Great High Risk Merchant Account Tips
Knowing what to ask before deciding to employ a card processors will save you a great deal time, and there are a variety of specific questions it is better to learn the answers to prior to deciding to even begin the process. Understanding these key focus points helps to reduce the possibility of being surprised by any unwelcome surprises once you have signed your merchant contract.
When comparing merchant accounts, the area to begin is with the fees. Contrary to what you could first think, seeing initial low fees may not be a great thing, in fact as merchant processors will be in the business of making money heavily advertised "low" fees may indicate that the processor's contract may have hidden fees and charges that go into effect after a time frame. Since the credit-card companies charge every merchant account provider the exact same floor rates, merchant operators should for the most part be offering similar rate packages through the board; whenever they have lowered their advertised rates below the "floor rates" or at the floor rates, they are going to be padding their margins in other areas. Beware offers that are too good to be true, or are completely out of line with what you have received from other high risk merchant account processors.
In selecting a merchant account processor, you need to also use caution of the provider's advertisements that will be misleading or purely dishonest. Should they are not being honest with their advertisements, it's most likely that they are going to not care about their customers later on. It is always advisable to check and research the company, especially whenever they are using convincing blurbs like, 'Lowest Rates Guaranteed', '$500 Cash Reward if you can find a Lower Rate', and many others in which some will be just gimmicks. We should keep in mind that Visa and MasterCard regulations require a business to disclose who their sponsoring bank is should they are mentioned within the advertisement. Once again your focus should be on overall cost and not the bottom rate you can find.
Among the most overlooked and yet in my mind the most important things to investigate when choosing the top merchant service, will be the merchant providers customer support. In my talks with small business owners that have had significant trouble with their accounts at times, they always say that they will pay double their current rates if it meant they could get their issue taken care of. Luckily you can test this prior to deciding to buy a merchant account by asking for their customer support department's phone number before signing up for an account. A savvy business owner can try calling their customer service line to see whenever they have actual live people answering their smart phone, and just how long it takes to talk with someone. You also had better find out should they have a toll-free number and what their hours are. You may even ask for potential references of current customers to find out what their experience has been thus far with the company and their customer support department.
Performing a close study of the website gives you an idea of whether the merchant account provider is someone who has been in business for a while and will remain. How several years the provider has been in business could be stated in the About Us section; be sure to give their website an intensive work through, if pages are broken or links do not work, what does that say to their commitment to keeping things operational.
Most significant is to fully read each processor's contract, and statement of rates and fees, before you sign it. Do not sign document with the promise of getting the full contract by fax in several days, the number of horror stories from merchants who learned that this document included a 3 year contract, with the early termination fee of over $300 (despite being promise there was no "cancellation fee") are countless, and appear to be growing as a growing number of businesses graduate from using third party processors to full merchant accounts.
