Looking Beyond Merchant Account Rates

Businesses often make the mistake of only looking at merchant account rates when evaluating companies that offer merchant services. This is not a good way to evaluate competitors because it does not take into account if there are termination fees, the level of customer service they offer, and the choices and requirements for POS equipment. Charge.com and Merchant Warehouse will be evaluated to show the importance of a proper evaluation of a company.

Hidden termination fees make changing merchant accounts painful. When a service has not worked out, no one wants to have to pay to get rid of it. Some merchants charge up to $1,000 for early termination. Cancelation fees are used by companies to make clients feel like they are locked into the service. Termination fees are a sign that a provider does not believe they offer a good value to their clients. Both Charge.com and Merchant Warehouse do not charge termination or early cancelation fees.

Customer service is important with a service that is vital to company’s ability to operate. The hours of availability and how support is contacted is different with every service. Business that have late or extended hours can end up not being able to get support when they need it. Charge.com has 24/7 phone support. Merchant Warehouse only offers support M-F from 8:00am to 10:00pm EST.

The POS equipment that can be used for a merchant account is a big factor on choosing a provider. Having to switch equipment can be expensive and require training employees. New equipment may not suit the needs of a business as well as their current solution. The larger the choice of equipment, the more flexibility a business has. Charge.com is only compatible with a limited number of POS systems. Merchant Warehouse can be used with equipment manufactured by Magtek, VeriFone, Hypercom, LinkPoint, Nurit, Thales and iDynamo.

Evaluating a service beyond the merchant account rates leads to higher business satisfaction. With numerous companies offering services it is not uncommon for them to have hidden termination fees, limited customer service hours, and specific POS equipment requirements. After a thorough evaluation has been done a business can be confident that the best merchant account choice has been made.