The Key to Not Getting Gouged by Your Credit Card Processor

It's rare for me to come across a business owner that knows more than the most basic of details about his credit card processing account. Depending on the type of business, anywhere from ten to almost 100 percent of revenues come in through a credit card terminal or gateway- thus, every business owner should be well versed    on his or her account.

Here are six things every business owner should know about their merchant services account:

1) Most merchants had the opportunity to see a big decrease in their debit card rates when The Durbin Amendment took affect in October. Did your processor make you aware of these potential savings, and did you receive them?

2) Does your statement have any odd sounding fees like 'TIN fee', 'TFN fee', 'IRS fee', etc., and do you know what the fee is for?

3) Since a majority of card types used today are rewards cards, do you know the surcharge you pay for processing those cards?

4) Are there miscellaneous fees like 'Compliance Fee' or 'PCI Fee' that shows up on your bank statement but not your processing statement?

5) Are you currently paying monthly and/or annual fees for PCI compliance, and do you why you are paying those fees?

6) Are you under contract with your processor, and if so, does your contract have an early Termination fee? Does it have a roll-over provision?

When it comes to your merchant services account, knowledge is power. Only when you understand your processing statement in full, rather than just knowing the rate you pay for the most common transaction type, can you negotiate from a position of strength for the best possible rates.

Processing companies and representatives know this (that's why they make the statements so hard to read) and use it to their advantage, counting on you giving up in frustration before you find the factors that add up to you over-paying for your processing to the tune of $1500 a year.

Make sure you know the answers to these questions. Call your account representative and make him go over your statement with you, line by line. If your rep. has already come in and back out of the industry call the customer service number and ruin some CSR's average call time by making them explain it, line by line.

Also, feel free to contact me. I'll find the answers and explain your statement, no strings attached. But one way or another, get knowledgeable about your account.