Choosing the Right Credit Card Payment Processing Provider

Many small business owners are hesitant to accept credit cards because they are afraid all of the fees and equipment costs, but fees are not the only thing to consider when you are looking for a payment processor.

First, think about the kind of company you want to do business with. There are banks that provide services that allow you to accept credit cards, as well as independent sales organizations and, sometimes, the credit card company itself.

The advantage of working with the same bank that has your other business accounts is that it is easier for you to deal with, and there may be someone local who you can call when you have problems.

On the other hand, independent sales organizations have more experience and are sometimes more flexible in the kinds of businesses they will work with.

When you’re shopping around and learning about the different packages that payment processing companies provide, here are some things you should pay attention to:

*Reliability: Does the network have a lot of downtime? What happens when the network goes down? What kind of customer support structure do they have in place? Is there someone you can call 24/7?
*Products: What different kinds of payment processing products are available? Can they help you choose what’s right for you?
*Extras: Does this system also process electronic gift cards, electronic checks or other methods of payment?

The biggest factor that most people use to choose the merchant account company they want to go with, however, is the price. There are many different fees associated with accepting credit cards, including an application fee, the discount rate (a percentage of each sale), transaction fees and fees for sales made over the Internet or the phone.

There are also fees for statements, for not meeting a minimum amount of sales and for any returns or refunds you process.

Look carefully at all the different kinds of fees each company collects and what the rate is. If you’re expecting people to make a lot of small purchases with credit cards at your business, you might look for the company with the lowest transaction fee. If on the other hand your credit card payments will be high, you might be more interested in a lower discount rate. It all depends on what your priorities are.

A final thing you’ll want to consider when choosing a payment processing system is what if any costs you will incur from renting or buying equipment. Some companies offer free equipment for credit card processing, which can be a big positive that cuts down on your up-front costs.

The Bottom Line: Credit Card Processing Capability Depends on Credit

When you apply for credit card processing capability for your website, there are a multitude of factors that underwriters take into consideration when deciding whether or not to accept your application. These factors include:

* The type of business you own
* How long you have owned your business
* Trends in your business earnings
* Trends in your industry
* Your collateral: machinery, equipment, property
* Your personal credit report

When a merchant’s credit card processing application is evaluated, their personal credit rating is assessed and significantly affects the outcome of the decision. A poor credit rating may preclude an application from being accepted.  But what does your personal history have to do with your business potential?

As far as your credit card processing application is concerned, everything. How you run your personal life is indicative of how you will run your business, helping the underwriters of your credit card processing application to determine whether or not you should be considered a risk. Everything that is included in your credit report is relevant information for the credit card processing underwriters. This information includes:

* Whether or not you made personal credit card payments on time or at all, over drafted your accounts, or filed for bankruptcy may indicate your ability to repay future creditors.
* Whether or not you have enough credit for your credit card processing underwriters to be able to satisfactorily discern your ability to repay debts.
* If you have multiple inquiries into your credit rating by potential creditors, this shows negatively as well. This means that others have decided you are a risk, which may indicate to your current credit card processing underwriters that they should decide the same way.

Research Your Credit Report

One way to make sure that your personal credit is an asset to your credit card processing application is to make sure that it is as high as possible before you send in your application. It is free for you to check your credit report with the three major credit agencies in the country – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax – once every year. Staying up to date with your credit reports will let you know right away if there are mistakes due to inaccurate reports or identity theft. The sooner you find out, the sooner you can get started getting these things corrected and removed from your credit reports.

How To Raise Your Credit Rating

There are many ways for you to raise your credit rating if you feel that it is inadequate to get the credit card processing application results that you need. Some credit report improvement techniques take a great deal of time before they affect your credit rating. Others begin to improve your score immediately.
* Make sure that all your information is updated. Everything listed has an expiration date of seven years. It’s up to you to make sure that seven year old issues are removed at that time. Also, just because you paid off a bill doesn’t mean that the company reported this update to the credit reporting agency. This may be up to you.
* Pay your bills on time, every time. Every single late payment is listed on your credit report and negatively affects your credit score. This will directly affect your credit card processing application; it’s a 1:1 correlation as far as how underwriters will predict your future repayment efforts when weighing the merits of your application.
* Don’t apply for credit every time it’s offered to you. If you are constantly applying for credit, most credit card processing application underwriters will assume that you are not managing your finances well. Keep enough credit cards to establish credit, but not so many that it’s too much to handle. Three to five cards is plenty.
* Don’t avoid credit cards and loans. You need a credit history to have a good credit history. Start early, make all your minimum payments and stay on top of your balances. If you go beyond your means, fix the situation as soon as possible.

The bottom line is that your personal credit reports and rating will directly affect the outcome of your credit card processing application. Maintaining the best credit possible will help you make the most of your business when it comes time to apply for credit card processing capability. And if worse comes to worst, there is an alternative solution. Many credit card processing companies allow a merchant to use a cosigner. Choosing someone with a favorable credit rating score may help you offset the negative effects of your own credit rating.