What 3 things do you need to know to compare credit card processing rates?
1. What is the quoted rate?
2. What are the criteria to qualify for that rate?
3. What is your cost if you do not qualify for the quoted rate?
The same questions put in merchant account lingo?
1. What is the qualified rate?
2. What are the criteria to qualify for the qualified rate?
3. What is your cost if you do not the criteria for qualified rates?
Notice these questions don’t even ask what is the monthly minimum or what is the statement fee. If your business is doing any volume, these are just not a factor. Most businesses that do their research online will only find the quoted rate. There may be some fine print about rates, but in many cases, the information is missing. What’s almost always missing are the non-qualified rates. So you sign up online with a preliminary application, then afterwards they send you an email saying you have been approved and now they need more information. The full details must be disclosed at this point, but most businesses don’t understand or don’t want to spend any more time looking for another deal because they already spent all their time finding that one!
Always request via the contact form or email the full contract details.