Offering your customers the option to pay via credit card is crucial for your business. Especially in case of online businesses, card payment is the only option customers have. Third party agencies offer merchant processing services that include credit card processing to businesses. But herein lies the catch. While everyone is willing to support low risk businesses white label card processing , businesses that are risk do not get as much support from merchant service providers to help them open a merchant account. They are offered only by specialized service providers. Are you a high Risk Merchant? You qualify for this services if your business is categorized as a high risk business. The online businesses that come under this category typically include those in the following areas- adult entertainment sites,
those related to health and beauty such as websites selling weight loss, skin care, muscle enhancing and other similar products including nutritional and beauty supplements. Detective services, online dating sites, lotteries sites, sports consulting sites etc are some other examples of this businesses. These businesses are inherently risk for obvious reasons.
This type of merchant services are also required for high volume businesses, because these are more susceptible to credit card fraud. Small companies with low volume sales are also considered because they cannot afford the necessary fraud screening tools. The individual business/ business owner characteristics are also important. Businesses not accredited with the local business bodies, those with poor/inconsistent credit histories, or where the business or the owner has been blacklisted due to any reason are considered high risk.
If you are a merchant, you will find it difficult to get a merchant account, which is crucial to enable credit card transactions. Hence you need the assistance of merchant service providers who especially cater to the needs of these type of merchants. These type of merchant account providers charge enormous fees for their services. Merchant service fees are way higher than those charged for regular businesses. For setting up a regular merchant account, often the set up fees are negligible or even nil. In case of these type of merchant accounts, your high fees start right from this point and include very high processing fees.
However, considering that enabling payment by credit card is crucial to the success of your business, you have no choice but to give in to the demands of merchant service providers. But as always, you must choose your service provider wisely and make sure you are not being taken for a ride. Financial institutions that have merchant services programs often think their programs should be generating more money. But many of them simply haven’t put enough time and thought into making their program work for them.
In that light, we’ve compiled a list of steps to grow your program and your profits so that your merchant services program lags no more. Set GoalsIf you don’t do this already, set a number of customers you want to add to your portfolio and measure your progress. Knowing what you have and what you want is the first step in turning things around. If your program isn’t growing as fast as you think it should be, there is a good chance that you can gain some more credit card processing business by training your front-line personnel to be excellent salesmen. If your merchant service program offers fast merchant approvals, your staff should be relaying that to potential customers. Make sure they are not only personable and comfortable in dealing with customers, but they are making an effort to throw all of your capabilities on the table. Make your Merchant Services Provider AccountableYour merchant services provider is your partner, and they should act like it. The best merchant credit card processing service should always focus on your program and the relationship manager they assign to you should routinely check on you to help you find ways to build your portfolio.
The best merchant credit card processing service will also treat your merchants right. Be wary of random fees thrown at your merchants like high PCI compliance fees or others that seem to have no purpose. If you don’t understand the fees and feel that they are just another way for the credit card processing company to nickel and dime your merchants, then don’t be afraid to call them out. They should also provide fast merchant approvals. Merchants really appreciate when they can see that they are valued customers.
The volume of your merchants’ sales is directly related to the profits you reap from your merchant services program. It is essential to calculate which of your merchants are doing the best so you can provide them with a higher degree of support. So now that you know your merchants’ profitability rates, it’s time to take this information a step further and figure out optimal pricing. If your merchants are priced too high, they may get fed up and seek an alternative processing company. If they are priced too low, you aren’t earning what you should be.
