It goes without saying that most business owners feel they are paying too much in merchant account fees these days.
And without doubt they increasingly turn online to find a solution to their problem.
If this applies to you, what can you do about it?
For starters, you can request a free merchant account quote.
Just about all of the merchant account providers you contact will need to review your costs and fees that you are currently paying, and then place their proposed rates and fees side by side.
Now, this is the critical part, because every now and then I’ll hear something along the lines of…
No they are not.
In fact, I discussed merchant account comparisons in an early post that you can check out when you get a chance.
The point is, for an audit to be valuable to YOU, it needs to accurately reflect what you are REALLY paying.
Otherwise, any “projected” savings will be totally meaningless.
Your Bank, Costco, and Merchant Accounts
How is it that most ISOs will be able to reduce your overall merchant account fees?
It’s simple.
Get ready for this. It’s because…
Because they are independent businesses, they don’t have to pay corporate kickbacks. That means that the “middle man” has been cut out of the process, allowing the savings to get passed on to you.
Let me explain.
Most banks (and Costco) do not actually handle your merchant account.
In fact, when people go to their local bank and are asked for their merchant account business, what the bank is REALLY doing is referring you off to some large “mega processing” company employing young, inexperienced sales reps needing to meet quota.
How cool is that?
Now, the question remains. Why would your bank do that?
And the answer is deceptively simple. Because they want to make money on your account without providing any service or value to you for it. It’s free money.
See, the mega processing companies give the banks that refer business a part of the monthly income. That’s the kickback part. It goes something like this…
you refer the business, we’ll set them up, and pay you each month for the referral.
So why is this a problem for you?
Well for one, this is one of the factors why you’re overpaying for your merchant account.
By cutting out the banks and other companies that stand between you and your merchant account, I’m able to save folks lots of money each month.
But there’s another issue as well. And it works like this. Say you run into trouble with your account down the road. Maybe your terminal breaks. Or your stuck in a lease. Or money didn’t get deposited into your account.
Who do you call? Your bank?
If you do, they’ll kindly tell you that they don’t handle that stuff, and then you’ll get referred to a call center somewhere (Manilla, India, who knows), spend countless hours on the phone, and hope that your problem gets resolved quickly.
Hey, it’s your money, right?
Now, when your bank acts like a toll booth quietly collecting money from your account, why didn’t they tell you up front that you’re getting referred to one of their “corporate partners” and that they don’t handle any service issues?
Why didn’t they just come right out and tell you this? Could it be that they are abusing your trust? Hoping that you’ll just sign up, not question rates, so they can collect a check on your hard work?
If you think banks are above all this, then you haven’t been paying attention to the news over the past couple of months.
Request a Merchant Account Review
Are you ready to discover just how much you might be able to save each and every month?
If so, there are a couple of ways you can get started.
You can request a merchant account quote. Simply fill out the short form and we will contact the appropriate merchant account providers for you.
You can download a free report of the Merchant Account Guide. Just follow the link to download your copy today.
Finally, you can follow the link to scan a list of merchant account providers in your area that can help you set up a virtual terminal.
Comments? Questions? Other merchant account issue you’d like to share?
We do value your opinion, and would like to hear from you. Kindly leave a comment for us and we’ll respond as soon as possible.
[...] fees with what you could be paying. If you haven’t already reviewed the article on how to compare merchant accounts, and why it’s often difficult to make “apple to apple” comparisons, why not check [...]