3 Money Saving Tips on Credit Card Processing for Small Businesses
Accepting credit card payments is a must if you wish to maximize your business reach. More and more, customers want the freedom and flexibility to purchase with payment cards. While giving your customers the payment options they want will help you increase your sales, credit card processing for small businesses come with associated rates and fees.
Just because credit card processing fees are unavoidable doesn’t mean you need to pay an arm and a leg to offer your customers payment card options. Here are three tips to help you minimize costs while maximizing payment options.
Go Shopping
Your customers compare pricing when looking at products and services, and so should you. The best way to limit the amount of costs associated with credit card processing for small businesses is to find the best deal for your specific business needs.
All payment processors charge rates and fees for their services. However, each processor charges different fees. Remember, they want your business just like you want your customers’ business. So don’t be afraid to ask questions and try to negotiate costs.
When examining the fees and rates, take into consideration monthly costs, startup fees, and transaction rates. Some processors will offer low, no monthly, or startup fees but will have high transaction rates. Others will offer low rates, but may have high one time or recurring fees. The best credit card processing for small businesses will offer the lowest total effective rate when all fees and costs are considered.
Read the Small Print
Part of shopping for a credit card processor is reading the small print. If you discuss services on the phone, write down all quotes and information, and compare it to any contract you consider signing. Credit card processing for small businesses sometimes have minimum or maximum transactions or dollar amounts. Check to see if this applies to your contract. Is there a penalty charge for canceling or switching service? Also, check to see if there are conditions when the processor can terminate or alter your contract.
Set Limits
When you’re creating your budget, you set spending limits. Likewise, you should consider setting minimum limits for credit card transactions. Small businesses often deal with small transaction amounts. If you allow credit transactions of only a few dollars you may have to pay static transaction fees and percentage rates. This eats away at an already small profit margin.
Setting a minimum limit not only reduces fees and costs on small sales amounts, it can also encourage larger sales. If a customer is only a few dollars under the minimum, they may simply add more products or services to their cart so they can meet your minimum transaction limit.
Choose Allied Wallet to Save Money
Deciding on credit card processing for small businesses is very important. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. Allied Wallet offers easy to understand terms and rates and will work with you to decide which is the best plan for your small business. Contact us today to discuss your unique business needs and budget.
