Tips for Lowering Your Company's Merchant Services Expenses
In this day and age, fewer people are paying with cash, and many purchases are paid for with debit and credit cards. What most consumers do not realize is the fact that retailers are responsible for paying fees each time a debit or credit card is used. Over time, credit card and debit card processing fees can add up to be a very large expense for a retailer. Luckily there are several things that retailers can do to reduce their overall merchant service expenses. Doing so may take a little bit of time, but in the long run, the cost-savings are worth it. If you're a retailer, use the following tips to reduce your merchant service expenses.
Avoid Leasing Your Card Processing Equipment
When you set up a merchant services account, you will need card processing equipment in order to accept credit and debit cards. Many merchant services providers will offer to lease you the equipment for a monthly fee. While this may seem like a good idea, you will actually spend more money than you have to over the years. If you want to save money on merchant services fees, you are much better off buying your card processing equipment up front instead of paying for it every month for years.
Purchase Card Processing Equipment That Includes Pin Debit
While debit card transactions are not free, their processing fees are typically significantly less than credit card processing fees. In this day and age, most debit cards are backed by a credit card issuer, so the card can be run as either debit or credit. Most consumers do not think much about whether they're paying with debit or credit, so it is in your best interest to purchase card processing equipment that defaults to debit card and allows a pin to be entered. If a consumer prefers to run the transaction as credit, he or she can let the cashier know. If you're a busy retailer, the savings of paying for debit card transactions instead of credit card transactions will add up.
Ask for a Rate Review
Switching merchant services providers can be a hassle and can take a lot of time and effort. Thus, before you switch to a new company that may offer lower processing fees, contact your current company first and ask for a rate review. Merchant services providers don't want to lose accounts, so they will often do their best to lower rates, especially if you are a longstanding customer who has an account in good standing.
For more information, contact a merchant service provider, such as Merchant Cooperative.