Credit Card Processing Buyer's Guide

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In this article...

Introduction
Accepting credit cards
Types of processors
Qualifying
Pricing
Negotiating with providers
Choosing a service
Buying tips

Choosing a service

While price is important, don't let it be the driving force behind your credit card processing company decision. There are several more important aspects to consider.

Customer support is the most essential—problems with a credit card processing company can quickly impact your bottom line. The best way to learn about a provider's level of customer service is to obtain customer referrals from current clients. Request referrals to merchants that are comparable to your company in size and industry. Then ask these important questions: Do they have to wait several minutes before reaching the credit card processing company's customer support? Are their needs serviced quickly? How does the provider deal with charge-backs? Also, ask the provider about its level of support. Does it have phones staffed 24 hours, seven days a week? Does it charge per incident?

If your business will be selling over the Internet and you do not have a secure server that can encrypt credit card information, make sure your credit card transaction provider can offer secure ordering through SSL (secure sockets layer, a widely-used Web standard for security). Setting up your own secure site is expensive and technically challenging.

Finally, if you are not using a bank or financial company you recognize, make sure you verify that the company you are investigating is legitimate. There are con artists and scammers who set up fake processing companies just to collect setup fees then vanish. Contact the Better Business Bureau to check the company's status if you are unsure, and if you find a credit card transaction provider on the Web, make sure you get a physical address and phone number.