Blog Category From the staff of MW

4 Ways to Save on a Merchant Account

Almost any business can now accept credit cards with little to no start-up costs.

So how do you make sure you are getting the lowest costs for the long run?  Following are four ways you can save money on your credit card processing, and avoid frustrating traps.

1) Don’t Sign an agreement with a long-term commitment!

On February 11, 2010, Network World featured Co-CEO of Merchant Warehouse, Henry Helgeson and Phil Lieberman of Lieberman Software in a Tech Debate on who should be held accountable for ensuring the necessary security measures are taken to prevent data breaches like that of Heartland Payment Systems, Inc.

In my last blog, I discussed how different terminals were capable of performing different functions, or processing different types of transactions. This time, I will be discussing another factor which separates terminals apart from each other: connectivity. During a transaction, the credit card terminal will connect to the processor and then within seconds, a result response will come back to the terminal. Though this is a simplified description of the process, it should make clear that the terminal must be connected to some sort of telecommunications network in order to work at all.

Working in the merchant services industry with the Technical Department of Merchant Warehouse for the last 4 years has put me in steady contact with merchants and their POS solutions. Over that time, I've worked with and helped out countless merchants who were experiencing difficulties with their credit card machines and equipment.

TJX, Hannaford, Okemo Mountain and others have drawn massive attention as large merchants who have been breached and had millions of consumers' data compromised. While breaches at these large corporations certainly represent more data than that of most of the 6 million small merchants nationwide, small businesses are not exempt from having consumer credit card information stolen, or from meeting the same requirements for protection of sensitive consumer data.

“Give me your best rate!”  Those are the words that any Sales Rep in the merchant service industry will agree are by far the most dreaded.  Upon uttering those 5 words, it is almost certain that the conversation is headed down a dark road.   But I have to say, I don’t often blame the merchant; IF they can remain malleable to hearing me out. 

Throughout my 2 years working in this industry, I have noticed a few common threads that have remained unchanged over the years: Merchants do not WANT to accept credit cards, and furthermore, don’t have TIME to spend researching processing companies.  They want a quick fix and easy fix.  But I have seen this industry change more rapidly in the past 3 years than any other industry, and merchants are having a hard time keeping up.