Finding a partner for your credit card processing needs can be time consuming. That’s why we’ve formulated a guide to help you streamline your search.

In Brief

Keep in mind that in addition to aggressive rates, you will want to find a processor you can trust. At $3,000/month in Visa/MasterCard sales volume, the difference in a discount rate of 2.19% and 2.09% is only $3.00.

Be sure to investigate the value added services that the processor offers.

Here are some questions to ask as you call around.

Questions to Ask

Business Best Practices

• How long have you been in business and how many employees do you have?

• Do you have live people answering the phones?

• Do you work out of a commercial office space?

• Do you have any references you can send to me?

• How long is your agreement for?

• Is there an early termination fee?

• Do I have to lease your equipment or can I buy it outright?

• How long does it take to get approved?

• How long does it take to get funded?

• Can I accept American Express and Discover cards on this account? What are the set up fees?

• How good is your chargeback support and what is your turnaround percentage on chargeback’s before a merchant gets involved?

• Are your services PCI/CISP Certified?

• How familiar are you with PCI/CISP certification?

• What fraud prevention tools do you offer?

Questions to Ask (continued)

Service & Support

• What kind of support do I receive; do I receive my own dedicated team for all of my merchant account needs?

• What gateway do you use?

• Does your gateway include a virtual terminal?

• What is your gateway setup fee?

• What is your gateway per transaction charge?

• How long have you been working with your gateway?

• Do you handle the technical support for the gateway?

• Do you give training on the gateway?

• Does your gateway support recurring billing? What are your rates for these services?

Regarding Rates

• What is your discount rate?

• What is your per transaction charge?

• What is your AVS charge?

• What is your mid-qualified rate, and what card types fall under this category?

• What is your non-qualified rate, and what card types fall under this category?

• What is your monthly statement fee? Any other monthly fees?

• What is your monthly minimum discount charge?

• What is your annual fee? Any security fees?

• What is your setup fee?

• What is your chargeback fee?

• What is your retrieval request fee?