4 ways for small businesses to lower their card processing fees
If you don’t want to pay hefty credit card processing fees, you may find this article helpful. According to small business owners, paying hefty card processing fees is prohibitive. Statistics published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that half of startups fail within the first 48 months. According to forecasts, there will be a 33% increase in the volume of credit cards by the end of 2024. On the other hand, the volume of cash payments will decrease by about 27%. Below is a description of some common ways that can help you get the best deal. Read on to learn more.
1. Use the services of a merchant, not a bank
If you work with the merchant service provider, you can use their merchant account for credit card processing. Some banks provide merchant services. In fact, they outsource the services to third parties. As a result, they end up charging you extra for the services.
Therefore, if you use a merchant service provider instead, you don’t need to refer your customers and clients to another provider. You can also enjoy direct fraud protection. In fact, more than 80% of startups fail because they have cash flow problems.
2. Select a PCI-compliant payment gateway
Basically, a payment gateway refers to a cloud-based software program that handles credit card processing. The role of this app is to support transactions done through credit cards. It also creates a link between the card issuing bank and the credit card network. After approval, the funds are transferred from the customer’s credit card to the merchant’s account.
We know this process involves sensitive data. Therefore, you may want to work with a PCI-compliant payment gateway. In other words, this type of gateway must use encryption and tokenization technologies.
3. Integrate your payments
Instead of relying on an outside software program for your payments, we suggest you hire the services of a vendor that provides transaction processing facilities within your accounting software program. The idea is to eliminate double data entry and reduce human error.
If you integrate your payments, you can automate the process and avoid all the problems and headaches in this process.
4. Choose a custom service
Your time is very valuable as a small business owner. So we suggest you look for a custom service that can handle the entire process. According to statistics, more than half of customers cannot solve their problems if they cannot discuss the matter with a real person.
That’s why we suggest you work with a processing service that provides personalized customer service. And this is of paramount importance to small business owners.
In short, if you want to lower your credit card processing fees, we suggest you try these four methods. If you look at the statistics, you will know that these methods have helped small businesses reduce these fees by 21%.
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