitches, problems, or customer concerns is imperative. Something any small business owner would appreciate and expect in running their own business.
Most small business owners make time management a high priority as well, as they should. A professional merchant services provider will minimize time wasted by giving the business’s clients direct access to the customer care service. Personalized customer care service guarantees access to the cheap procession of credit cards and increased business revenues. The best providers of merchant services for small business have an all-in-one solution that integrates the payment gateway with an in-house customer support team. Very important factors to consider.
Security-Oriented Services For Ultimate Protection
The best merchant services providers do not take security lightly. Before trusting anyone with your money, you must ensure they are relatively impervious to security breaches. Whether it’s money, company details, or customer information, security-orientated services for ultimate protection should be sought after. Also, an online payment subscription system is of prime importance to businesses that want to stay compliant with a safe payment environment. At FinTech Group, small business owners can be rest assured that we adhere to the highest privacy and security standards.
The Importance Of Flexibility In Business
Providers of merchant services for small business owners should offer a great deal of flexibility. The best recurring billing payment system has the main purpose of offering enough flexibility to optimize the scalability of the system. An example of this would be the negotiation of shorter contract lengths and contract terms that are tailored to a small businesses needs. Not every small business is cookie-cutter shaped, and neither should their terms, fees, or contracts. If you’re looking for a flexible merchant services provider that has the highest approval rate in the industry, FinTech Group is here for you. FinTech is flexible with services and contracts offered, and will never charge an up-front fee of any kind for services.
PCI Compliance Helps To Ensure Safe Transactions Are Being Processed
PCI Compliance also plays a crucial role in determining if a provider is the best option for your small business. Yes, recurring billing software platforms have fewer requirements and are easy to up-keep. But, processing credit card payments requires one to expend time and money to get the PCI certification. A payment gateway uses a cloud-based credit procession software to facilitate transactions between the user and the network. The gateway passes funds from the client’s credit card to the merchant account and confirms the adherence to all PCI specifications, such as tokenization and encryption. Small business credit card processing companies that do not have an integration of PCI compliance, risk major security breaches and loss of thousands of dollars due to fraud. Processing compliance of PCI protects a small business’ revenue by eliminating the hefty funds that could be as high as $10,000 in one month. Ensuring the provider for merchant services of small business transactions is PCI compliant is just as important.
Other Options To Consider When Choosing A Provider For Merchant Services
The variables, benefits, and attributes associated with merchant services can be overwhelming to the average small business owner. Hence when other salient variables are unknown at the time, price usually ends up being the primary reason for choice. That’s why it is important to note that choosing solely on price can lead to some larger and more costly challenges. Even the most experienced small business owners may still struggle to truly understand enough to successfully negotiate good pricing when it comes to credit card processing and merchant services. Keeping an open mind, and listening ears may pay off in the end and determine how successful payment processing will be for a small business.
Cost Of Services
Cost is sometimes the determining factor for some small business owners. And it is completely understandable that watching your costs is an integral part of your business. But, stepping over a quarter to pick up a dime should not be the primary driver when choosing a merchant services provider. Something to watch for is if providers advertise rates and fees that are not all inclusive. In such a competitive industry, margins that merchant processors make are small. If offered a competitive rate, it’s integral to still focus your energy on larger and more important issues.
The payments and merchant services industry is fundamentally very complex to the average business owner. Not every small business owner has the time to learn, let alone stay up to date on everything going on in the payment processing industry. It’s imperative to choose a company that won’t take advantage of your limited understanding. One of the best indicators is to evaluate whether or not they are upfront with their prices and capabilities. Make sure the business has flat-rate pricing to guarantee the same low monthly rate for all credit card processions. Stay away from providers with tier pricing programs because the margin will be unseen because they consider it a non-qualified rate.
Payment Integration
The best providers of merchant services for small businesses integrate and automate your business processes with an ERP system. An ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning system, is business management software that allows the collection, storage, management and interpretation of data with a suite of integrated applications. ERP software services can be used for inventory control, operations, product planning, marketing, sales, manufacturing, service delivery, customer orders, financial data and more.The system eliminates the entry of double data and potential error in the entry of data. These merchant services report that ninety-one percent of small to medium business owners reduce the back-office expenses by approximately twenty-one percent. More so, the system has increased focus on helping customers and by taking attention away from the system’s processes. ERP solutions provide the flexibility to ensure growth, improve effectiveness throughout any organization and more efficient processes throughout your business.
Modern Technology Is Another Important Factor
Modern consumers and small business owners alike prefer fast and easy card processing options. It’s important to note that merchant services for small business owners with modern processors increase their client retention capability. Some helpful technologies for brick and mortar stores include the following:
- EMV verification with a countertop credit card machine for small neighborhood stores.
- Contactless payment for Visa cards, which are popular with small-sized restaurants.
- Mobile swipes for merchants with a constantly mobile business such as a food truck.
You’ll Never Know If You Never Ask
Always remember to ask any and all thorough questions while searching for the best provider of merchant services in small business. It’s important during the beginning of a relationship to find out what your provider’s capabilities are. Ask them to thoroughly explain all fees, rates, conditions, and contract concerns as they arise. For example, a small business owner could ask if the provider in question has had experience with different products and services? Leading to the next question of then asking for examples of when and where they previously implemented it. Keep in mind that although this article discusses the most basic topics in merchant processing, there is still much more to learn. There is a whole additional layer of merchant services that your business can benefit from in partnering with a more sophisticated provider. One such provider is FinTech Group, a leader in merchant services for small business owners.
FinTech Group Offers Premium Merchant Services For Small Business Owners
As a top player in the payment processing industry, FinTech Group offers your small business unlimited access to hundreds of payment networks worldwide. Over the years, we have provided merchant services for small business owners in the ‘high and low-risk’ industries alike. We judge businesses based on their merits, and we have the highest merchant approval rate in the payment industry. There is no doubt that a partnership with us will project your business to the next phase of growth.
We can’t help but admit that our online payment processing services check all these boxes in researching the best provider of merchant services for small business. We are convinced that we offer the best credit card processing services for small businesses, hands down. Ultimately, the choice of which merchant services provider is up to you. But, there’s only one way to find out if FinTech Group is the best choice for your small business. Request a quote for our merchant services and give us a trial to see why we are the best!