Five Questions to Answer Before Signing a Contract
Your business is growing at a quick pace and you’ve outgrown your current payment processing ability. You’re thinking about opening a merchant account, and you’ve done the research on the various providers. But there’s still things you’re uncertain about. What credit card solutions do they offer? Are they PCI-compliant? Here are five questions to answer before you open a merchant account.
Does the Merchant Account Service Provider Offer Security?
When you’re looking to open a merchant account, you want to make sure you and your customers are protected. For your business, having protection against potential fraud risks, chargebacks, and other business-critical issues is very important. Protect your customers and their personal information. Some merchant account services providers offer more security than others, so take a close look at what they have to offer when it comes to keeping you and your customers safe.
Along with security, you want the company you work with to be PCI-compliant. Compliant companies created security features to safeguard cardholder data and personal information. Merchant account providers aren’t required to be PCI-compliant, but those that are offer an added level of security and comfort for your business.
Will the Specific Provider Support Multiple Card Types?
Doing business online requires merchants to accept multiple forms of payment, including debit and credit cards. Some merchant account providers only accept credit card payments from Visa or MasterCard, while others accept payments from American Express, Discover, and bank debit cards. By having more payment opportunities, your business can thrive.
Are You Applying with a Dedicated or Aggregate Merchant Account?
It’s important to understand if you’re opening an aggregate or dedicated merchant account. A dedicated merchant account is set up for just your business, while an aggregate account is set up with a large number of other companies. Dedicated accounts cater to just you, and makes it easier to negotiate rates. With aggregate accounts, you have less control over the amount of time it takes to get your money and you have no say in rate negotiations.
Does the Merchant Account Provider Feature Strong Customer Support?
Customer service and support may be the last thing on your mind when looking to open a merchant account. However, when a business-critical issue arises, you want to make sure your service provider can help you out immediately. Some providers may only offer online or email support, while others are available 24/7 by phone. When it comes to doing business, you don’t want anything to hold you back.
Do You Need to Commit to a Guaranteed Term?
Some merchant service providers will try to lock you in to specified contracts, like one-year, three-year, or five-year contracts. Not only can they charge you with an early termination fee, some providers may also require you to pay the remaining processing fees you will owe before you cancel. Other merchant account service providers do not require you to sign specified or guaranteed term contracts and won’t penalize you for closing your account.
With TOTAL-APPS, you can rest easy knowing you’re getting the best services in the industry. Not only are we PCI-compliant, but we have payment processing solutions for a wide variety of payments, built-in security features to keep risks to a minimum, and a live, 24/7, US-bases customer support team ready to help with any of your needs.
Contact TOTAL-APPS today to find out how they can help protect and grow your business.