I often hear from CFO’s that more credit card processing companies call on them than any other vendor. So with over 100-1000 calls per year, how do merchants sort through it all and choose your blog host? Tenacity is often cited, but that’s only part of the equation. My keys:

1. Education on pricing- I educate customers on the 4 core elements including which costs are negotiable, which are not, which can be influenced, and which ones may vary by vendor (some may have higher fixed costs than others).
2. Reporting- You must have completely transparent reports in order to identify the costs above, as well as to manage them. I show you what a transparent report looks like and help you understand it. How do you use data for reconciliation?
3. Interchange management. Once you have the right pricing and detailed reports, it’s time to attack interchange qualification. Most of your money, over 95% is paid in interchange fees. Many merchants think the processor gets the money, but that’s not the case. Ensuring you hit the lowest interchange for any given card presented is the next step.
This can be achieved through many different methods, and will never be completely transparent to the merchant because you simply cannot see everything that goes into why a transaction qualifies. With good reporting, you CAN find out why a transaction downgraded. But of course, you’d also have to know WHICH transactions downgraded and WHY in order to fix it. An expert is really needed for this step. Someone who will ‘watch your back’. That’s where I come in. I’ll do most of this behind the scenes and we’ll also have Webex conferences to review your account, including a statement review.
4. Continuing Education- Let’s face it we’re all busy people and sometimes don’t have time to get to anything new unless it’s forced upon us. I’m your force. If something must be done, like PCI Compliance, you’ll hear from me. If there’s new technology (from any vendor) you can implement that will make your job easier, I’ll call you. I’ll advise you of pros and cons, risks and rewards, and quantify it whenever possible so you can focus on what you do best.

* (If you were not aware of the above before, would you go back to your old processor and renegotiate, or would you say, they’ve earned the right to have my business? If you intend to go back to your processor don’t disappear, thank me by paying me a fee to help you renegotiate your contract.)

Where does all the money go for your credit card processing costs?

We’ve answered this before. Most of it goes to the banks. In a few moments, you’ll read about their blatant promotions to make more money at your expense.

If you process a transaction at the best interchange qualification, they make a little money. If you process a transaction that downgrades to a higher interchange qualification, they make more money. In fact, the worse you qualify, the more money they make.

This is a key reason why banks may not be the best choice for your credit card processing. With their inherent conflict of interest, will your bank help you hit the best interchange? You can influence your interchange qualification. It’s complicated. It’s more than what customers can do, it’s up to professionals like us to not only spot problem areas, but to take the corrective actions to fix the underlying causes- either behind the scenes, through programming changes or by contacting you and providing tips for staff.

Today I received a direct mail piece from a bank. The promotion rewards me for SIGNATURE BASED gold debit mastercard purchases. Pin based debit transactions are ineligible. That’s right. The bank is strongly encouraging consumers not to enter their pin number. They make more money that way.

How can you combat this kind of promotion and encourage pin based debit?
1. Do you have a pin pad? Consumer oriented businesses processing $1M annually, will almost always benefit. Call us for a free analysis.
2. Are you processing $1,000,000+ per MONTH (all card type transactions), please call me regarding new technology that will dramatically lower your debit processing costs.