Apply for a Merchant Services Account Online: Credit Card Payment Processing Application

If you are a merchant, then you will undoubtedly need a merchant account. Merchant accounts are accounts that your business holds with a payment processor or merchant services provider that give you access to the critical tools that your business needs to succeed and accept payments. Without a merchant account, your business will be unable to complete the most important part of any transaction--the receipt of the funds for the goods or services that were rendered. If you want to get a merchant account for your business, then the first thing you need to know is how to apply for a merchant account and what is involved in the process of the application. This insight will give you the knowledge and information that you need to be successful in the merchant account application process and provide you with a competitive edge when applying for your merchant account.

Info needed for applying for a merchant account

If you’re hoping to have success in the merchant account application process, then one of the first things that you will need to know is about the requirements for applying and gaining approval for a merchant account. There are several pieces of information and documentation that you will need if you’re going to have success in your application. Providing these pieces of documentation and information will greatly increase your chances of being successful, but that’s not all that matters. You will also need to display several traits and factors that prove yourself to be a reliable and trustworthy merchant.
 
Here are the pieces of information that you will need when applying for a merchant account:

  • At least 3 months of bank statements
  • At least 3 months of processing statements, if applicable
  • Valid identification
  • EIN or SSN for the account
  • A functioning website that has information about your business

Before you apply for a merchant account, you should be sure to have each of these pieces of information available and ready to send with your application. The absence of any of these pieces of information could prevent you from getting a merchant account or getting good rates if you are granted a merchant account. This could delay the process and make getting a merchant account take that much longer.

Approval for a merchant account: factors explained

When you are applying for a merchant account, one of the most important concepts that you should understand beforehand is that there are a variety of factors that go into your approval or rejection as a merchant for a merchant account. Being familiar with these factors can increase your chances of success when applying for a merchant account because it will enable you to optimize your application and make it much more attractive to the merchant services that you hope to work with. Here are some of the most important factors in getting approved for a merchant services account and why they are considered to be important.

Bank history

The bank history is one of the required pieces of information for your business if you hope to get a merchant services account. The merchant services provider that you apply with will ask for at least documentation of 3 months of bank history. The reason that merchant services providers ask for this information is pretty obvious--they want to ensure that your business is reputable and is in good standing with your bank. Without this verification, they might not be able to establish confidence that you are a trustworthy financial partner to work with. Merchant services companies want to verify that you are a legitimate business with a verifiably good relationship with your banking provider. By verifying this, they can guess that you will be a good partner to them, as well. Always provide the most comprehensive statement information that you can and be sure to not just provide the bare minimum, if possible. Applications will ask for at least 3 months, but if you are comfortable you should supply up to 6 months of statements.

Processing history

Another thing that will factor heavily into the decision that is made regarding your merchant services account status is the processing history documentation that you are able to provide. When you apply for a merchant processing account, the company that you apply with will very likely want to see at least 3 months of processing history. Again, the more information that you can provide, the better. Those that are able to provide up to 6 months of documentation will likely have more success. The reason that merchant services companies request this information is also clear--because they want to know that you will be a good partner to them in your merchant services and credit card processing relationship. Being involved with a company to provide credit card transactions is no small matter, and the companies that you work with want to protect themselves just as much as you do. When you provide this information, they will look into your past success, chargeback ratios, and any concerns that have arisen in your past relationships with processing companies.
 
It is possible that you are not able to provide this information, in the event that you are a new business. Still, you should answer as many questions as they have and provide them with answers to the questions that you are able to such as what your expected volume will be. Going the extra mile to provide this information could certainly be the difference between denial and acceptance for your merchant services account.

Credit score

When evaluating your application for a merchant services account, your merchant services partner will very likely want to see your credit score. This is a piece of information that you will likely not have to provide yourself, as many merchant services companies have a way to check this. Your business credit score will tell the underwriter, the person who approves and denies processing accounts, about your financial history and whether there are any red flags. If there are blips on your credit score, that doesn’t mean that you will not be eligible to get a merchant services account. However, it might mean that there are more hoops to jump through or that you don’t get as good of a processing rate that you were hoping for. The best way to handle a poor credit score as a business is to apply to a merchant services program that approves businesses that are in a similar situation and works with businesses to overcome challenges that they might have struggled with in the past.

Industry

Even though you might not have given much thought to it in the past, one of the most relevant factors in your approval or rejection for a merchant services account is the industry that your business is in. It is very important to consider the industry that your business is in because some businesses are at higher risk than others for chargebacks and fraud. If you are in a very normal and ordinary industry, then you probably don’t need to worry that much about the specifics. However, if you are in a high-risk industry that is known for chargebacks and fraud, then you likely want to start looking at ways to bolster your application and show that you can stand out above the rest as a merchant that will not cost the services provider money in the long run.

How long to get approved for a merchant account?

One of the most common questions that is asked when applying for a merchant account is how long the process takes. The answer is not so straightforward, as there are dozens of factors that go into the decision-making process of either approving or rejecting a merchant for a merchant account. If nothing goes wrong in the process and the underwriters don’t need any more information, then it’s possible that you receive an answer within 24-48 hours, when working with the right merchant account provider. However, this is not always the case. Oftentimes, your merchant account provider will require additional information including clarification on the business plan, more documentation, or just general questions about your business. You can help to reduce the amount of time that it takes to get approved by being upfront with all of the information that you will need for the application and having it on-hand for clarification if needed.

Be selective in who you choose for a provider

One thing that you should know if you want to get the most out of your merchant account is that merchant processing is a serious business. There is a lot of money at stake, and that is why merchant account providers are so selective in who they approve for a merchant services account. You should be equally as selective when choosing a provider. Make sure that you know what you are looking for in a merchant services provider because they are going to have a large impact on your business and what you are able to achieve with your merchant solutions.

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Top Rated Merchant Services ISO Agent Programs for Selling Credit Card Processing Services


Want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which merchant services ISO agent program is right for you? Well, why don’t we solve this problem for you? This guide is specifically created to help people who are stepping their toe into the vast sea of merchant processing. By the end of it, you will have a pretty clear idea of how to find a good processor.

10 Things You Need to Consider in a Merchant Services Agent Program

We will tell you 10 factors that you need to consider when looking for a viable, credible merchant services agent program. This way, you will ensure that there are no problems later on in your career as a credit card processing agent. With that said, let’s get started:

1. Fast Funding:

One of the most important things to look for in a merchant services ISO agent program is their funding period. Clients should not have to face delays in terms of funds transfer after a transaction is made. One of the most attractive and compelling features of a good merchant services ISO program is that the merchants get their funds the same day.

This is what attracts most of the merchants as they do not want their earnings to be kept by a 3rd party for more than a day. You will also be able to sell this kind of program better because of the speedy service.

2. Several Discounts:

When you are deciding to become a merchant services agent, go for the processor that offers a cash discount program. Simply put, it is a payment processing tactic where the fee of a particular credit card transaction is offset to the customers. This means that the merchant will not have to pay any transaction fee, the customers are using the facility instead of paying in cash, so it should be them who bear the cost.

The best cash discount program allows merchants to do just that! The algorithm of POS software is already trained to charge the percentage of fees levied on each transaction from the customer. Plus, some of the top merchants also provide free signage that educates customers about the fee on a credit card transaction, so there are no surprises at the end.

3. Dealing in High-Risk Industry:

There are many that become a credit card processor, but they have a very low-risk appetite. This means they will only deal in safer industries and not offer services to risky businesses like medical marijuana stores, travel agencies, and pharmacies etc. Now you might not work with these businesses when starting out, but soon, when your business grows, you will have to get clients from high-risk industries.

So if the credit card processor doesn’t deal with these industries, then you will be limited to a few fields which will put a cap on your growth potential. So instead of finding a merchant dealing with high-risk industries later on, you need to work with one from the start.

4. Assistance in Marketing:

As a credit card processing agent, you will need several marketing resources at your disposal to close sales. One of them is a team assisting you with lead capturing and turning the cold ones into warm leads. A terrific processor will have excellent merchant support that will help you convert more merchants with minimal energy, time, and resource exhaustion.

Plus, some of the excellent credit card processors also have their own landing pages designed to show to your potential customers. These landing pages can take several hundred dollars to make, but the processor will offer you for free, making your conversion process easier.

5. Flexible Plans:

One of the most necessary parts of working with a merchant services ISO program is to get paid properly and on time. You do not want to be underpaid, so make sure to work with a processor that offers a fair share of the income to you. Also, they must have lucrative bonuses if you go out of your way to close a specific number of sales in X amount of time.

You need to properly analyze the contract you will sign with them and check their payment terms, make sure to work with a company that pays on time.

6. Merchant and Income Analytics:

The best part of working with the top credit card processors in the industry is that they leverage technology to make things easier for their agents. A good processor will provide you with your own dashboard that will display various performance metrics like the number of sales you closed, your earnings, number of clients, and more.

Some even go the extra mile and provide data on merchants as well. You might be able to see the number of transactions they make and even get information on individual transactions.

7. Equipment and Software:

Many become a registered ISO for merchant service providers, but they do not work on their equipment and its advancement. The credit card processor must provide you with the necessary technology that you can offer to your clients and seal the deal. A good processor should offer these equipment and facilities:

  • Point of Sale terminals to suit the needs of merchants
  • Smart online payment options
  • Facility of mobile payments
  • Support loyalty programs and gift cards
  • Fast processing with minimal errors As for the software, they must have up to date, user-friendly software in their equipment, allowing merchants to complete the transaction process smoothly.

8. Excellent Support:

Besides the marketing assistance that we discussed above, the merchant services provider should offer fast, responsive, and friendly customer services. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your customers are facing any issues that need to be solved, and you cannot get in touch with the processor’s customer support to fix them.

In this case, even if the problem is not caused by you, you will be the one facing the consequences if you cannot get a customer support agent to solve the problem. The merchant might stop using the processor, and that will result in your financial loss.

So before you decide on working with a merchant, you need to ensure that they have a dedicated customer support team that can quickly answer your questions and solve any problems as soon as possible.

9. Multiple Boarding Options:

Look for a program that provides different boarding options from big payment processing platforms like EPX, First Data and Global Payments. Being able to access these programs means complete peace of mind for both you and the merchants.

Because there will be fewer chances of facing any integration or technological problems when connecting the POS or billing software of the merchant with the platforms your program uses. This will ensure your whole sales process goes smoothly, and you don’t lose a ready-to-convert client at the last moment.

10. Must Be Credible:

Lastly, you need to do your complete due diligence in finding everything about the company you can. They should not have a shady track record, damaged reputation, or bad reviews on the internet.

You need to work with a company that has the face of its CEO attached to it, has a brick and mortar headquarter, and is licensed to operate.

Plus, keep your eyes peeled for any too good to be true bonuses or discounts; these things come with bad surprises later on.

Is There Any Program With These Qualities?

Glad you asked, I was wondering that I have written 10 points for you to look in a company so it might be challenging to find one that meets this criterion. Well, let me make things simple for you by introducting North American Bancard. They are excellent at what they do, and their core focus is to benefit their agents and merchants. Have a look at a few of their key features:

  • They have Global Payments, EPX and First Data powered merchant accounts
  • Their terminals work with both credit and debit cards. Plus, they support both EMV and NFC based methods of payment
  • They also support mobile payments via PayAnywhere technology
  • Their PayAnywhere feature also works with storefront point of sale system
  • Automated cash discounting
  • They have web-based terminals that provide agents with all the details of their performance and the specifics of their merchants
  • Very attractive signup and profitability bonuses

Parting Words:

If you have successfully made it to the end, then it means you already know about the key things to look for to find the cream of the crop credit card processing company. We have also suggested the leading program with all the qualities discussed in this guide. So it is fair to say that you have everything you need to get started on your journey to working as a merchant services representative. You just need to take the first step and make a career doing what you really want to do.


Merchant Services Partnerships

If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.

What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?

If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.

Payout dependability

If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partner program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.

Support staff

When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.

Product suite

The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.

Reputation

One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.

Industry specialization

When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.


How Does the Payment Processing Busines Work?

It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant services business. If you want to become a merchant service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.

The Credit Card Processing Industry

When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.

Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.

Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.

Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.

Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.

Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.

Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.

Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.

Facilitation and Communication

If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.

  • The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
  • Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
  • The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
  • The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
  • Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
  • The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
  • Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.

What Is PCI Compliance?

If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:

• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.

• Quarterly network susceptibility scans

• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.

Fees and Processing

When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.

Before You Start

If you are going to start a merchant services company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.

Research the Market

In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.

Start Fresh or Franchise

You have to decide whether you will be starting a credit card processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.

Choose a Legal Structure

Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.

Start a Credit Card Processing Company

There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a credit card processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.

Comprehensive Business Plan

Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.

Insurance Types Needed

You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.

Partner With Other Companies

Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.

Lease Equipment for Processing

When you are going to start a credit card processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.


Merchant Services Sales Reps

Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.

So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:

5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:

1. Decide Your Approach:

One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:

  • What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
  • What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
  • How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
  • How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
  • How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)

Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.

2. Spread the Word:

Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.

According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.

  • Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
  • Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.

3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:

Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:

  • See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
  • Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
  • Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
  • Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
  • How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
  • Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.

Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.

• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.

• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.

You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.

Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.

4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:

Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.

Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.

Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.

5. Honesty is the Best Policy:

They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.

You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.

Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.

Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:

  • Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
  • Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
  • Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
  • Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!

Over to You:

To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.


What to Know about Selling Merchant Processing Services

If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.

We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:

Why is it Important to Know?

Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services sales programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.

Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.

These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.

Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:

There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:

Excellent Earning Potential:

The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.

However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.

There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.

Flexible Schedule:

The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.

You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.

Tons of Surprises:

If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.

Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.

Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:

Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:

Repeated Rejections:

Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.

The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.

Soaring Competition:

Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.

Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.

Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:

Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.

  • Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
  • Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
  • Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
  • Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
  • Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.

Parting Words:

Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.


Selling Merchant Services Benefits 

Have you ever gone out shopping in your community? Have you ever shopped online at the webstore of one of your favorite local businesses? If the answer is yes, then you’ve been on the other end of a credit card processing solution. You took your credit card or debit card, entered the checkout process, and completed your payment easily and quickly. Every business needs a reliable payments solution--it’s how they accept payments for the goods and services that they render. However, it sounds much simpler than it is. Finding a payments solution that meets the needs of their business can be challenging. You can help your local businesses solve this problem by starting a credit card processing business of your own--selling merchant accounts from home.

What does being a merchant account salesperson mean?

If you’re going to sell merchants services, you first want to know what exactly that means and what it is going to involve. Merchant accounts are services rendered to merchants that are essential to the business to operate such as payment processing and facilitation. As a merchant services representative, you will be the person in charge of identifying businesses that aren’t quite getting as much as they would like to out of their existing processing solution or new businesses that are looking for a reliable partner to start with. You would be speaking with these businesses, presenting them with options, and signing them to merchant services contracts.

While the literal definition is one thing, what you will be doing as a merchant services representative is expanded far beyond that. Yes, you would be selling merchant services to businesses, but the process of making that happen includes much more. As a merchant services sales professional, you will meet with businesses to have a long-form conversation whether in person or on the phone to determine what they need out of a payment processing provider and how you can meet those needs.

As a merchant services representative, you will be critical support staff to businesses all over that need reliable merchant services such as processing and POS systems. In many ways, you would be essential to one of the most important sectors in our economy--small businesses. If you are passionate about helping small businesses and coming up with creative solutions to solve the problems of business owners, then this could be a great career path for you.

Benefits of being a merchant account sales professional

There are many benefits to becoming a merchant services sales rep, and there are definitely reasons for why it is considered one of the most desirable positions to do from home. If you want to become a merchant sales representative, then you can expect to enjoy these benefits as a result.

Earn from home

Perhaps the greatest thing about being in merchant services sales is that  you can earn an income from home. Many people dream about earning a living from home, but very few are able to achieve it. There are scams out there that promise this flexibility, but our program is a very legitimate opportunity to earn a full-time living from home or earn some side money as a representative. When you are able to work from home and earn an income, many opportunities for life improvement open up. All in all, working from home as a merchant services representative makes for a very desirable living.

Have flexibility in your schedule

If you value flexibility in your schedule and having more free time to enjoy with friends and family, then being a merchant services representative might be the right option for you. Because you will be earning an income on a commission basis, there is no supervisor to tell you when to work or for how long. This means that while you should be providing basic support and communication to your merchants, you can take a vacation as needed or switch around your hours as you see fit. It’s the ideal situation for anyone that wants to have maximum flexibility in their life and achieve the ideal work-home balance.

High earnings potential

The main reason that so many people find merchant services sales to be such a desirable industry is because the earnings potential is high. The amount of money that you earn in merchant services sales is entirely dependent on how you perform as a salesperson, so the sky's the limit when it comes to your earnings. In addition to regular commissions that you earn from sales, there are also frequent opportunities for performance-based bonuses that you can use to increase your income.

Help your local businesses

One of the main benefits of working as a merchant sales representative is that with the solutions that we have to offer, you’ll be able to help your local businesses. For anyone that is passionate about small and local businesses, this is a great career choice. When you work as a merchant services representative, you’ll be able to work closely with businesses in your area and around the country to find solutions to the problems that they face on an everyday basis. With the help and services that you are able to provide to your clients, you’ll help them function with more efficiency, increased profit, and better customer service. Enhancing your local economy and businesses is truly a passion worth exploring.

No sales experience required

While being a salesperson might be new and intimidating to you, you should know that becoming a merchant services sales rep requires no prior experience and can be done by anyone that has a passion for helping businesses find the solutions that they need. With our training modules and comprehensive suite of solutions, you’ll have everything you need to learn about this industry and thrive while on the job.

Are most merchant account salespeople successful?

If you are thinking of making the leap into merchant services sales, you might be wondering if most people enjoy success. While not everyone enjoys success in sales or is cut out for sales, those that work hard and are determined to help local businesses find the ideal payment solution for them have a higher chance of success than those that are just in it for the income. If you want to have success in merchant sales, you should be ready to make a strong effort and be persistent.


How to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent

If you’ve been considering becoming a merchant services agent for a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.

Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).

Have a Plan

The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.

The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.

What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?

Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.

The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.

Leverage Your Social Network

Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.

etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.

Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.

Pick the Right Partner

The decision of which ISO agent program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.

You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.

Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.

Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.

If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.

There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.

Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.

Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:

Actually Know What You’re Doing

When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.

The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.

When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.

Be Completely Honest

Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.

Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.

When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Being a merchant services agent can be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.

The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right ISO agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.


Pros and Cons of Selling Merchant Services

All around the world, there are thousands of businesses that use vital services that are referred to as merchant services. These are services such as payment processing, which is what allows businesses to accept and process payments so that they can make a profit on their product. Without these services, businesses would be unable to function in the modern world. You might think that the fact that these services are an absolute necessity to these businesses make them an easy target for selling, but that is now always the case. There are definitely some positives as well as some negatives when selling merchant services.

This guide will show you some of each and hopefully give you some insight as to whether a career selling merchant services is right for you.

Pros

Undoubtedly, there are some very positive aspects of selling merchant services for a living. If you have had a sales job that is similar in the past, you already have known some of these benefits. Here are some of the best things about selling merchant services.

There is always a market

One of the best things about working in the merchant services industry is that there is never a lack of demand for these services. There are always new businesses sprouting up as people chase their passion for owning their own business. And existing businesses are always evaluating their options and ensuring that they are getting the best deal on the market. For that reason, you won’t ever have to worry about the industry as a whole drying up. People will always need to spend digital money and businesses will always need to find a way to accept it.

Set your schedule

For many that are in a commission-based sales job, one of the greatest benefits of it is being able to get to the point where you are working when you want to work instead of punching a time clock when you get to work. When you are a partner in a merchant services ISO agent program, you will be able to set your appointments on a schedule that works well for you.

Build passive income

Finding and signing clients to lucrative merchant processing contracts is hard work, nobody denies that. However, all of the hard work that you put into this process could end up paying out tenfold throughout the years. One of the greatest things about being a merchant services salesperson is that your accounts can earn you passive and residual income long after you have closed them to a contract. This could help you build passive income for years to come and eventually phase out the bulk of the labor that is involved in this career.

High commission rates

When you compare merchant services to other industries out there, you will find that it has a very competitive and comparatively high commission rate compared to those other industries. The high price of the contracts and the fact that they continue to pay out for years to come is what makes these sales so valuable and why some of the best salespeople in the world turn to merchant services when they want to increase their earning potential.

Cons

Just as there are many pros to selling merchant services, there are also some aspects that could prove difficult. You should watch out for these aspects and consider whether they are something that you are able to overcome and overlook.

Highly competitive industry

There is always a lot of demand for merchant services, but this fact also means that there is a lot of competition. One of the hardest aspects of selling merchant services is that you will always have competition breathing down your neck, waiting to provide your client with a better rate. This is really where your ability to create and nurture relationships will come in handy with client retention. This industry is not for those that don’t like competition and healthy capitalist tendencies.

Dependent on success to make money

When you are a merchant services representative in any industry, you know that your ability to make money is heavily dependent on the success that you have when selling your product or service. It’s no different in selling merchant services. If you want to have a good income, then you will need to become skilled at selling these products. If you don’t feel confident that you can do that, then it might not be the right choice for you.


 

One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.

So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.

However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with Shaw Merchant Group. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. SMG ISO agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”

SMG ISO agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.

Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem! 

Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with SMG, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!

How Much Can I Make?

Shaw Merchant Group offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that SMG allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.

Here are some of the great advantages of using Shaw Merchant Group's program:

  • Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
  • Get up to $10K for every new account
  • Get a large startup bonus
  • Get residuals of up to 70%
  • Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
  • Get free training on the services you will be selling

Contact Shaw Merchant Group today and get started!


Merchant services is one of the most lucrative sales industries in the world, and many people are starting to realize the potential in becoming a payment processing company. However, if you are looking into getting into the industry, there are a few pieces of information that you will want to know beforehand like what reselling is all about, what are the benefits, and how you should go about choosing a merchant service provider partnership for your adventure in reselling. Shaw Merchant Group is one of the most reputable reseller programs in the industry and we’re going to show you all of the information that  you will need to start on the right path when it comes to being a reseller of merchant services.

What is merchant services reselling?

The first step to getting into becoming a merchant service provider is understanding what exactly merchant services are and what a merchant services reseller program is. Merchant services are services that are rendered to merchants that are essential to doing business and accepting payments. There are unlimited businesses that need these services to function, but that also means that it is a competitive industry. However, success in this industry can mean a lifetime of residual and passive income, and that is why so many people choose to pursue become a merchant services provider, along with the other benefits that it affords.

Merchant services reselling is an activity in which a person or company serves as the intermediary between a business and the merchant services that they need.  Reseller sells the services to merchants and sources them from a merchant services provider at a lower rate, securing profit for those that resell the merchant services.

What are the benefits of being a merchant services reseller?

Being a merchant services reseller is a difficult field to succeed in, but there are many reasons to pursue being one. This field comes with a lot of benefits that attract people to becoming a merchant service provider. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose to be a merchant services reseller.

No overhead

Being a merchant services reseller means that you won’t have any overhead as a businessperson. Since you are keeping nothing in stock and you won’t have to keep any equipment in-house to provide the merchant services that you offer, your risk is reduced and you are less vulnerable to business losses.

Help local businesses

One of the main benefits to being a merchant services reseller is that it is a rather fulfilling career. With the ability to provide businesses with reliable merchant services, you can feel fulfilled in your job and help your local community.

Earn a high income

People who are highly drawn to becoming a merchant service provider are often done so because of the potential and ability to earn a high income that is not limited by anything other than your success in merchant services and your ability to convince businesses to use you for their merchant services. Commissions are how you earn money with providing merchant services and the difference in price between what you're selling the services for and what you are buying them for. With that in mind, it is one of the most lucrative industries that you can be in.

What should you look for in a merchant services reseller program?

If you are going to be a successful merchant service provider, then you need to work with a reliable merchant services ISO partner. Having a good ISO program to support you will allow you to offer premium and superior service that meets the needs of your clients and ensures that they will come back for more as needed.

Payouts

You always want to work with a merchant services ISO program that provides timely and accurate payouts. Running a merchant services business isn’t profitable without receiving a reliable stream of payments, so make sure that the company that you partner with, such as Shaw Merchant Group, offers reliable and accurate payouts.

Business tools

If you want to have the best chance of success possible in selling merchant services, then you need to work with a partner that has the business tools to make it happen. These include marketing materials, literature, and other tools to help you bring in a reliable steam of clients. Shaw Merchant Group has one of the most comprehensive suite of business tools out there to provide you with the resources that you need.

Online reputation

You should always verify the reputation and trust that your ISO partner maintains if you want to have success as a merchant service provider. As a independent agent, you are only as good as the program that you work with. Working with a program that has a good reputation among merchants is essential to having success in your own business.

Our registered DBA program will save you thousands in fees

Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.

We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:

  • Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
  • Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
  • This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
  • When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under the their brand name.

What do we brand?

  • Paper Applications
  • Online Applications (Simplified Enrollment)
  • Partner.PaymentsHub for your back office
  • PaymentsHub for your merchants — It’s generic when your merchant logs in and then show your brand once inside
  • Merchant Support Email — TMS (ticket management system) which emails you and your merchant each time we speak with your merchant and shows the proper brand in the notice and as the from address on the email.
  • Merchant Support Phone — Our call centers answer with a generic “merchant services” then once they have the MID identified, they represent your brand.
  • Deployment Packages — Generic boxes and welcome docs inside with proper brand

What we need:

  1. A letter authorizing EPX to register your DBA on your company letterhead.
  2. A high resolution image of your company logo.
  3. A certificate of good standing from the state you are registered in. It may not be called a certificate of 'good standing' in some states.
  4. The ISO Branding request form.

Selling Your Merchant Account Residual Portfolio

If you’ve put in the leg work required to build a successful credit card processing business, then you are probably at a point where nothing feels impossible. However, to continue growing your business or jump to another venture to make even more money, you will need an injection of capital. Credit card processing client portfolios are great for building income over the long term, but don’t do much for those that want to get a fast injection of capital to build businesses. If you want to get a lump sum or a loan against your residual portfolio, you can do that. All you have to do is list your credit card processing business for sale and get a buyer or lender to borrow you money or give you money against your portfolio assets.

Though the concept is pretty straightforward, you should still learn as much as you possibly can about this process to ensure you do it safely and effectively and that you get what you deserve from your credit card processing business for sale. This guide will go over some of the most important concepts and points you will need to know if you hope to successfully sell your portfolio of residual income.

Preparation Is Key

If you hope to have success in selling your credit card processing business, then you need to be sure that you have your ducks in a row. This means doing the preparation work and familiarizing yourself with what is possible and what is not when it comes to your residuals portfolio. By going through this process, many credit card processing business owners discover things about their residuals portfolio that they previously didn’t know. This information is vital for anyone that wishes to succeed in selling thier credit card processing business. Follow these basic steps as a launching pad for the sale of your credit card processing business.

Verify Residuals Ownership

If you want to sell your residuals portfolio and credit card processing business, then the first thing that you will need to do is verify that you indeed own your residuals. Many merchant services agents and owners operate under the assumption that they do--until they see the fine print. Working with certain ISOs and other companies could prevent you from selling your residuals. So, instead of wasting your time pursuing something that might not even happen, make sure that you verify that you are authorized to own and control your residual portfolio.

Selling Your Residuals

When you are hoping to sell your credit card processing business, you will need to not only ensure that you own the residuals and portfolio you are looking to leverage into cash, but also that you have the right to sell that portfolio of residuals. This is done by simply looking at the contract that you are entered into. You will need to verify that you have the full right to control this portfolio and pass it on to someone else or use it as leverage in a cash transaction. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to enter any arrangement with full knowledge of what you are able to do with your portfolio of residuals.

Ask About Borrowing

Selling is one thing, but borrowing against your portfolio is another. You will want to make sure that you are able to borrow against your portfolio, which is similar to leveraging what is in your portfolio for a cash infusion. Some processing companies allow this and others don’t--it is specific to who you are working with. In addition to borrowing against your assets with an external lendor, you might also explore the option of borrowing directly from the payment processor. Many companies have programs that will allow you to do this easily and affordably.

Things to Know When Selling Your Residuals

If you are hoping to list your credit card processing business for sale and leverage your residual portfolio into cash, then there are some things that you will need to know ahead of time to ensure a successful transaction. These concepts will teach you more about how to have success when selling your credit card processing business or leveraging your portfolio into the cash you need to pursue your business ventures.

Qualification

One thing that you will need to be aware of before you sell your residuals portfolio is whether you qualify for a sale of your residuals. For many partnerships, you will need to have a business that generates $1000 or more per month in residuals in order to be considered for a sale of your residual portfolio or a lending option that is centered around your residuals portfolio.

Buyout Ratio

If you have determined that you are going to sell your residuals portfolio and you are eligible for such a sale, then you will need to be familiar with the buyout ratio. Basically, the buyout ratio dictates how much you will receive from the sale as it relates to what your income is from the residuals portfolio. For many portfolios, this number lies between 12 and 24 times what the monthly income is from your residuals. This is what you should generally expect to receive when you sell your residuals portfolio.

Earn Out

Earn out is similar to a buyout, only that you will continue to earn your residuals and gradually be phased out. The payout is paid over a certain amount of time. This allows you to continue earning from your portfolio while also receiving a lump sum up front. This allows for the best of both worlds and makes it easier to make the transition.

Grow Your Business And Gain Capital By Listing Your Credit Card Processing Business For Sale

If you have a successful credit card processing business and have become a merchant service provider and you are looking to sell, then listing your credit card processing business for sale or entering into a lending agreement that uses your credit card processing business as leverage are two of the best ways. Now that you know more about these options, you have the power and knowledge necessary to make your cash infusion and business expansion dreams a reality.


How to be Sucessful at Selling Merchant Services

Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.

So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:

5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:

1. Decide Your Approach:

One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:

  • What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
  • What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
  • How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
  • How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
  • How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)

Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.

2. Spread the Word:

Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.

According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.

  • Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
  • Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.

3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:

Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:

  • See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
  • Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
  • Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
  • Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
  • How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
  • Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.

Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.

• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.

• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.

You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.

Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.

4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:

Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.

Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.

Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.

5. Honesty is the Best Policy:

They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.

You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.

Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.

Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:

  • Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
  • Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
  • Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
  • Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!

Over to You:

To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.


Looking to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent?  Here are the Guidelines:

Are you excited to become a credit card processing agent? Do you want to start a credit card processing company? If your answer is YES, then you have come to the right place.

In this article, I am going to teach you ways to start a successful credit card processing company. I am also going to take you through the fine details of planning, setting up, and starting a credit card processing company.

You are going to learn about what it takes to become a successful credit card processing agent, how to conduct market and niche research, how to create a great business plan, how to get funding for your venture, and also tips to run a successful credit card processing company.

It is important to note that when you become a merchant service provider you will be helping corporate and businesses to process payment for their customers.

Your credit card processing services will involve offering the platform and equipment to facilitate the sending, approval, and processing of payments and transactions between customer’s bank accounts and your clients' bank accounts.

What It Takes To Become a Credit Card Processing Agent:

The credit card processing industry is very dynamic, and the success of becoming a merchant services agent is both easy and hard.

There are a few things that you need to know; some of these include having a clear understanding of how selling credit card processing works. You will also need to have deep knowledge of how credit cards work and what they do.

Another overly important thing that you will need to understand is your market and, most importantly, your niche market. This way, you will be able to connect with your customers on a personal level. In addition, you will also be able to create a solid relationship with banks for financial transactions and payment processing.

Market Feasibility and Niche Research

It is critical to note that any successful venture always starts with thorough research. When you want to become a credit card processing agent, you will need to do thorough market research.

Understand the type of services or products you will be offering and where your clients are and their needs.

Make sure that you look at the services offered by your competitors, their rates, and also how satisfied their customers are with the services they get.

The few steps you can take to become a merchant services reseller are to first create a survey on several businesses in your area, determine the most common services they use, and evaluate the satisfaction level of customers with their current payment providers.

Another important step that you need to take is to gather client information, such as phone numbers or email addresses. These details will help you when you start sending out pitches.

Crafting a Comprehensive Business Plan

For you to become a credit card processing agent and be successful in it, you will need to come up with a detailed business plan.

It is okay if you are not a seasoned writer, but you can hire one to do the work for you. Better still, there are several business plan templates available online that you can use.

There are several details that need to be included in your business plan; some of these details include:

  • How you intend to run your venture
  • The executive summary about your business
  • How you intend to raise startup capital
  • Products and services you will be offering
  • Marketing and sales analysis
  • SWOT analysis
  • And more

Ideally, the business plan for a credit card processing company can serve as proof to investors and stakeholders that you are serious about with your venture as the document shows all the strategies.

A great business plan can help you win funding from various investors and banks.

How to Finance Your Credit Card Processing Business

Most business requires a startup capital; the same case applies to credit card processing companies.

To become a credit card processing agent, you need to consider where you are going to get funding to start your venture. You will also need to cater for all the operational costs until you start realizing some profits.

According to research, on average, a minimum of $51,000 is needed to start a credit card processing company.

There are options that you can use to get financing for your credit card processing company, some of these options include;

  • Getting a loan from banks
  • Approaching investors
  • Getting funding from business partners
  • Using your savings or selling assets to raise funds
  • Sourcing some funds from friends and family members.

Launching Your Merchant Services Reseller Company

Once all the above are set up, you can go ahead and launch your credit card processing company. There are other finer details that you will need to consider before you do this. These include finding the appropriate location for your business, understanding the requirements which you must have beforehand, and understanding the manpower needed to run the business.

To become a merchant services reseller, you should fully implement your business plan. The best way is to strictly follow the plan without cutting corners.

Tip: Due to the competitive nature of the credit card processing business, it is critical to ensure that your business stands out.

Put more efforts to stand out among your competitions. The best way to do this is to have a business network. You can reach out to organizations and corporations to widen your reach and customer base. 

Marketing Plan for Your Credit Card Processing Company

  • Just like any other business, a marketing plan is a must. You can do all the above work, but if you don’t come up with an effective marketing plan, you might fail.
  • Take your marketing strategies seriously. The following are some effective marketing ideas that you can use.
  • Use social media platforms to spread the word about your business
  • Reach out to stakeholders, clients, and managers of big corporations
  • Make sure that your business is listed in local directories
  • Use TVs, magazines, newspapers, and radio to advertise your business
  • Start bidding for available contracts

To further increase your reach to potential clients, you can create business cards, flyers, pamphlets, or business website.

Tips To Help You Run a Successful Credit Card Processing Business

In order to succeed in starting a credit card processing business, understand that you will not only be providing requirements and services to help process payment for customers BUT also, you will be selling yourself. As a credit card processor, you will need to clearly show potential clients why they need your services. Show them the benefits they will get from your services. Never seize to reach out to potential customers. In addition, ensure that you do a follow up on those pitches. To simplify the process of becoming a credit card processing agent, North American Bancard provides all the tools you need for a successful credit card processing business.


Best Merchant Services Partnership

If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.

What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?

If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.

Payout dependability

If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partner program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.

Support staff

When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.

Product suite

The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.

Reputation

One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.

Industry specialization

When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.


Benefits of Merchant Services Sales Jobs

When it comes to merchant services sales jobs, there is a lot to love. This is the reason that it is such a popular industry. Merchant services has long been one of the most lucrative and enjoyable fields, but that doesn’t mean it has its drawbacks. For most people, the risk is well worth it to enjoy the benefits that often come along with working in merchant services sales jobs. Here are some of the many benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a career in merchant services sales and use our free tools to find your next merchant services sales job.

Income

One of the greatest benefits of being in merchant services sales is that the income potential is basically unlimited. If you want the benefit of working in a field where your only income limiting factor is how hard you are willing to work, then this is the field for you. In merchant services sales, you are generally paid out on a commission basis. This means that for every sale you make, there is money involved for you. If you are looking for a field where your income can reach sky-high limits, then merchant services sales could be the ideal landing place for you.

Flexibility

Another amazing benefit of working in merchant services sales is the flexibility that this career often allows those that are in it. When you work in merchant services sales, you generally work for your own company or as a contract employee. This means that you are generally able to set your own schedule and enjoy the benefits of a great career while also getting a work-home balance that you’ve always wanted. It is the ideal solution or anyone that values flexibility highly in their work-home life.

Work Life

When you work in merchant services sales, you work for yourself. This means that not only do you have a lot of schedule flexibility, but also that your work life is more pleasant and geared towards how you actually want to spend your day. Instead of being beholden to a supervisor, set schedule, and set of rules that you don’t want to follow, you will be free to run your merchant services business as you please to provide you with a much more pleasant work life.

Rewarding

For some people, it is very important that they feel happy and fulfilled in their career with merchant services sales. In the case of this career field, it is pretty easy to achieve that sense of fulfillment. As a merchant services representative, it will be your job to work with small and medium-sized business wonders to find the solutions to the problems that are holding them back when it comes to payment processing. Through your work, you will be able to help small businesses operate more efficiently and improve their business. This bolsters the economy and helps the backbone of the economy all while providing you with a lucrative and rewarding career.

Finding Merchant Services Sales Jobs

To enjoy all the benefits of merchant services sales jobs, you first need to know exactly what to look for when partnering with a merchant services company to offer their services to your clients. This brief list of the main factors in finding a merchant services sales job with a company that will help you to succeed will give you some of the most important factors to look for in a merchant services company.

Area

Though many merchant services sales reps can work remotely from just about any location, it is still important to consider where your merchant services company is located. Much of this will depend on whether any in-office work is required and what travel is required. If you can work completely remote with the company that you have chosen, then this is not much of a concern at all. You can easily find which area your company has offices in simply by asking.

Reputation

These days, it is easier than ever to learn more about a company and the reputation that they have in the industry. Simply do some online research to determine what others have to say about the company and whether they consider the company to be a good partner to their agents.

Customer Support

One of the most important aspects in getting and keeping merchant services clients is the ability to provide them with high-quality and responsive customer support. Typically, this is the responsibility of the company that you have partnered with to offer the merchant services. Therefore, one of the first priorities that you should have when assessing merchant services companies to work for is their reputation and quality of the customer support.

Payout & Commission

Another factor that you should evaluate when choosing the next merchant services sales job for you is the payout and commission. It is important to select a merchant services sales job that has a high commission structure and is well-known for paying accurately and on-time. It’s important to make sure that they have a trusted payout structure in place so you can ensure you are paid for your efforts.

Our Merchant Services Sales Jobs

If you’re looking for the best merchant services sales jobs that fit this criteria, then you are in the right place. We provide merchant services sales jobs lists and other resources that help you to find an amazing career.


Best Merchant Services Company to Work For

It is easy to become a credit card processor; just file some papers, set up a shop, and start charging high fees from the merchants. And if you are unlucky, you might start working for such companies as an agent and not earn to your full potential. So if you want to find the best merchant processing companies with extremely lucrative offers for both the merchant and agent, then this guide is your best resource.

We will discuss why you need to be careful when choosing the service provider. Plus, we will also provide you details about the best credit card processing company to work with so you can start a merchant services business and see your profits soar. That being said, let’s get started:

Why Do You Need to Be Choosy About the Merchant Processing Company?

There are several issues that you can face with a credit card processor that can shut your business before it even starts. Here are a few problems agents face with many merchant credit card processors:

  • Payment Delays: One of the leading problems that many agents who start a merchant services business face is that their credit card processing company holds payments for too long. Whether for security reasons or for lack of funds, the companies usually pay very late.
  • Lack of Support: Many don’t have good agent support. If you need to inquire about something on an urgent basis, you will either have to wait, or you might not get connected even after several attempts.
  • No System in Place: For many credit card processors, there is no robust system like a dashboard providing agents with insights to their progress, available funds, and active merchants. This puts a lid on the agent’s ability to improve by monitoring progress.
  • Low Profitability: By selling merchant services, agents get commissions and bonuses; however, some merchant processors simply don’t pay very well. Agents get very low payments for the amount of work they put into bringing sales.
  • No Attractions: In order to sell, you need to show some attractions to the merchants like upgraded processing software, low fees, and some starting out gifts, and so on. There are many merchant processors who don’t offer much, which can make it difficult for the agent to pitch the program to the merchants.

Now that you know what makes many credit card processing companies a bad choice, you need to become a credit card processor company’s agent that offers great benefits to both their agents and the merchants. One such company is Shaw Merchant Group.

So What’s Shaw Merchant Group?

Unlike most of the credit card processing companies that offer ‘discounts’ on the credit card fees, Shaw Merchant Group diminishes the concept of fee altogether. That’s right; they help merchants avoid fees! Their mantra is simple but highly effective; they transfer all the fees to the customers that use a credit card facility.

For instance, if someone makes a transaction of $100, and the fee is 2.9%, then instead of the merchant paying $2.9, the customer’s card will be charged for that fee. Now there will already be signage explaining this policy, so the customers already expect to be charged.

It is fair to beneficial to the merchant and fair to the customer because the merchant can now enjoy higher profits while the customer pays a small fee for using the credit card option when they could use cash payment.

Why is Shaw Merchant Group the Best Credit Card Processing Company to Work For?

If you are looking for the best credit card processing company to work with, then you cannot go wrong with Shaw Merchant Group. They have been one of the trailblazers in the industry for over a decade and are backed by well-reputed banks.

So let’s see what they have to offer to their merchants:

  • Diverse Product Range: They offer a wide range of products fit for every kind of merchant. This means you will not have to turn down a potential sale just because you didn’t have the technology they were looking for. From EMV enabled terminals to POS systems and mobile card readers, they offer a range of products for all kinds of industries.
  • Relations With Several Banks: One of the best parts of working with our ISO agent program is that they work with several banks such as Bancorp Bank, Pennsylvania, BMO Harris N.A, Illinois, and Wells Fargo Bank, California, etc. This allows them to work with all kinds of businesses, so you have a huge potential customer base to target.
  • High-Risk Businesses: If your potential customer/merchant is in a high-risk industry like tobacco, they might’ve been rejected by other processors. However, NAB works with such businesses, so you have a whole new niche to target.
  • Extremely Lucrative: Shaw Merchant Group offers a unique credit card processing solution where merchants offset the fee on to the customers, as we discussed above. So even if your potential merchant is already using a processing company, you can pitch them the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save 100% on their credit card processing fee; everybody likes higher profits!
  • FREE Equipment: This is another benefit that SMG gives to the vendors, making it easier for you to pitch to all kinds of merchants. Upon signing up with SMG, the merchant can get a free credit card terminals equipped with advanced software that is already programmed to adjust transaction fee in the customer’s bill. Plus, they also offer free signage to educate the customers.
  • Excellent Profitability and Bonuses: As a merchant services agent, you will get a lot more than 50–70% in residual income. First, you will get a signup bonus that can go up to $20k based on your initial performance. Plus, you get a bonus on the profits generated in the starting months. Your earnings will be multiplied by 14 and can go up to $10K.

Miscellaneous Benefits:

  • A straightforward dashboard to see everything from your profits to the number of active merchants and their stats
  • Receive free merchant services sales training for the services you sell
  • Free ready-made lead generation website to help you attract more merchants
  • Several affordable medical benefits
  • Multiple payment processing platforms including First Data, Global Payments, and the new EPX
  • Up to $1 million funding for merchants

Parting Words:

Now that you know why Shaw Merchant Group is the best credit card processing company to work with, we suggest that you take a step towards selling merchant accounts and successfully start a merchant services business with SMG supporting you.


Merchant Services Sales Training 

Do you want to become a merchant services agent, and you are wondering where to start? You might be convinced that this is what you want to do. It is true that payment processing is a highly lucrative industry, and this makes it attractive. Becoming a successful merchant services agent is not easy because you will need some training to learn how to do this successfully.

The earning potential of a merchant services agent is incredibly high, but to get there, you will need to take steady steps towards attaining success. One of the steps is to seek merchant services sales training. Merchant services have some key pillars that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.

The following are the crucial credit card processing sales training structure that will increase your chances of becoming successful in the merchant services industry.

Learn Quality Partnership

This is one of the most critical concepts that you need to be familiar with while pursuing merchant services sales training. As a merchant services agent, you will need to partner with a merchant services provider. Your partnership needs to be solid in order to facilitate success. We can say that the merchant services provider will be the epicenter of your business.

The provider you partner with should be able to offer reliable payment processing services to your merchants without failing. They should also be able to offer the additional perks and tools that you need in the merchant services business.

Some key things that you are going to learn in the quality partnership training are the ability for the merchant services provider to offer good payment structure, offer prompt payments, good communication & support, the handsome share of profit, regular bonuses and modern and technological tools to help you succeed in your business.

A good merchant services provider you chose should be able to provide all these. You will be closer to your success and business goals if you are careful in selecting a quality ISO partnership. A good merchant provider will help you enjoy great profits as well as passive income from your merchant services business.

Pricing Structure

Another key thing to learn in merchant services training is the pricing structure. In addition to being able to make sales and getting new leads now and then, you will want to be sure of the right way to price your products and services. To have meaningful success in the merchant services business, you need to take your time and optimize your pricing.

A good pricing structure will enable you to have the appropriate profit margin. This will help you to keep on running a sustainable merchant services business. With the right pricing structure, you will be able to raise your income as you grow.

Learning about the pricing structure will help you to do things such as offering discounts, upselling, and many more. For now, the pricing structure may not seem to make a notable difference in your business, but as you start to accumulate hundreds and thousands of transactions, you will note the impact. It is, therefore, critical to fully understand the pricing structure in the merchant services sales business.

In Merchant Services, More Options Are the Best

In training to become a merchant services agent, you need to understand that a good merchant services provider should offer as many options as possible. There should not be limits to the payment processing options your merchant services provider is offering.

This is because if sometimes your customers happen to require something, you should be able to get it from your merchant services provider. On the other hand, if there are limits to options they can provide, then you might end up disappointing your customers.

As a good merchant services agent, you should lookout for a provider who allows access to a wide range of options, such as in payment processing. They should offer credit cards, debit cards, cash, ACH, and more payment processing options. If your provider gives you these options, you can offer them to your customers, and this makes them happy.

Several options mean that you will have the flexibility, and you will be able to offer solutions to your customers without running out of options. This is a win-win situation.

Customer Service

This is an important lesson to learn in merchant services sales training. The customer is the most important player in your merchant services business, and therefore they should be your highest priority all the time. As a payment processing agent, you should strive to keep your customers happy, and if you fail to do so, you will have a very hard time. It might even become very difficult to succeed in your business.

You should, therefore, brace yourself for customer service lessons in payment processing sales training. Customer services training will help you master the techniques that successful salespeople use in order to close more sales. They are always keen on the customer's needs and devise ways to fulfill these needs.

You should be able to attend to your customer’s queries in the shortest time possible. It is also critical to realize that when it comes to customer services, your merchant services provider will also play a key role. This gets us back to the previous point of choosing the right partner. If something happens that is beyond your control, you should be able to reach out to your provider for an effective and speedy solution.

Free Terminal for Your Merchants

For success in the merchant services business, the secret is to have a free terminal included. Merchant love bonuses in their payment processing packages. Note that you will be offering a POS which is designed to increase efficiency in payment processing. The terminal you provide should offer exceptional user experience for the satisfaction of your merchants.

For a strong bond between you and your merchants, you should be providing incentives. This will make them feel that they have the right agent by their side. For increased conversion rates, it is highly recommended that you offer a free POS terminal to your merchants.

You want to be a successful merchant services agent, right? The above learning concepts are the key to success in the payment processing business. Therefore you should ensure that you fully understand these in merchant services sales training.


Selling Payment Processing Services

If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.

We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:

Why is it Important to Know?

Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services ISO agent programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.

Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.

These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.

Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:

There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:

Excellent Earning Potential:

The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.

However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.

There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.

Flexible Schedule:

The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.

You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.

Tons of Surprises:

If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.

Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.

Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:

Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:

Repeated Rejections:

Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.

The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.

Soaring Competition:

Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.

Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.

Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:

Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.

  • Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
  • Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
  • Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
  • Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
  • Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.

Parting Words:

Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.


Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label ISO program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.

We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:

  • Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
  • Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
  • This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
  • When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under the their brand name.

What do we brand?

  • Paper Applications
  • Online Applications (Simplified Enrollment)
  • Partner.PaymentsHub for your back office
  • PaymentsHub for your merchants — It’s generic when your merchant logs in and then show your brand once inside
  • Merchant Support Email — TMS (ticket management system) which emails you and your merchant each time we speak with your merchant and shows the proper brand in the notice and as the from address on the email.
  • Merchant Support Phone — Our call centers answer with a generic “merchant services” then once they have the MID identified, they represent your brand.
  • Deployment Packages — Generic boxes and welcome docs inside with proper brand

What we need:

  1. A letter authorizing EPX to register your DBA on your company letterhead.
  2. A high resolution image of your company logo.
  3. A certificate of good standing from the state you are registered in. It may not be called a certificate of 'good standing' in some states.
  4. The ISO Branding request form.
  5. There is a one-time fee of $7,500. Half is paid up front when we begin the process and the balance is due once completed.

Become a white label payment service provider today and take your business to the next level. If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of payment processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, the SMG white label program might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, our white label program will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.

Our white label ISO program has a history of competitive commissions, favorable commission structure, superior products, and sales support for our ISO partners.

For anyone with a sales background or a passion for the payments industry, SMG is the ideal white label ISO program. There are dozens of reasons to become a white label payment processor with Shaw Merchant Group, but don’t just take our word for it. Here are some of the top reasons that we were given when we asked our white label participants why they chose us and why they continue to work with our highly lucrative program.

Sales Partner Portal

With our industry leading partner portal, you’ll have access to online enrollment, training sessions, marketing materials, and you’ll always be ahead of the game with the latest news and promotions.

Alerts

Stay up-to-date on merchant issues and their resolutions via automated emails and text messages that include a detailed ticket number describing what the merchant’s concern was and how it was resolved.

Registered DBA Program (White Label)

With our program, you’ll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.

Free Equipment for Your Merchants

Selling businesses on a new processing plan is much easier when you are able to effortlessly jump over the hurdle of the cost of the equipment. With this program, you can offer your clients free POS terminal equipment that they will need for their processing provider change. This lowers the barrier to switching and creates a higher conversion rate for you.

Lifetime Passive Income

You will recieve 50–70% of residual income based on the pay structure you select. You will share income on every available revenue stream. With SMG, you get a True Interchange Revenue Split. Unlike other merchant white label partner programs, there is no basis points off the top for BIN sponsorship or for what they call hidden losses. Our sales partners earn more residual income with our 50/50 partner program than you would with our competition who claim to offer a higher percentage because thier interchange cost (buy rate) is higher.

$20K Performance Bonus

We offer a performance-based fast start bonus that is payable for anyone that onboards more than the standard threshold of clients in the first 4 months. This program is designed to reward those experienced sales members that join our team and quickly learn how to sell this product. The bonus can reach up to $20,000, making it one of the most lucrative and competitive in the industry.

Profitability Based Bonuses

We will look at how much profit is generated on the account after they have been processing for one month and you earn 14 times of the total profit. Example: If we retain $100 in residuals in that month, the bonus would be 14 x $100 or $1,400. You would have already been paid $600, so we would pay you an additional $800 on that account. This bonus is capped at a max of $10,000 per merchant per location. With our dual pricing program it is easier than ever to earn huge bonuses with a 14x profitability bonus. This dual pricing model enables you to maximize your bonus at $10,000 on almost every merchant processing over $90k..

Dual Pricing Program

When you are selling merchant services, one of the best assets of any partner program is more rewards and incentive programs that save your client money. The Edge dual pricing program is one of the hottest new commodities in credit card processing, as it is designed to save the client thousands of dollars in credit card processing cost, instead passing on the fee to the consumer in a way that isn’t damaging to their own conversion rate and revenue. We offer this program to our clients and make it easy to understand and present for our sales partners.

Medical Benefits

With some sales jobs, you don’t even have the option for medical coverage. With the SMG white label merchant services ISO program, you’ll have the resources that you need to provide healthcare coverage to you and your family at an affordable rate. We take care of our own, and when you are in our program you will have access to these benefits.

Payment Processing Rate & Fee Structures 


Demystifying Credit Card Processing Fees: The Benefits of Interchange-Plus Pricing

For many merchants, credit card processing fees can be a source of confusion and frustration. The lack of transparency in traditional pricing models often leaves business owners in the dark about the true cost associated with credit card processing. Fee transparency is essential for merchants as it empowers them to make informed decisions about their payment processing partners. By better understanding the credit card fees they are paying, they can:

  • Accurately Predict Expenses – By knowing the exact fees associated with credit card transactions, merchants can better forecast their financials and manage budgets.
  • Compare Processors Effectively – When fees are clearly presented, it's easier for merchants to evaluate different payment processors and select the best fit for their business.
  • Negotiate Better Deals – Armed with a comprehensive understanding of fees, merchants can negotiate more effectively with payment processors to secure lower rates.

Interchange-plus pricing is an option that can provide merchants with this much needed clarity to help them make smart business decisions. In this article, we’ll explore what interchange-plus pricing is, how it works, its advantages and disadvantages, and why it's essential to choose a credit card processor that prioritizes transparency.

How Does Interchange-Plus Pricing Work?

Interchange-plus pricing (also referred to as cost-plus or pass-through pricing) is a more transparent and cost-effective model for merchants who process credit card transactions. This pricing structure separates the fees into two distinct components – the interchange fee and the markup fee.

  • Interchange Fee – The interchange fee is a percentage or fixed amount paid to the issuing bank or credit card company (such as Visa or Mastercard). These fees are highly variable and change depending on a variety of factors including the card brand, card type (credit or debit), whether the card is present during the transaction or not, payment security features, the merchant category code (or MCC), and if the card was run as a debit or credit card.
  • Markup Fee – The markup fee is a percentage or fixed amount charged by the payment processor that the business hired to facilitate the transaction.

This approach allows merchants to understand and predict their overall expenses. It also provides a level of detail that helps merchants clearly see the individual fees for each transaction, making it easier to compare payment processors and understand processing costs. To see how interchange-plus pricing works, let’s look at an example of how this model works in the real world.

Example: Imagine you own a retail store and have a merchant account. A customer comes in and purchases items worth $150.00 (including tax). They pay with a Visa Signature Preferred Consumer credit card. The interchange cost for this card is 2.10% + $0.10, which amounts to $3.25 ($3.15 from the percentage fee and $0.10 from the fixed fee). Your merchant account provider passes this cost to you, and in addition, charges a markup of 0.30% + $0.15, or $0.60 ($0.45 from the percentage fee and $0.15 from the fixed fee). Your total cost for processing the credit card is $3.85, which is 2.57% of the transaction amount.

In this example, interchange fees make up 84.4% of your total processing cost, highlighting the significance of interchange fees in the overall expense associated with credit card transactions.

It’s important for businesses to be aware of some of the misleading practices that some processors use to sell this model. While many providers advertise interchange-plus pricing on their websites, their quotes often only list the percentage-based markup and the fixed authorization fee. As you can see in the example above, interchange fees usually make up the bulk of the total processing costs. Businesses should always validate that the quote provided by credit card processors includes both interchange and markup fees.

Another key point to understand is that interchange fees are set by credit card associations. Some salespeople with credit card processors will claim they can negotiate a discounted rate. This is untrue. Credit card processors have no control over these fees.

The Downsides of Interchange-Plus Pricing

No fee structure is perfect. While there are numerous advantages to using an interchange-plus model, there are some disadvantages depending on the size and type of business that you operate. It’s important to carefully consider the downsides of interchange-plus pricing to confirm if it is the right fit for your business.

  • Complexity – The separation of interchange fees and markup fees can make the pricing model more challenging to understand initially, particularly for merchants accustomed to bundled or flat-rate pricing models.
  • Variable Fees – Interchange fees can vary depending on the type of card and transaction, making it difficult for merchants to predict their exact costs upfront.
  • Processor Markups – While markup fees are typically a fraction of the overall processing fee, processors can still impose high markups on transactions. Comparing quotes from multiple providers can help merchants identify processors who charge excessive fees.
  • Requires Higher Volume – Smaller businesses with lower monthly transaction volumes may not benefit as much from interchange-plus pricing compared to other pricing models, as they could face higher markups.

How Interchange-Plus Pricing Compares to Other Pricing Models

The interchange-plus pricing model isn’t the only option available in the payment processing industry. In addition to interchange-plus pricing, there are three other options that are the most common including bundled, flat-rate, and subscription-based pricing. Here's a brief overview of each alternative pricing model.

Bundled Pricing

Bundled pricing (also known as tiered rate pricing) combines the interchange fee and markup fee into a single rate, often categorized into tiers (e.g., qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified). While this model simplifies the fee structure, it obscures the true costs associated with each transaction and makes it difficult for merchants to compare payment processors.

Example: Imagine you own a boutique and have a merchant account that uses bundled pricing. A customer comes in and buys clothing worth $200.00. They pay with a Visa Rewards Consumer credit card. Your merchant account provider charges a qualified rate of 1.70% + $0.25 for this card, resulting in a total processing fee of $3.65 ($3.40 from the percentage fee and $0.25 from the fixed fee). In this case, it's difficult to determine how much of the fee is the interchange cost and how much is the markup fee.

Flat-rate Pricing

With this model, the payment processor charges a fixed percentage or per-transaction fee, regardless of the underlying interchange fees. Although simple to understand, flat-rate pricing may not always be the most cost-effective option, as merchants may end up overpaying for certain types of transactions.

Example: Suppose you run an online store and have a merchant account with a flat-rate pricing model. A customer places an order worth $120.00 and pays using a Mastercard Platinum Consumer credit card. Your payment processor charges a flat rate of 2.75% per transaction, making your total processing fee $3.30. With this model, the processing fee remains the same regardless of the card type and underlying interchange fees, which could result in overpaying for some transactions.

Subscription-Based Fee Models

Under subscription-based models, merchants pay a fixed monthly subscription fee and a small per-transaction fee, which often includes the interchange fee and a nominal markup. This model provides more predictable costs for merchants, as the monthly fee remains constant, regardless of the volume of transactions. However, businesses with lower transaction volumes may not benefit as much from this model, as the fixed monthly fee could result in higher overall costs compared to other pricing structures.

Example: Imagine you operate a gym and have a merchant account that uses a subscription-based pricing model. A customer signs up for a membership costing $80.00 per month and pays with an American Express Gold Consumer credit card. Your payment processor charges a monthly subscription fee of $49.00 and a per-transaction fee of 0.10% + $0.25. In this case, the processing fee for the transaction would be $0.33 ($0.08 from the percentage fee and $0.25 from the fixed fee). Your total monthly cost for this single transaction, including the subscription fee, would be $49.33. However, as the number of transactions increases, the average cost per transaction decreases, making the subscription-based model potentially more cost-effective for high-volume businesses.

Interchange-plus pricing, known for its transparency and fairness, is often the most cost-effective option for businesses. However, it may not always be the ideal choice, especially for small businesses with lower transaction volumes. It's crucial to compare rate quotes from multiple providers and consider all associated fees before selecting a pricing model. While interchange-plus pricing works well for many businesses, high-volume merchants might find subscription pricing more advantageous. Ultimately, it's essential to explore various options and choose the one that best suits your business's unique needs.

Go With the Credit Card Processor People Trust

In the world of credit card processing, transparency is crucial for merchants to make informed decisions. At North American Bancard, we understand the importance of offering a wide range of options to our clients including interchange-plus pricing. Our goal is to provide you with the right credit card processing approaches to help you take control of your payment processing costs and ultimately improve your bottom line. Contact us today to learn more about our interchange-plus rates and fees.


Flat Rate Payment Processing: Understanding the Benefits

If you are a first-time or small business owner, then you may have heard of flat-rate credit card processing. Every business needs a provider for credit card processing, as it is one of the most important aspects of any business--the ability to accept payments. However, choosing a provider and a fee structure can be a challenge that takes time, energy, and research. If you’re going to succeed, then you need to be familiar with every type of processing service and why they might be suitable for you. One of the most popular services purchased by small businesses when it comes to credit card pressing is flat-rate credit card processing

Flat-rate merchant services has many benefits, but it's not the right situation for every business. This brief analysis of flat-rate credit card processing will give you some insight that helps you decide whether flat-rate credit card processing is the right option for you, or if it's a bad choice for your specific business.

Credit card processing isn’t always the easiest concept or industry to understand

As a business owner, you are already aware of some of the struggles that you can experience when trying to determine a credit card processing provider. It is one of the most difficult things to do as a business owner, especially if you are trying to estimate the cost of accepting credit cards using a merchant services provider. Determining these costs can be difficult, which is why some business owners are drawn to a flat-rate processing model where the pricing is easier to understand.

However, these decisions depend on so many factors that it becomes a time-consuming task to determine which pricing model is best for you. To make it easier, this article will serve as a knowledge base and guide to helping you understand the factors that go into this decision and what concepts you need to understand.

Definition of flat-rate credit card processing

The first important concept of credit card processing to know is what exactly flat-rate credit card processing is. If you’re going to determine if it is the right choice for you, then knowing what it entails is the first and most important step. With an understanding of what flat-rate merchant pricing is, you’ll be well on your way to understanding it at a deep enough level to decide whether it is the right choice for you. 

Credit card processing isn’t free. It costs the merchant a fee to implement and accept payment processing solutions. The variable here is what the cost is. Just like in any purchase, there are varying costs from different providers. Though consumers don’t consider it, it is the reality of being a business owner. In addition to trying to find the lowest fee, merchants also face the possibility that credit card processing fees will vary within the credit processing provider that they choose. 

One of the most significant and common reasons for credit card processing fees to fluctuate is the various fees charged by Visa, Mastercard, and other suppliers for using the card. In addition, there are fees charged by the issuing bank for the transaction and there are a couple more mouths to feed along the way. There are hundreds of services that are involved in this process and each one takes a different sized bite. For this reason, credit card processing fees can often fluctuate and have business owners confused about what they are actually paying to process credit card transactions.

To simplify things and make it easier for the merchant to understand, credit card processing companies have begun to offer flat-rate credit card processing fees. With flat-rate credit card processing fees, merchants are more able to predict exactly what the cost of accepting credit cards will be and forecast that into their profits and margin calculations. It comes with many benefits, but it’s not right for every business.

Benefits of Flat-Price Processing

As you can imagine, there are many benefits to flat-rate processing and that is why it is so commonly used by businesses that are seeking simplicity in their processing arrangements. When you have flat-price processing, there are a few aspects to love about your credit card processing agreement.

Predictability

The first benefit of using flat-rate credit card processing is being able to have a predictable credit card processing fee each month. With predictability in the rates that you are charged to process credit card transactions, you can not only plan your expenses better, but you can also price goods and services better to provide you with a more consistent margin. 

When you know what your processing rate is going to be, the need to fluctuate your item pricing will disappear. You can plan ahead and be sure of what you are going to be charged to process credit card transactions.

Flexibility

When you have a flat-rate processing plan, another benefit that you will be entitled to is the flexibility that comes with these processing plans. With flat-rate credit card processing plans, you often don’t have to get locked into long-term commitments that hinder your flexibility and make it difficult to plan ahead. For small businesses looking for short-term credit card processing or to lessen the long-term overhead for their business, this is the ideal situation.

Flexibility is also a benefit to any business that might be considered high-risk or in general need of agility due to possible changes in the business model, revenue, and other aspects affecting their business.

Simplicity

When you work with a flat-rate credit card processing contract, one of the most important benefits is the simplicity of the contract. As we touched on earlier, traditional credit card processing agreements will often feature clauses, charges, and fees that you don't even have access to seeing the details on. For this reason, in those arrangements, you can never tell exactly what your credit card processing fee will end up being.

However, with a flat-rate processing plan, you can always understand what the fees are and exactly how they impact your business. You can plan to include enough margin for your processing fees and make it easier to understand the implications of your credit card processing agreement

Who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing?

If you are considering flat-rate payment processing for your business, you probably want to know a bit more information about who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing and which businesses should pursue flat-rate processing for their processing needs. It is very easy to identify merchants that are good fits for flat-rate processing because of the straightforward nature of flat-rate merchant pricing

Startups

Startups are the ideal businesses for flat-rate processing because they usually need to have less overhead and a shorter contract. Startups are often young and unstable, so having a processor that is flexible in the terms is ideal. Startups also typically have a lower volume of transactions. Many credit card processing companies have solutions that are specifically geared towards the needs of startups and young companies. 

Small Businesses

Small and local businesses are another frequent customer of flat-rate merchant pricing solutions. This is because small and local businesses typically have a much lower volume of transactions than larger companies and they are unable to attain better rates. In addition, small businesses are slightly more unstable and higher risk than other companies and don’t have the leverage to get favorable contracts with other processing solutions. 

High-Risk Businesses

Businesses that are higher risk industries also tend to use flat-rate merchant services because they are subject to riskier transactions that could lead to increased fees by processing companies. If they are able to get an account with a flat-rate processor, then high-risk businesses typically take that opportunity because it is a favorable situation for them. 

Doing better than flat-rate processing

For some, flat-rate processing simply isn’t a great option. This leaves many wondering if it’s possible to get a better deal than flat-rate merchant processing. It’s true, there are some downsides to flat-rate merchant processing and that is the reason that some choose to pursue other options. It is possible to get a better deal than flat-rate processing has to offer, but there are certain conditions that you have to meet. 

The first condition that you have to meet if you want to get a better deal on your processing than what flat-rate processing has to offer is that you have to be able to do a high volume of transactions. The higher the volume, the better deal you are going to get on your processing. 

Another condition that you will have to meet if you are going to get a better rate than what most flat-rate processing solutions have to offer is you will most likely have to sign a longer-term contract for your processing needs. This means less flexibility, but it is possible that you will get a better rate, though it will be dynamic and subject to change. 

If you are a business that cannot get flat-rate processing or you do a high volume of transactions for an established and long-lasting business, then you can possibly get a better deal by going with a solution other than flat-rate processing.


EDGE Dual Pricing: Cash Discount Program

Are you tired of losing a percentage of your sales to the credit card companies? That’s the cost of doing business, right? Where do you draw the line, though? When does it become too expensive to allow customers to pay with credit cards? You can’t just turn credit card paying customers away – that’s bad for business, so what should you do?

Try the Edge program. It helps ease the financial stress on merchants while rewarding cash buyers with a discount. It’s a win-win for everyone. With Edge pricing structure, every party involved in the transaction benefits. Both the customer and the merchant, there is a lot to love about our Edge program. This merchant cash discount program presents a new way to appeal to customers, incentivize cash payments, and lower the operating costs for merchants. You may have heard of merchant cash discounts before, but this new wave of modern merchant cash discounts provides a brand new perspective and flow to the process that many consider to be a major incentive for paying with cash and supporting their local businesses.

When you use the dual pricing cash discount program, you must make it known that you offer cash buyers a discount on the total cost of the items and customers paying with a credit card pay the full, listed price. This isn’t a surcharge – you aren’t penalizing credit card paying customers. Instead, you’re offering cash discounting or rewarding cash-paying customers.

Here’s an example.

You have a product listed for $20.

John comes in and buys the product for $20, paying with a credit card. John pays $20. Jan comes in and buys the product for $20, paying cash. Jan pays $19.20 because she gets a 4% discount for paying cash.

Benefits of a Merchant Cash Discount Program

When it comes to the Edge credit card processing program, there’s a lot to love from just about every angle. However, as a merchant, you can understandably be hesitant about implementing a process that you don’t know anything about. That’s why we provide an upfront summary of what exactly the Edge program has to offer and why it is the primary choice of so many merchants that are looking to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Lower Processing Fees

The main benefit of a cash discount program is that it results in lower or zero processing fees. While many don’t give a second thought to what the processing fees are on any given transaction, business owners certainly know that these fees do add up and can affect margin in a very real way. When merchants use Edge pricing they are, in effect passing on that processing fee to the customer. Over time, this can save merchants thousands and provide them with a higher margin on their sales.

Discounts for Customers

What customer doesn’t love a discount? Being able to provide every customer that pays in cash with a discount is not only a very marketable promotion, but it helps to make your customers happy. Customers love going to businesses that offer a cash discount because it allows them to feel as if they are getting a good deal and somewhat have control over what they pay at your establishment. When it comes to happy customers, it is very hard to put a price tag on that.

Increased Loyalty/Happiness

When your customers are continuously having positive experiences at your business and are getting to know your establishment as a place that offers a cash discount, that can only help you. This creates loyalty and happiness in your customer base and helps to establish brand and customer loyalty. This is a very valuable asset and it can help to offer consistent cash discounts to your customers.

Easy to Deploy

When you think of implementing a program like this, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and assume that you won’t be able to do it easily. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In truth, it is growing increasingly easy to deploy a cash discount program and with all of the resources that we provide to our merchants, it is easier than ever.

What’s Included in Our Cash Discount Program?

With our cash discount program POS, you will be able to process a wide variety of payments from all major credit card providers. This offers your customers even more convenience and helps to build loyalty time and time again.

Free POS Equipment

Don’t worry about the cost of upgrading to a whole new system--we have you covered. We provide free POS equipment to our merchants to once again make working with the Edge program as easy as possible. When you work with us, there will be very little to be worried about.

Fast Funding

We are known for providing fast funding to our merchants. It’s hard to operate a business when your cash flow is being restricted, and that is why we put a focus on making payments accurate, concise, and fast to provide you with a business partner that you can trust to keep your financial interests at the forefront.

Flexible Contracts

Worried about getting locked into a long contract? Don’t be. We don’t believe in limiting the options of our merchants and that is why we offer flexible contract options that don’t lock you in for years at a time. With the Edge cash discount program, you’ll have options, which are extremely valuable to have when operating a business. You can pivot at a moment’s notice, should you need to.

Easy to Understand

From a customer and merchant perspective, operating on a new point of sale system can be complicated and difficult. That isn’t the case with Edge. We have structured this program to make it as easy as possible to understand and use so that any business can use this program to their advantage.

FAQ

Is it legal for merchants to offer cash discounts to their customers?

According to the FTC, it is illegal to inhibit the ability of customers to pay cash. Therefore, programs like cash discounts and surcharging are legal and encouraged.

Does a processing fee drive customers away?

Studies show that this isn’t an issue that consumers are worried about. Most consumers are happy to pay an additional small fee for the convenience of using their card.

What happens if I don’t like the merchant cash discount program?

We have flexible contract options so that you don’t have to be locked into a merchant cash discount program that you don’t like. We love providing flexibility to our merchants and agents. We’re confident that you’ll love our program, though.

What’s the difference between this and surcharging?

The act of providing a discount for those that pay with cash is different than charging an additional fee for credit card users. This is confirmed by many of the major credit card associations.

Why should I choose the merchant cash discount program?

We have been in business for years and have a reputation for providing the best merchant programs.

What resources do I need to ensure that I’m running this program correctly?

We provide our merchants with all of the resources that they need to implement and operate this program, including POS systems, back-end systems, and signage to notify their customers of the change.


How Does Tiered Pricing Work? An In-Depth Look at Credit Card Processing

Today’s modern business owners require robust credit and debit card processing to manage everything from in-person retail sales to e-commerce solutions with scalable customer demand. Most businesses are already aware they need a powerful payment gateway to manage and accept these transactions but may be unfamiliar that many of the best payment processors on the market offer a variety of pricing models. This is to ensure clients receive the best possible fees, interchange plus pricing, flat rate credit card processing, and more.

While the goal of any reasonable payment processor is to also have a lucrative business, there is a balance that can be struck so owners and clients grow in a fair and balanced way. One of the better pricing models that is available to ensure this support is through a 3-tiered rate structure.

At North American Bancard, we always do our best to keep our clients informed about any decision they need to make concerning service providers. That is why we thought it a good idea to go into more detail about how tiered rate pricing can benefit your business model. By the end of this service page, you should have an excellent understanding of how this structure works, the potential benefits it provides to your business operations, and the possible pitfalls if not managed correctly. So let’s dive in, and don’t forget, if you have any questions, send us a note, and our team will respond as soon as possible.

What is Tiered Pricing Structure for Card Processing?

While most businesses are used to interchange plus pricing and flat rate credit card processing, tired rate structures offer a lucrative alternative. This is a pricing model utilized by payment processes that charge merchants based on certain categories or criteria. That could be the type of card used, method of payment, or risk level of the transaction.

Each tier is given a rate or fee, which is charged to the merchant based on the transaction category. In most cases, these structures have three tiers:

  • Qualified – lowest rate and often includes in-person swipes of a card.
  • Mid-Qualified – tends to cover transactions that do not meet qualified criteria, like cards being keyed instead of swiped.
  • Non-Qualified – highest rate and applies to higher risk transactions like corporate cards or reward cards.

There is some variance in the industry between what criteria are used for each tier, and that can cause some confusion for merchants and clients. That is why you see some providers sticking to flat-rate credit card processing, but at North American Bancard, we like to provide more robust solutions that meet the induvial needs of all our clients.

How Does Tiered Pricing Work in Practice?

Anytime your business allows a credit or debit card as a payment method for services or products, you have to pay a processing fee to the provider or payment gateway. These fees are usually calculated by taking a percentage of the transaction as well as a fixed amount agreed upon before allowing card payments.

For example, at North American Bancard, we start with a tiered rate structure of 1.39% of the transaction amount plus an additional $0.10 cents. This is easy to remember and low enough to make our services highly competitive in today’s modern marketplace. Those fees fluctuate based on the tier of each transaction. So if you plan on having frequent debit card purchases in-person, you save money by using a tiered rate pricing model as compared to a flat rate model.

Still confused? It’s okay. This involves a lot of the nitty-gritty details of business finance and how to maximize each of your transactions, so you minimize risk and increase potential revenue. Let’s get a little more in detail about each tier so you can make a well-informed decision about whether or not it is suitable for your business operations.

Tier 1 – Qualified Transactions

The first tier we need to cover concerns those regular transactions that tend to happen in person or with cards that offer as little risk as possible. This tier provides the lowest rates because it is the most reliable. Payment processors don’t have as much risk to consider because the customer shoppers are physically there, can be confirmed through pins or signatures, and use debit cards more than credit cards associated with corporations and rewards. That continuity leads to more predictability and, thus, lower rates.

Tier 2 – Mid-Qualified Transactions

Mid-Qualified transactions are a tier meant for a little more risk. These may be rewards or loyalty cards that offer cashback bonuses or other features. Most of the time, this includes credit cards on the consumer marketplace or keyed-in payments. Any other transactions that are processed in a 24-hour time period for authorization may also end up in this tier because they require more authentication. While this tier does have a higher rate than the first, it is lower than the next tier, which covers higher-risk transactions.

Tier 3 – Non-Qualified Transactions

A non-qualified transaction is exactly what you think. These are cards that have a bit higher risk when processing. You can consider corporate cards, international cards, or any payments made with a CNP (card not present) type of transaction. As you can imagine, these types of payments carry a much higher risk of fraud and authorization. As such, they are subject to higher fees than the other tiered rate structure options because the processor is also assuming that risk.

What is the Cost of Tiered Rate Pricing?

Remember that every payment processing service is going to be unique based on the banks and stakeholders backing their operations. That being said, there is no “one-stop” unified solution to tiered rate structures. Every processor will calculate how much risk, what they need for profits, and how to remain competitive in the market to develop their own pricing model for fees.

This idea of a case-by-case basis extends to manipulating the tiers. Many processors may blur the lines between Tier 1 and Tier 2 concerning corporate cards or systems like Apple Pay, where a card is not required to be present. Your best bet is to ask questions upfront, read through the terms and services, and get to know your payment processor. We at North American Bancard always encourage our clients to ask any questions they want ahead of time, so our relationship remains as easy and smooth as possible.

It may help to cover what types of rates you can expect from the industry. This will help put the tiered rate structure in perspective and give you a better idea of what you need to account for concerning taking payments for your business.

Interchange Fees

Every single credit card network requires an interchange fee. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover all ask for a fee for every transaction that is processed through their networks. These tend to be small fees and fixed as these provider networks know they are in tough competition with one another and want your business. You will most likely never see these fees as they are paid by the banks issuing the cards and not the merchants themselves.

All these interchange fees are automatically subtracted from the transaction funds. Yes, that does mean you receive less in your merchant account than the price your clients have paid, but it also means you don’t have to handle the fees outside of the transaction. That saves you time in the long run.

There are also interchange plus pricing models that list all fees handled on a monthly statement. This will include any wholesale fees determined by the issuing banks and credit cards, as well as any markup fees determined by a processor. You can expect most interchange fees to hover around 1.15% and 3.25%, with a possible potential small flat rate as well.

Pros of Tiered Rate Pricing:

  • Transparency for merchant records.
  • Flexibility in the marketplace based on your needs.
  • Cost-effective solution for businesses with low-risk transactions.
  • Easy to manage risk based on the style of business you are running.
  • Incentives for you and your customers to use more reliable payments.

Cons of Tiered Rate Pricing:

  • It is more complex than flat-rate credit card processing
  • May have higher costs if you experience a lot of non-qualified transactions. 
  • It can be a bit more unpredictable, depending on your payment policies. 

Is there a Downside to Tiered Rate Structures?

At North American Bancard, we always want to be transparent with our clients to ensure we maintain the quality trust and customer relationships we have spent years cultivating. In that spirit, we should review some of the disadvantages merchants may see with the tiered rate pricing model.

Unpredictable Rates

Some providers may change the pricing model occasionally based on market demand, current economic stressors, or other situations that may lead to lower profits. This inconsistency can be costly if the rates for subsequent tiers shift without notice. Or, if the processor changes what criteria determine what tiers. Good communication between you and your processor is critical to avoid this type of situation.

Pricing Opaqueness

Unlike our team, there are providers out there who will mask or hide the fees of higher-risk tiers. That can lead to drastically high risk when it comes time to issue payment for the services rendered. Even when such processors advertise low rates with attractive fee schedules, you always want to read the fine print. That way, you avoid paying out more than you need to when the bill is due.

The Risk of High Costs

If you want a business to succeed, you need to mitigate expenses. Using a tiered rate pricing model can lead to a much more cost-effective solution for your business. However, if you have a great deal of mid to non-qualified transactions, those solutions become much more expensive quickly. This is why we always encourage clients, especially in the e-commerce realm, to look closely at the tiered rate structure. You wouldn’t want all your transactions to be non-qualified while thinking you are paying the lower rate.

Why Do Banks Choose the Tiered Rate Structure?

Most of the time, banks choose tiered rates because of risk mitigation. Banks assume the liability that the end customer making the transaction will pay their bills. There is some fraud to be worried about here. Things like chargebacks or stolen identity can lead to high bank expenses.

To lower the risk they experience, banks prefer a tiered structure where that liability is shared among all stakeholders instead of squarely on their shoulders. Think of this as a type of insurance policy for the bank to prevent paying out higher expenses in the long run.

What About Alternatives to Tiered Rate Pricing?

There are absolutely alternatives to tiered credit card processing that are available. We’ve discussed a couple already, but let’s do a quick review:

  • Interchange plus pricing: This will include a percentage-based fee for each transaction plus an additional fixed fee. For example, a 1.29% fee on the total transaction value plus $0.10 on end. This is slightly more reliable and transparent than tiered pricing because you know what to expect regardless of the payment type.
  • Flat Rate Credit Card Processing: This is the most straightforward alternative where every transaction is given a flat rate fee. That can mean less money changing hands and lower expenses to the bank and merchant, but it doesn’t account for risk.
  • Membership-Based Fees: As the name suggests, this is when you agree to a subscription or membership with a processor based on a monthly fee for a certain number of transactions. That typically doesn’t include any interchange or network fees from the cards, but it does give you a lot of predictability.

Wrapping Up Tiered Rate Structure Models

While there are some disadvantages you need to overcome that mean the tiered rate pricing model is not suitable for your business structure, it does offer a ton of flexibility for other organizations.

At North American Bancard we take the time to get to know your business and operations. Our team can offer the best solutions fit to your specific needs. Whether that is using a tiered merchant pricing structure, interchange plus pricing model, or flat rate credit card processing, rely on our experts to get you up and running and receiving customer payments. So give us a call today, and let’s find a cost-effective solution for your needs!Q


 

Best Food Truck Point of Sale Systems

For a lot of people, being self-employed is their ultimate dream. They'd love to throw off the shackles of the office and travel around serving people who share their passion for whatever it is that they're selling. Of course, it helps if what you are selling is part of a booming business, and the food industry is certainly growing. While other markets contracted during recent recessions, both the restaurant and the food truck business have seen a rise in sales, and the need for a food truck point of sale system, as people have become more and more interested in convenience. This is a great time to be in the business of food trucks!

So, chances are, if you've just started a food truck business, the sales have been rolling in more or less steadily. Hungry customers are flocking around your mobile restaurant, eager to sample your dishes in the middle of whichever random parking lot you're serving today. You hand them the food, and they hand you cold, hard wads of cash in return...except when they don't. 

“Oh, I'm sorry,” says one of your customers, her tone apologetic, if a bit nasally. “Do you take cards?” 

That is the question, isn't it? Well, do you? Nowadays, cashless is the way, and if you're only relying on the old locked metal cash box with a couple of rolls of coins thrown in, you're probably missing out on a lot of potential sales. Yes, you can just get an old school stand-alone credit card machine and try to keep track of a million sheets of receipt paper (“Merchant's Copy!”) like they did back in the days when people need to swipe their little magnetic strips—but things are a lot different now, and in the complicated society that we live in, you're going to want a point of sale system to keep track of sales—both cash and electronic—and to give you some idea of what kind of inventory you used up. The more volume you expect to sell, the more urgent it is to have a POS.

Now, maybe all of the dirty specifics are what have you procrastinating and leaving that old school “cash only” sign outside your window. Maybe you're just confused. Maybe you don't know which food truck POS system to choose for your business. Luckily for you, we're about to clarify things a little; let's take a look at the best POS systems, what they can do, and whether they might work for your business:

Square

This is the most bare-bones, simple solution if you're looking for the function of a POS without having to learn a complicated interface or pay a huge monthly fee. In fact, Square does not charge a monthly fee at all, and instead takes a small percentage of your revenue. It requires minimal hardware as well, and all you need is a small peripheral that you attach to your smart phone, and from there you can use the Square app to take people's credit card payments. This simplicity and low upfront cost is probably why Square is so popular with people who sell food out of trucks or carts. It requires hardly any capital at all to get started.

Though it is an excellent payment processor that is very inexpensive for those who are just starting, keep in mind that it is extremely basic on the POS side of things. It will calculate tax and other factors, keep track of sales, and offer a few nice stats to look at here and there, it is not as extensive as other systems. If you want something more complex and feature-rich, you may want to look elsewhere. 

Revel

If you're looking for something that offers better analytics and that can be used to track your inventory as well, you might want to look into Revel. Built specifically with the restaurant business in mind, it won't cost you too much to set it up for a single terminal, and it has a lot of features that other POS systems don't have. For example, it integrates with social media and can be set up to notify your followers of where you are so that they can come find you. In addition, it's a very flexible kind of software that doesn't require any sort of proprietary equipment to use; most kinds of cash registers will do just fine. It may not be the cheapest POS system around, but it is a very high quality choice with a lot of extras. 

ShopKeep

If you're looking for value, ShopKeep has it. It's not as cheap as Square, but for the amount of functionality it offers as a fully-functioning POS, you can't really find anything on the market that will beat it. It has everything: The ability to modify tax rates depending on where you are, the ability to print and edit receipts, the ability to create gift cards, among many other features. You can also use it to track your inventory, as you can with Revel, and much of your information is stored on the company's own servers, so you don't need to be tied to a specific machine to view your stats. They're a bit more picky about hardware than Revel, but luckily it can easily integrate with iOS, so that may not actually end up being a problem for you. 

Another nice feature of ShopKeep is that it doesn't require you to be constantly connected to the Internet, which is great during those times when you're either far away from WiFi or when your 4G Internet cuts out. Once you are connected again, it simply syncs as you would expect. 

Now that you have a basic understanding of three of the most popular POS systems for food trucks, hopefully you can move forward and make an informed decision about what sort of set up is right for you. Sometimes it's best to start small and work your way into a more complex system, but of course this depends on what your goals are as well. Good luck!


Best Point of Sale System for Your Gafe' or Coffee Shop

Have you just opened your new coffee shop or café business and the customers are already pouring through the doors every morning? Congratulations! You know what you need now? A decent point of sale system to go with that cash box. You may love being a traditional little café and you might even think you're too small to need any kind of fancy equipment, but as you grow you're going to be glad to have a coffee shop POS system. Point of sale systems can not only help you keep track of how much you made, give you helpful stats on how your sales are doing, and help facilitate credit card transactions, but they can also keep track of your inventory so that you know what kind of supplies you will need next time you go to pick up your raw ingredients. The great thing about a POS is that it will help you stay organized, and you will never have to worry about where you left your scattered pile of receipts because you can always just print a new one.

Since the last thing you want is a Cafe' Shop POS system that is too complicated or that won't fit your needs, let's take a look at one of the best point of sale systems that you can use precisely for a small, brick-and-mortar business like yours: 

PayAnywhere Smart POS+

What's so great about the PayAnywhere PAX E700 Smart POS+? Well, just about everything, but there are some main features that make it perfect for a business that's just getting started or that needs to finally get organized: 

Easy to Use: Not a computer wiz? Why would you need to be? You're in the café business after all! If tech support is something you simply don't want to deal with (or pay an arm and a leg for), then this is the kind of POS you want at your restaurant. It is extremely easy to set up and includes a wizard that will do all of the heavy lifting and help you to get started. Updating can also be a hassle with most modern operating systems, but you won't have to worry about that with the PayAnywhere Smart POS+. It takes care of the updates automatically so you don't have to fiddle with anything to get the latest security features installed. 

Customizable: Your business is unique, so the interface on your coffe shop point of sale system should be, too. Luckily, the software that runs on these machines is very modular and you can add or remove elements from the screen easily at your leisure. This means that if you have a very simple menu, you don't have to suffer from an overly-busy screen if you don't want to. It also means that you can use trial and error to determine what kind of interface is most efficient for you and your employees. 

Advanced Technology: You want the most advanced software for your store, and thats exactly what this POS is running. The system is cloud-based, so you'll have the convenience of being able to keep an eye on sales and other figures whether you're at your coffee house location or need to step out to address your latest emergency. If you lose Internet access for any reason, though, don't worry: this system is still capable of storing information locally, and it will sync with the cloud as soon as you're re-connected, so you'll have the best of both worlds. This POS is also capable of taking several different payment methods, including cash, credit card, and Apple Pay, so you'll never have to lose a sale simply due to an inability to take your customer's money. 

Great Hardware Overall: This is a very modern, very sleek and well-designed POS system that you'll be proud to have sitting on your counter-top. Unlike the old, bulky registers of yore, this system is thin and easily portable, and uses and extremely intuitive touch interface. The screen even twists around to face your customer so that they can sign off during a credit transaction, and it's just as easy to read and comprehend for them as it is for your employees as it mirrors the mobile interfaces that most of your customers will already be used to. The screen is just about the size of a large tablet at over 13”, so it's certainly big enough to to comfortably use, but not so big that it takes over your counter space. Don't worry about keeping your customers waiting, either, since this system is really fast. It uses a flash storage system rather than the old style of hard drive, so all of your orders can be taken and stored quickly. 

Great Support: As mentioned, the interface is extremely easy to use, but as with any kind of technology things can certainly go wrong. If you find that you need tech support, the company will provide it 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, so you never have to worry about being caught in a tight spot because they are always there to help. Another nice aspect of their support is that if your credit card processing equipment ever actually physically breaks, they will replace it for you for free. 

Low Cost: Shaw Merchant Group offers a few different solutions, but the PayAnywhere Smart POS+  is the best value. It's one of their cheapest, costing only a small monthly fee (currently less than 40 dollars) to serve a small company with a few employees. Best of all, there is no upfront cost. For just a bit of pocket change practically, you can be up and running immediately, using some of the most advanced POS technology. There are many costs to not organizing your business properly, and considering how much this POS could save you in terms of time and labor, it will pay for itself many times over. So if you're looking for a POS that can serve you and your customers at your coffee shop, the PayAnywhere E700 Smart POS+ is certainly one of the simplest, easiest, and cheapest point of sale system options out there.


Best POS Systems for Nail Salons

There's nothing that makes a woman feel more beautiful than having her nails done at a salon. If you're in the business of providing manicures and pedicures for eager customers, then congratulations, because nail salons are often very profitable endeavors. Perhaps you are working as a nail technician for someone else and you are looking into starting your own shop, or maybe you already run your own business and are wanting to get organized. Regardless, if you are running a nail salon, an invaluable tool for getting things done efficiently is having a salon POS system that matches you well. 

You may feel inclined to do things primitively with just an old cash register and a credit card, since your business is mostly service-based and may not include the amount of inventory that you might find in, say, a grocery store. However, every business is the same in that staying organized and having a way to get a bird's eye view of your effectiveness is invaluable. A proper nail salon POS system will allow you to keep all your records digitally, analyze data such as sales and inventory, and of course take your customer's money in an integrated and hassle-free way. 

Lots of people assume that salon POS systems with these kinds of capabilities have to be complicated or expensive, but they really don't. Let's take a look at a few options that you might try for your nail salon, to help you get a better perspective of the costs and functionality of a few popular pos systems:

Square

You may have heard of square before, and indeed it is a great, if simplistic POS-esque solution. They provide a way to take your customer's money and also provide great analytics, and they have no monthly fee, which makes the popular with many small startups who don't have any money to invest in either higher-end hardware or in a monthly service fee. 

Though you may associate them with businesses like food trucks, Square has some salon-specific and beauty shop-specific solutions that might work well for your niche. However, there are a few downsides: Since they take a percentage of every transaction as their fee, this may not be ideal if you have higher sales volume; it may make more sense to find a POS with a simple monthly fee. Also, Square tends to rely on hardware that you already have such as your tablet or phone, so if you want a simple, all-in-one point of sale system, then Square is probably not it. 

Vagaro 

This salon and spa POS system offers all kinds of features that you may find useful for your nail business. In a lot of ways, it is more than just a POS: It allows you to track your customers' purchases and keep a dossier on their personal history with your salon, provides analytics, and handles online booking and confirmation. If you want to start a newsletter for email marketing purposes—which is an invaluable technique for keeping long-term customers and sending them promotions—it can also help you with that. You can buy different kinds of hardware packages from them for your point of sale system as well, and while they are not expensive, they do require an upfront cost. If you're looking for something that doesn't require this upfront investment, you might want to go with another company. 

Harbortouch 

Currently, there is no salon-specific software from this company (though it is in the works and the company is growing), but Harbortouch certainly makes up for it in affordability. For very little or no upfront cost, you can have all the hardware and software you need to get a great quality POS set up in your shop, and the monthly fees associated with the service are rather low. A few of its major benefits include customizability, a wealth of analytics, and the fact that all of your reporting is not only available locally on your machine, but is also stored on the cloud, so that you can review your stats remotely and you never have to worry about losing your information should your hardware fail. 

There are two main POS systems from this company to choose from, and they are the Harbortouch Echo and the Harbortouch Elite. The Echo is a great choice if you are just starting out and don't have too many employees; it's also the more immediately affordable of the two. Even though it's available for a surprisingly inexpensive monthly fee, they certainly did not skimp on features: It has an intuitive touch screen design whose home screen elements can be customized to your taste. Its interface is very easy to learn and training is included with the package. It includes great reporting and organizational tools, and you can access all of these remotely. 

The Elite is a bit of a different animal, even though it includes all of the features of the Echo and more. With the Elite, you can further customize your software to make it even more specific to your business, and the hardware is extremely powerful. If you want a POS with a fast processor, and plenty of storage capacity, as well as the ability to control your own user interface experience down to the little details, this is a good choice. It's not even that expensive, so it's definitely worth considering if your business has grown past its initial stages. 

As you can see, there is lots of choice in the world of salon and spa POS systems for nail salons, and these certainly aren't your only options. In a lot of ways, it's not about trying to find the system that is “best,” but trying to find the one that works well with your situation. Whether you want to go with something incredibly simple like Square or you want to get a POS with the capacity to handle just about everything like the Harbortouch Elite, it's a good idea to look into getting some kind of system to handle your sales. Even just the convenience and cost-savings of having digital records stored from the beginning can save you a lot of headaches during tax season.


Best POS Systems for Liquor Stores: Convenience Store Point of Sale System

Running a liquor store can be complicated, with all the licensing requirements and other red tape that you frequently have to deal with. You know what doesn't have to be complicated, though? Your liquor store POS system. There's no reason to make life more annoying when nowadays there are retail point of sale systems that can track your sales, track your inventory, and handle all of your cashless transactions for very small monthly fees and often no upfront costs for the hardware. Many of these systems also mirror your data on the cloud, so that you can access all of your records remotely without a hitch. Imagine being able to print receipts anywhere or examine your sales numbers while you're sitting on the beach somewhere and your business is trucking along without you. 

Now, you may be thinking to yourself: “There are so many choices. Which POS is best for my liquor store?” If you're just starting out or even just looking to reorganize, you can't really go wrong with the PayAnywhere Smart POS+. This is a POS with many features that work well for liquor stores, and in fact this company offers software that specifically caters to a variety of niche businesses, including wine and spirits. Let's take a look at some of the major benefits: 

Tracking and Analytics

You need to keep track of what's going on in your business, or else you will never see the sort of margins that you are looking for. Selling spirits can be a very competitive business, so you always want to be checking up on what sells best in order to increase your ROI. The PayAnywhere Smart POS+ allows you to remotely access all of your information, so even if you have to go away for awhile, you can keep on top of the numbers. Another problem that you may face while running a liquor store is keeping track of all of the inventory. There are many different brands and varieties that you will have to keep an eye on, and this is hard to do manually. By letting a POS handle this, you will be able to know ahead of time when you are running out of key inventory so that you don't have to miss out on valuable sales. In addition, this allows you to keep an eye on what is flying off the shelves more quickly, so you can concentrate on your bestsellers more. 

Customization

Every business has different needs, and liquor stores will vary by local tastes and regulation. You need to be able to customize the interface of your POS to suit your needs, and this is one of the places where the PayAnywhere Smart POS+ really shines. You can switch things around very easily and intuitively so that you or your employees can always find what you are looking for. For example, if you want to save time, you can choose to display your best-selling products prominently on the interface. The PayAntyhere Smart POS+ will cater to your specific needs, and they have many different software packages to offer that will make your POS's interface suit your business better. You can choose their custom liquor store software and this will make things a lot easier for you. 

Hardware

The PayAnywhere Smart POS+ really delivers when it comes to hardware, since the processor used in this system is blazing fast. Don't make your customers wait more than they have to; get a POS that will work its magic not only quickly, but reliably. You don't want slow-downs and break-downs to throw a wrench into your business and frustrate the people who are keeping it alive. In addition, the all-in-one POS system is a real winner when it comes to storage capacity. Though all of your data is backed up on the cloud, you can expect to be able to hold tons of records locally, so you will always have access to the information that you need, even if your Internet decides to cut out. 

Support

Shaw Merchant Group is known for their 24/7 support, and they are a very attentive company to work with. You don't have to worry about being left with a mess should anything go wrong—and things will occasionally go wrong whenever you are running a business. They guarantee their products as well, and will replace them if they ever break; it's nice to not have to come out of pocket for a hardware failure or a similar issue. 

As you can see, the PayAnywhere PAX E700 Smart POS+ is a top-of-the-line credit card processing machine. It is Shaw Merchant Group's best free point of sale system and can be customized to suit a number of different business styles, while still having extremely powerful hardware that will help you ring up your orders as fast as your employees can take them. 

Now, maybe you're not ready for the “big leagues” yet, and are looking for something a little less fancy for your small business. This is totally understandable, and it's why Shaw Merchant Group offers the PayAnywhere Smart POS+, a POS system that is perfect for those who need something bare-bones, but still powerful. Best of all, the analytics are still there, the support is still there, and you can customize the interface of your POS as well. It's also available for a very small monthly fee, so you don't have to worry about upfront costs cutting into your early profits, and you can reinvest all of those savings right back into your business. You can always upgrade to the Custom POS System later if you find that you've outgrown the PayAnywhere Smart POS+. 

There are a lot of things to consider when getting a point of sale system for a liquor store, but the PayAnywhere Smart POS+ is a great choice, if for no other reason than its liquor-store specific software package. It doesn't hurt that the hardware is top-notch and that the support is constant, too. When you're looking for a POS, you want something that's not going to add needless complication, but which will instead simplify your business and make it easier to keep track of your affairs. Regardless of what stage your business is in, Shaw Merchant Group has a convience store point of sale system that will probably fit your needs.


Top 3 Point of Sale Systems Specifically for Gun Stores

When you're selling guns, there are a lot of variables that you have to keep in mind when setting up your business. There's a potential for more bureaucracy and legal concerns when you're opening up shop, and so it becomes that much more important that you keep your records as organized as possible. In addition, just like any other kind of retail store, you're going to want to give your customers the best experience possible, by making it easy for them to buy using a variety of methods. You're also going to want to give them an easy-to-use interface when it's time to sign the payment screen and go through the usual motions of a purchase. You're going to want a quality POS that can help you run your transactions smoothly, that can keep your records for you, and that can help you get a good idea of your sales trends through some kind of integrated analytics. 

On another level, you also have to worry about your bottom line. Way too often, gun store point of sale systems can be prohibitively expensive, whether because they run using expensive proprietary software or because the hardware that they use is specialized and high-cost. Thankfully, lately there has been an emerging generation of good quality, yet efficient affordable POS systems that work well for just about any business and don't cost an arm and a leg to get started. Some of them even provide a slew of extras that you may not have expected. Let's take a look: 

AimSi

With a software package that is specifically geared towards owners of gun and archery shops, AimSi handles a few different functions besides serving as a basic POS system. It will keep track of your inventory, help keep records for ATF compliance, and keep schedules for firearm-related classes that your shop may provide. In addition, it offers ecommerce solutions as well, so that you can have an online store along with a brick-and-mortar setup. 

This is a fairly simple option with easy software to learn and plenty of support, but it does have an upfront cost of hundreds of dollars. In the grand scheme of things, that's really not that much, but if you're not ready to pay that kind if money, or you simply want a better deal, then there are certainly other options. The draw here is that there are so many gun shop-specific features to this POS, but you might find that these aren't completely essential for you, especially if you're small and just starting out. 

Gun StoreMaster

Like the name implies, this is an overall solution for most of your gun store needs. It is much more than a POS, and in fact you could say that its gun store point of sale system features are actually a small part of this software package. Mostly, this software takes on the critical tasks of a gun store; for example, it will help you with the creation of a Bound Book for ATF compliance, and it will also help you create the paperwork that you need if you find that any of your inventory has been stolen. It will enable you to track your inventory as well as help you comply with the law in various ways; this is invaluable when you're a small operation in particular because it can get easy to be overwhelmed by all the bureaucratic requirements. 

Now, the POS portion of this software solution is based on QuickBooks. It integrates more or less seamlessly with the other Gun StoreMaster software, and any inventory that you add on the Gun StoreMaster end will automatically apply to the QuickBook's POS inventory list. It's a fairly inexpensive solution and is meant to keep things simple for your business. 

Revel

Revel is one of the newer POS players, and it's one of those modern cheap POS systems that seeks to be minimalistic and give the customers a completely integrated point of sale system, using inexpensive and familiar software, all for a low monthly fee. Though Revel doesn't have software that's specific to a gun store and its unique requirements, it's one of those very basic solutions that is narrow in its functions. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it can be a very good thing because it can save you a lot of time on training and potential technical problems. 

Revel offers the usual things you would expect from a POS: It will take the customer's money, and it will keep track of sales as well as inventory. If you need to get an idea of your business trends, there are also reports that you can view of sales data, among other things. All of this software runs easily on hardware that you may be quite accustomed to already, like the iPad, and it is very much an example of the modern trend of POS systems. You can choose different specialized software packages to customize your interface and functions to an extent, but—as mentioned before—there is no customization specifically made to accommodate a gun store, so you may find yourself just using a basic retail model. 

Regardless, Revel is not a bad choice thanks to its security, which is something critical when you're dealing with a gun store. The support is top-notch as well, and you will always have someone to turn to if things go South on the technical end. You might want to give this POS company a try, especially if you're a smaller business that needs a more simple solution. 

Starting any sort of business can be overwhelming, but it's especially difficult when you're dealing with a business like a gun shop, where not only do you have to worry about keeping the customer happy, but you have to worry about complying with a myriad of ever-changing laws. Whether you are only selling firearms, or you are also providing classes on their use, or rentals for your shooting range, you will need a high quality POS system, so remember to do your research well; the list above is not a bad place to start.


 

With Shaw Merchant Group, small and medium-sized businesses get free, state-of-the-art credit card readers and free credit card processing equipment. We offer a variety of payment solutions (wired, wireless, mobile and online) to meet your business needs. Plus, we’ll ship your card reader to you and help you get it up and running, all for no extra charge. Why? Because when your business thrives, so does ours.

Free Countertop Terminals

Our free credit card terminals connect over the phone or Internet and provide all you need to accept all the ways to pay.

Free Wireless Terminals

For merchants on the move, a wireless credit card reader gives you added flexibility to accept payments without a cord.

Free Mobile Terminals

For businesses on the go, our card swipe device turns your smartphone into a credit card terminal to make a sale anywhere.

Online Processing

Perform the same functions as a physical free credit card machine through our secure, web-based terminal options.


 

PA PAX A920 Smart Terminal

This all-in-one device combines the convenience of a fully equipped terminal with the advanced functionality of the Payanywhere software.

  • A 5" touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • PIN debit.
  • Built-in receipt printer.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app! 
  • Free Credit Card Machine.

The Payanywhere Smart Terminal is the ideal solution for merchants who want to replace traditional terminal processing and for merchants looking to add a little mobility to their payment acceptance experience. 


 
 

One for you and one for your customer. Redesign the checkout experience with the Payanywhere Smart PINPad Pro. Separate merchant and customer facing terminals allow for safe social distancing while still ensuring speed and efficiency.

  • A 4” merchant facing touchscreen with Android software.
  • A 2.4" customer facing display.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • PIN debit.
  • Built-in receipt printer.
  • Wifi and ethernet connectivity.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free Credit Card Terminal.

The Payanywhere Smart PINPad Pro is the ideal solution for social distancing while still ensuring speed and efficiency. Give you and your customers peace of mind, while still offering full visibility for every transaction.


 

PA PAX A60 Smart Terminal Mini

A truly portable solution. Weighing only 300g, the A60 offers all the advantages of the A-series payment terminals in a featherweight, elegant design. It is paperless, helping reduce your environmental footprint as well as stationery costs.

  • Inbuilt GPS
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • 5" touch screen
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • Built-in thermal printer with 3.14”-wide receipt paper.
  • Multiple accessory ports.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Optional Base Station with fast printer & multiple ports
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free credit card terminal means no upfront cost.

The PA PAX A60 Smart Terminal Mini is the ideal solution for a portable credit card reader for a number of businesses, including salons, pay-at-the-table restaurants, coffee shops, and delivery businesses.


 

PA PAX A600 Smart Flex Terminal

It's a little bit terminal and a little bit point of sale!

  • An 8” touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • PIN debit.
  • Built-in receipt printer.
  • A 4.3" customer facing touchscreen.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Handle for easy mobility.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free credit card machine means no upfront cost.

The Payanywhere Smart Flex is the ideal solution for merchants who want the flexibility to accept payments anywhere in their stores and enhance their customer payment experience. 


 

PA PAX E700 Smart POS+

Transform your countertop with the space-saving, tablet-based point of sale designed for your storefront.

  • A 12.5” touchscreen with Android software.
  • An EMV chip card, NFC contactless, and magstripe reader.
  • Front and back cameras for easy barcode scanning.
  • A 4.3" customer facing touchscreen.
  • Cash drawer connectivity.
  • Built-in thermal printer with 3.14”-wide receipt paper.
  • Multiple accessory ports.
  • 4G and wifi connectivity.
  • Comes preloaded with the Payanywhere app!
  • Free Credit Card Terminal means no upfront cost.

The Payanywhere Smart POS+ is the ideal solution for merchants who want full POS functionality in a sleek and compact design.


 

About Shaw Merchant Group

For years, Shaw Merchant Group has been the preferred partner of those that want more out of their payments processing experience. Shaw Merchant Group is a merchant services company that offers a unique and comprehensive suite of solutions to help business partners around the globe. With our distinguished suite of products and services, attentive customer service prioritization, and a world-class sales staff, Shaw Merchant Group is truly the ideal partner of merchants everywhere and in every industry.

Our Products and Solutions

To provide our merchants with the very best when it comes to merchant services, we feature a wide range of products and solutions that enable us to serve merchants from any industry.

Processing

Processing is the backbone of any business, and without a reliable partner to provide processing for your business, no transactions can happen. We are happy to provide processing services to our merchants all around the world and make it easier for any business ranging from small to large to accept payments and facilitate day-to-day transactions.

Ecommerce

Though in-person payments are not yet a thing of the past, ecommerce capabilities are growing by the day. While ecommerce grows in market share, you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits of working with a reliable partner to facilitate ecommerce payments. We collaborate with multiple platforms to deliver a full-service ecommerce payments package for our clients.

Back-End Solutions

Every business depends on back-end solutions to enable the front-end operations to work. We offer a comprehensive suite of back-end solutions that allow you to focus on what is really important--growing your business. Leave the back-end solutions to us to achieve high-quality, robust solutions that work for your business.

Mobile Payments

Mobile payments are becoming more relevant and necessary with each day. To facilitate these new kinds of payments, you need a partner that you can trust and one that has years of experience adapting to change. Shaw Merchant Group has been that partner for so many clients and we are ready to be that partner for you, as well.

Customized Solutions

Need something that you haven’t seen listed yet? We offer a suite of customized solutions that are sure to help you succeed in your goals. We work with companies on a daily basis to create solutions that are specifically designed for their needs and we’re ready to do it for our business too.

Why Choose Us?

Shaw Merchant Group has been the preferred partner of hundreds of clients for many years. Here is why they continue to come back to us time and again for their merchant services needs.

Experience

When it comes to experience, we are unmatched in the industry. We have years of experience facilitating credit card payments for our clients and guiding them through the complicated world of merchant services. If you are looking for a partner that can not only serve in a business sense, but also be a knowledge center for your business to guide you through the services you need, then we are the right choice for you.

Product Suite

In our years of experience we have also, several times, expanded our products and services offerings to make it easier for your business to get the services that it needs to thrive and succeed. We offer an expansive product suite that is scalable and customizable to address any need that your business might have when it comes to merchant services. Explore our products and services today to learn more about how we can help you.

Customer Service

At Shaw Merchant Group, we will always prioritize customer service. It is one of the most important pillars of our business and the main reason that so many of our clients come back to see us time and again. When you work with Shaw Merchant Group, you’ll be gaining the benefit of a teammate on your side to help address any issue that might arise.

Affordability

With some of the most affordable and competitive rates in the industry, we are the right partner for any business on a budget. We'll help you simultaneously expand your business and reduce your processing costs to give you a distinct edge over your competition. Work with us to discover the benefits of affordable, fast, and reliable processing and what they can do for your business.

How to Sell POS

Learn How to Sell Point of Sale (POS) Systems

One of the most important pieces of equipment for any merchant is their point-of-sale system. As the location through which every transaction that the business takes in goes through, it is important that every merchant have access to a point-of-sale system that is robust, scalable, and has all the functionality that is needed. However, convincing a merchant that they need a POS isn’t the hard part--this is a known fact. Convincing a merchant that your POS is the right choice, however, can be very difficult. To help you get well on your way to selling point of sale systems as a merchant services agent and helping merchants realize the power of a good POS, we present to you 6 actionable tips that you can take into consideration and implement to help sell POS systems.

Why is finding the right POS system important for businesses?

If you have been working with merchants for long, then you already know how important POS systems are to businesses. With this knowledge, it is easy to understand why so much importance is placed on the process of selecting a POS system and utilizing it to its full potential. Each business is unique and while all businesses have the same basic need to facilitate payments, the best way to do so will vary by the business.

For merchants, finding the right POS system is absolutely essential because it will ultimately help to determine what a merchant can achieve with its POS system and whether they will have any limitations. In an ideal situation, the POS system that a merchant selects will not have any negative impact on their business and instead will serve as a reliable addition to their suite of technology that they use in their business on a daily basis.

Be an expert

If you are looking to convince a merchant that they need your POS system, then one of the first things that you will need to do is establish yourself as an expert and a person of authority when it comes to POS systems. This can be done in a variety of ways, but what a merchant really wants is to feel comfortable that you know what you are talking about and you know everything that there is to know about the POS system that you are offering.

If you are hoping to make a great impression on your prospective merchant, then make sure you familiarize yourself with your POS system as much as possible so that you can easily answer any questions that they have about your POS systems and their functionality. With the ability to answer any question that comes your way regarding your POS system, the merchant is far more likely to trust you and find you in a favorable light, which could lead to a purchase.

Nurture a relationship

The next very important part of the process if you want to have success with selling merchant services and selling POS systems is nurturing the relationship between the merchant and the agent. There are a variety of ways that this can be done, as well. You must remember that each merchant is unique and is going to require varying levels of customer service and support.

One of the first ways that you can nurture a relationship with a merchant is to get to know them and their business personally. Not only will this make them feel valued and heard, but it will also give you much more knowledge of their areas of need so that you can address them most completely, earn trust, and ensure that your POS system fits the needs and requirements of the merchant you are working with.

With these things in mind, your merchant should be kept happy and satisfied.

Address areas of need

If you truly want to satisfy your merchants and make sure that they are taken care of and are more willing to purchase from you again, then you need to make sure that you are meeting their needs. You should start each relationship with a full audit of what your merchant needs and make a plan for how you can address it.

With this fuel at your disposal, you can approach negotiations from a position of power and understanding to increase your chance of closing the sale and making your merchant confident that you can handle their needs effectively.

Stress versatility

There are a few properties that merchants look for automatically in a POS system. One of the most important of these is versatility. Many merchants deal with a wide variety of transactions, promotions, discounts, coupons, and other functionalities. With a POS system that provides all of these things, their business will be enabled to operate at its fullest potential. If you need to communicate all the benefits of your POS system, be sure to touch on all the versatility that it has to offer and how it can help the merchant achieve a wide range of goals.

Include services

If you want to entice your merchant to sign on with your POS, then there are a few things that you should be able to throw in without breaking the bank. For example, you could throw in maintenance and upgrades for free as an extra benefit to the POS system. This is just one example of a classic sales technique.

If you have a merchant that is on the fence about investing in a new POS system, be sure to make it known that there could be additional benefits to be had by signing on with your POS system.

Always follow through

In sales, you never want to promise or lead someone to believe something that might not come true. That is because as a merchant services representative, you want to be seen as someone that follows through on the promises and assurances that you make. Without your reputation for upholding the truth and following through on the promises that you make, you will find that it’s hard to keep a merchant signed on with your POS system.

Always be upfront about the capabilities of the POS system that you are selling as well as the potential limitations that it has. With this honesty in mind and a respect for the merchant, you are bound to have more success than if you were to try and hide the limitations of your POS system.

North American Bancard Agent Program is your premire merchant services sale partner to support you as a merchant services sale rep. Contact us today to get more detailes an start your merchant services business with us today!

Exclusive Content By Shaw Merchant Group

ISO vs Sales Agent

In this industry, you will often hear the words “merchant services agents,” “Member Service Providers,” and “Independent Sales Organizations” used in a similar context, as if all three of these things are the same. The truth is that these terms actually refer to distinct roles in the credit card processing business. If this seems confusing to you, don't worry; all of these terms will be explained in this article, as well as their relationships to the credit card associations. We will also go over how you might go about becoming a merchant services ISO or an MSP.

After we've sorted all of that out, we'll go over what the advantages and disadvantages are of working in the industry as each of these roles. Getting an idea ahead of time of what each of these entails will hopefully save you from making a lot of mistakes early on in your business ventures.

What Every Term Means - First of all, let's get everything perfectly clear by defining the terms that we've mentioned so far:

ISO (Independent Sales Organization) – This is basically the ISO credit card processor, the company that serves as the middle man between the credit card companies and the merchant. It will often provide terminals to the merchants, as well as tech support, training, and customer service. Another common term for this is “merchant service company.”

MSP (Member Service Provider) – ISO is a term often used by Visa, and so MSP is basically MasterCard's version of this. They both mean roughly the same thing. However, to make things a little more obscure, MasterCard also uses the term ISO, but it means something different. Basically, in their case, an ISO offers services that are not processing and transaction services, like customer service and lead generation. For our purposes, though, don't worry too much about these subtle distinctions. They are basically the same thing. For the sake of simplicity, let's just assume that we're including MSPs when we use the term “ISO” from now on.

Sales Agent – This role is completely different from the above mentioned roles. A merchant services agent is a third party that sells the services of merchant services ISOs and MSPs. Since merchant services companies often like to concentrate on processing credit cards and offering POS solutions, they will contract sales agents to find merchants to work with. A sales agent doesn't have to pay the high association fees like an merchant services ISO does, but he can't do business in his own name and have a merchant services ISO program with an ISO or MSP company.

What is the Relationship Between an ISO / MSP / Sales Agent and the Processing Banks? - You probably realize that merchant services ISOs are not banks, and that these organizations need banks to ultimately perform the transactions. Every merchant services ISO will need a sponsoring bank, one who is a member of Visa and MasterCard's respective associations. In practice, these banks will usually not take on small merchant service companies, and actually most merchant services ISOs use larger ISOs as intermediaries between them and the banks....... Read More


TOP RATED: Best Merchant Services ISO Agent Sales Partner Programs

If you've done any research at all, you've probably already realized that getting into credit card processing sales field can be extremely profitable. Just about every serious business needs a merchant account, so the number of prospects that you could work with are countless and the market is ever-expanding as the economy recovers.

You might also realize, though,Ã¥ that starting an ISO or a credit card processing company yourself can be expensive, but luckily this is not your only option when you're looking to break into this field. One of the best ways to get into the credit card processing sales industry is to start your merchant service career out as a sales agent. The upfront costs are minimal, and you can learn the business inside and out with a lot of room for growth. It's one of those coveted sales positions where you not only get commission at the time of the sale, but you usually receive residuals for the life of the account.

The key to success as a merchant services agent is choosing the right partner company to work with—this is an ISO whose products and services you will be offering to merchants. Since finding the right sales agent program is so imperative to your future, take your time to consider who will be the best fit for you.


White Label Registered Merchant Services ISO Agent Sales Partner Program

Are you a merchant sales agent or an Indendent Sales Organization that’s looking to make it to the big leagues of the merchant industry; the payment gateway providers? Well, it might require some serious investment to set up a complete infrastructure that can even break your bank. However, there’s an alternative - white label merchant services.

It’s a low investment, low-risk solution allowing you to set up your own payment gateway without having to manage any technical aspects of the payment gateway. Curious? Read on to know more about a regular payment gateway, how a white label payment gateway is different and what main advantages it can offer you.

What’s A Regular Payment Gateway?

Let’s Discuss What Payment Gateways Do:

Before we move towards the payment gateways for white label merchant services, let’s talk about the regular ones to ensure everyone reading this is on the same page. Payment gateways are crucial for every business for credit card transaction processing. When the card is swiped against the machine, the payment is cut and sent through the payment ‘gateway’ to the processor for authorization. This additional gateway ensures the security of customer’s data and the authenticity of their transaction.

Once it’s cleared, the information of the transaction is added to the credit card networks and sent to the bank that issued the card to the user (customer). If everything is correct and there’s a balance available to be charged, the transaction is approved; otherwise, due to any reason, it can get declined.

How Payment Gateways Do What They Do?

Payment gateways equip the merchants with interfaces and tools to collect the information for credit card transactions from the customers. This can be done in several ways. Most of the gateways offer APIs (Application Programming Interface) that enable the websites, business software, mobile applications, and POS (point of sale) device to connect and send transactions right to the payment gateway for authorization.

They also offer virtual terminal abilities allowing credit card info to be input directly in a webpage form, which can then be submitted for a transaction.

You can also find a range of value-added functions in payment gateways allowing merchants to easily manage their business and transactions. These added features can be fraud detection, recurring billing, tokenization, PCI compliance, and more.

Merchant Acquirers & Payment Gateways:

Merchant acquirers and ISOs (Independent Sales Organizations) act as agents/salesperson of the payment gateways by reselling their services to the merchants. ISOs or merchant acquirers employ a team of salespeople and support agents to connect with merchants, nurture them and eventually sell them the payment gateway’s services and equipment like POS machines.

Since it doesn’t really make sense for the merchant acquirers to build and manage their own gateways, they mostly partner with existing payment gateway service providers and get a small chunk of the pie. However, there’s an alternative, providing ISOs or merchant acquirers with opportunities to set up and differentiate their own payment gateway brands. This is where White Label Payment Gateway comes into play.

What’s White Label Payment Gateway?

How does the White Label Merchant Services Work?

With the help of a white label payment gateway, you can get similar features and functions and perform the same duties as a payment gateway provider. However, there are many distinctions and benefit with the white label service. While the regular gateways get into contracts with the ISOs and merchant acquirers to resell their services, white label gateways allow and also prefer the ISOs and merchant acquirers to sell their services as their own with their own branding.

The merchant resellers and ISOs have the liberty to use their logo, play with the branding and color scheme to match it with their own, and service the customers however they see fit.

Advantages of Becoming White Label Payment Service Provider:

If you become the payment gateway provider rather than reselling someone else’s, you’ll have several unique opportunities at hand. As the white label payment facilitator, you can set your own profit margins and actively get your share of the revenue stream. This also means you will have the freedom to set up your very own brand, market it and get visibility rather than living under someone else’s shadow. You will have control over customer experience, and how you want to service them, which means direct customer acquisition.

Here are some more benefits that you experience when you become a white label service provider:

  • You will not have to set up or manage the service by yourself. All the heavy lifting and technical aspects like infrastructure and security compliance will be taken care of for you.
  • You will get access to the shopping cart integrations processor connections of the platform, enabling you to offer solutions to a wider merchant group and take care of their needs.
  • You will get total control over the customer relations, meaning you will establish the rules for how your gateway equipment and products will be serviced and sold.
  • Every effort put in by you and your team into the promotion of payment gateway technology will enhance the worth, reputation, and value of your brand.
  • The use of a white-label payment gateway will solidify your relations with your merchants and put you in the position to meet their needs better.

Who Does the White Label Payment Facilitators Partner With?

First things first, you need to know if you have the kind of business that can benefit from the white label payment service provider. There are four kinds of resellers that will benefit from the white label model the most:

When opting for a white label payment service provider, work with someone having experience and a good track record of working with these business types.

Finding a Good Quality White Label Merchant Services Provider:

To get the most value out of your while label gateway experience, it is imperative that you work with the provider offering exactly what you need so you can meet and exceed the needs of your merchants. To find that kind of service provider, here are a few questions you should ask:

  • Will you get access to their support service, guides, and training materials?
  • Do they have an intuitive payment gateway platform? You don’t want something that’s buggy and complex.
  • Can you rely on their platform? It should have 99.99% uptime; once it goes down, your payments won’t be processed until it's back on.
  • What about the security level of their platform? It should be encrypted with the latest and most impenetrable technologies.
  • Does it sell its services to the merchants directly?

What Branding Can You Do on Your White Label Payment Gateway Products?

You will require a highly flexible platform that allows you to leverage your or your designer’s creativity and customize every aspect of the product/service. You would want to make the payment gateway your own in the truest sense of the word. Therefore, make sure to find out the branding options they have available that’ll allow you to brand payment gateway exactly the way you want. Here is a small list of some things you should be able to make your own:

  • URL
  • Color scheme
  • Logo
  • Marketing guarantee
  • Font
  • APIs
  • Login portal
  • Brochures

Make sure to ask about all of these features’ customizability, so you know what to expect from the white label provider and if you want to go with them.

Types of Merchants to Have on Your Gateway:

If you’re wondering what kind of merchants I can put on my white-label payment gateway, then the answer is; anyone you want. However, not every provider agrees to this, so make sure to ask this beforehand. The payment gateway provider must be able to offer you the liberty to get anyone on board and do business with them.

Some Final Considerations:

You will also need to find out about the third-party integration options, SDKs, and API functionality of the payment gateway. Some more important things to consider are:

• Who will own the website’s domain name?

• Who is going to bill the merchant?

• Who will manage the SSL Certificates?

• What kind of shopping cart integrations will you get?

• How the customer support to merchants will be handled?

• What kind of merchants will you be able to provide a platform to?

Final Words:

Remember, the best white label merchant services will have incredibly useful features to help you crush the competition and get as many merchants on board as you can. This can only happen if you have the freedom to have any merchant you want and your platform is robust enough with tons of useful features that attract them.


Top Reasons Why ISO Partners Choose North American Bancard

Each year, hundreds of merchant service agents choose North American Bancard as the best merchant services company to work for. If you’re wondering why everyone gravitates towards this merchant services agent program, then get ready to have all of your questions answered. Here are some of the greatest benefits of working with North American Bancard’s merchant services agent program.

Accurate On-Time Payments

When you work with the North American Bancard ISO agent program, you’ll be working with a partner that understands the importance of accurate, on-time payments. This will never be a source of stress for North American Bancard sales partners.

14X Profit Based Bonus Structure

We offer a performance-based fast start bonus that is payable for anyone that onboards more than the standard threshold of clients in the first 4 months. This program is designed to reward those experienced sales members that join our team and quickly learn how to sell this product. The bonus can reach up to $20,000, making it one of the most lucrative and competitive in the industry. We will look at how much profit is generated on the account after they have been processing for one month and you earn 14 times of the total profit. Example: If we retain $100 in residuals in that month, the bonus would be 14 x $100 or $1,400. You would have already been paid $600, so we would pay you an additional $800 on that account. This bonus is capped at a max of $5,000 per merchant per location. With our Cash Discount Program it is easier than ever to earn huge bonuses with a 14x profitability bonus. This dual pricing model enables you to maximize your bonus at $5,000 on almost every merchant processing over $45k.

Lifetime Passive Income

You will receive 50-70% of residual income based on the pay structure you select. You will share income on every available revenue stream. With NAB, You Get a True Interchange Revenue Split. Unlike other merchant ISO agent programs, there is no basis points off the top for BIN sponsorship or for what they call hidden losses. Our sales partners earn more residual income with our 50/50 partner program than you would with our competition who claim to offer a higher percentage because their interchange cost (buy rate) is higher.

Free High-End Processing Equipment 

Selling businesses on a new processing plan is much easier when you are able to effortlessly jump over the hurdle of the cost of the equipment. With this program, you can offer your clients free POS terminal equipment that they will need for their processing provider change. This lowers the barrier to switching and creates a higher conversion rate for you.

Cash Discounting Program (Dual Rate Processing)

When you are selling merchant processing services, one of the best assets of any partner program is more rewards and incentive programs that saves your merchant money. The cash discount program is one of the hottest new commodities in credit card processing, as it is designed to save the client thousands of dollars in credit card processing cost, instead passing on the fee to the consumer in a way that isn’t damaging to their own conversion rate and revenue. We offer this program to our clients and make it easy to understand and present for our sales partners.

Multiple Processing Platforms

Even though we still use Global Payment and First Data as our processing platform, we have partnered with the EPX platform. EPX can optimize interchange, which means we can process the same transactions for less. This allows you to save merchants a ton of money and make more money yourself.

Backoffice Tracking System 

With our Sales Partner Portal (Dashboard) you can track your residuals all the way down to the transaction. You will have access to what your merchant paid for a specific transaction, how much the expense was and how much you were compensated. You're able to look at the merchant’s statement for comparison. With 100% transparency, you are now able to check whenever your want so you can be confident in building a profitable portfolio.

Registered DBA Program 

If you're serious about helping your merchants grow their businesses, we want to partner with you. Whether you're interested in becoming a ISO Sales Partner, are already providing merchant services as a registered ISO, or you're a Sales Partner who wants to sell under your own name, NAB is the ISO merchant services partner you want. Our Registered DBA and ISO programs can get you up and running in as little as 2 weeks, saving you thousands of dollars in card brand registration fees in the process.

Marketing Resources

One of the things that North American Bancard Agent Program is known for is providing our agents with the resources that they need to survive and thrive in a competitive business environment. This means marketing materials, frequent promotions, and other tools that help you to have more success and earn more commission!

Customer Support 

North American Bancard’s responsibility and premium services don't just stop at the sale. Build the relationship with your merchants to new heights by providing them high-quality customer support to help them with any issue they are having with the merchant services they are provided.


How to Sell Your Merchant Account Portfolio

Want to understand the process for selling the merchant accounts portfolio? Maybe you want to know the policies of credit card processing sales programs when it comes to deciding merchant account residual buyout? Well, whatever your query is, this guide will definitely solve it.

We will discuss tons of useful things in this article which will help you have a solid and fully secure exit strategy if you are starting your career as a merchant services agent. You will also learn things that will help you sell your portfolio for a better price. So with that said, let's begin:

What is a Merchant Account Portfolio?

If you don't know, your merchant account portfolio is actually the product of your years or months of selling merchant accounts. This simply means that the number of accounts you have sold till now will be in your merchant account portfolio. However, these will only be the active merchant accounts and not the ones that canceled the services for any reason.

We will discuss the merchant account portfolio throughout this guide you need to understand that it is a set of all the merchant accounts that are currently active and earning you some merchant account commission on a monthly basis.

So with that said, we need to understand what goes into selling your merchant account portfolio if you decide to make an exit for any reason. So to know this, you will need to:

Ask These Four Key Questions:

Ask if You Own the Residuals:

To know if or how you can sell your merchant account portfolio, you need to reach out to your merchant services ISO program and ask them about it. You need to ask them that do you even own your portfolio or not.

There are some credit card processing agent programs that do not let the merchant services agent own the residuals in their portfolio. This means as long you keep working for them, you are getting the income, but as soon as you try to make an exit, the portfolio will be taken over by the company.

There will be no one offering you merchant account residual buyout if you decide you leave, and you cannot reach 3rd parties as well. This is what some merchant services reseller programs do, so you need to first ask yours if you can even sell your portfolio or not.

What Will Happen if Something Happens to Me?

If the ISO partner program says that 'yes you can sell the portfolio,' then it's good news, but your job is not over. You will have to further drill them down and ask a few very important questions to ensure you are fully secured and have a solid exit strategy in case you need an exit in the future. So the second question that you need to ask is what will happen to my residuals if something happens to me?

This means if a merchant gets into an accident and is not able to work for a long period of time, what will happen to their residuals? This is important because you do not want to work with someone who doesn't pay you your residuals if you are not maintaining a certain number of sales per month. There are many credit card processing sales programs that will not pay you the residuals if you are not fulfilling their monthly sales quota.

Also, some might even rip you off of your hard-earned residuals if you are not able to perform consistently throughout the months. In this case, you won't be able to sell your merchant accounts portfolio because the buyer needs surety of getting to keep all the residuals they are buying from you no matter how their sales numbers are.

If the processor says; yes, you will own your residuals whether you are working on more sales or not, then ask them to show it to you in the contract. Having this in writing inside the contract will help you safeguard your interests in the future, and you can show it to the potential buyers of your portfolio for their assurance.

What if The ISO Sells Out?

This is another very crucial thing to keep in mind because sometimes the people behind the ISO decide to make an exit and sell their company to a third party. Now, if this happens, you need to be sure that your own portfolio will not be affected by this. Most of the time, what companies do is that they will give you a very low multiple of the total amount you are making per month and give your portfolio to the company that they are doing business with.

In this case, you might get paid 10x to 15x of your total monthly income. So if you are making $10,000 a month and you sell it for the multiple of 10, then you just get $120,000. While the ISO might sell your portfolio for 20x to 25x to the company they are dealing with.

So this is something you need to keep in mind. You have to have it written in your contract that either you will get a good multiple like from 20-30X, or you will get to keep your portfolio even if they sell the company.

Can I Sell It To a 3rd Party?

Last but most important question to ask is whether you can even sell the portfolio to a 3rd party or not. Most of the processors would not allow you to sell your portfolio to a third party and would bound you to sell it to them instead. Now this kind of condition puts a limit to the potential of money you can get by selling your portfolio because getting 10 to 20 bids from people in your industry is better than just being bound to selling for a price that your processor agrees to.

Now we are not saying that you should not work with the Processor that bounds you to sell your merchant account portfolio only to them. There are two key factors that you need to look for to ensure that even if you sell your portfolio to back to the processor, you will make a good amount of money.

  • Merchant Account Residual Buyout Multiple: The way that the merchant account portfolio selling works is by multiplying the total income you are getting per month to a specific number, which can range anywhere from 15x to 30x or even more. It depends upon the quality of your merchant accounts and the monthly income. So if the company offers you a very handsome multiple like anywhere between 20x to 30x if you agree to sell your portfolio to them, have it written in your contract so there are no surprises at the end.
  • Meeting 3rd Party Cost: Sometimes, the processor might not allow you to sell the portfolio to a 3rd party, but they may give you an option to get bids on it from the 3rd parties. Now once you are done getting the bids, you will have a number that will be higher than all other bids. The ISO will then try to meet or beat that number to get your portfolio. In this case, there is nothing to worry about as your future is pretty much safe with them. Regardless of how favorable the terms are for you, make sure to get everything in writing so that there are no problems towards the end.

Understanding the Merchant Account Pricing and Attrition Guarantee:

As mentioned above, the price of the portfolio is decided by looking at different factors like the age of portfolio, the number of merchants, the size of merchants, consistency of income, attrition rate, and so on. So if the portfolio is old, let's say 2 years old, the size of merchants is big, the income is consistent, and the attrition rate is 10 percent then you will get a better price than the portfolio having 1 year age, varying income, and 20 percent attrition rate.

Now when you sell your merchant portfolio to someone, you are selling the future residual payments that portfolio will yield, which you don't know about. So the price will be decided on the current income. A multiple of current income will be offered to you, and you can get paid that amount if you sell.

As for the Attrition Guarantee, it is a guarantee that the merchants in your portfolio won't leave a few months after you sell it. This makes sense because if the buyer gets the portfolio and then most of the merchants cancel, they will suffer huge losses.

So what many buyers do is that they get an attrition guarantee, which means that they will pay a part of income multiple upfront, and spread the remaining over the months or years. So if the attrition rate is under the decided percentage, you will get your remaining multiples.

Over to You:

The things we have discussed above are not covered in almost any of the merchant services sales training, which is why it is imperative that you remember these things from the start.

Whether you are aiming to sell your portfolio later for a good merchant account residual buyout or not, you need to have an exit strategy from the beginning because who knows, plans change all the time.


How to be a Merchant Acquirer vs Payment Processor

When it comes to merchant sales and acquiring, terminology related to payments often causes some confusion. Merchant acquirers and payment processors are not the same thing even though some people use them synonymously. Understanding the difference will facilitate a smoother business process for sales of products and services overall.

How to Become a Merchant Acquirer

Professionals use three terms to indicate the same function: merchant acquirer, acquirer, and acquiring bank. As the last one indicates, a merchant acquirer is a financial institution like a bank that handles sales deposits and can process refunds.

In order to know how to become a merchant acquirer, a bank needs an established relationship with the major credit card companies like Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. They do not process the payments directly but do lend an important benefit to the entire merchant sales and acquiring process. After all, the many needs somewhere to go after a customer or client pays.

Through the card network relationships, merchant acquirers take on a considerable part of the responsibility for accepting payments. These banks uphold all regulatory requirements and rules for financial institutions and the credit card companies they work with. When they become a payment facilitator, they also engage in underwriting and oversight of the merchants connected to them through the payment acquisition process.

A merchant services independent sales agent works to connect sales companies with merchant acquirers and payment processors to facilitate the function of their business. They can help explain the differences between each and find ones that work for specific needs. Payment processing facilitators may even remove more of the complexity than that. First, understand what a payment processor is.

What Is a Payment Processor?

This term seems more straightforward as it describes the exact action taken by the financial entity. A payment processor maintains the technological infrastructure, connections, and security to process all payments swiftly and safely between businesses and consumers. They become a payment facilitator by handling the authorization of transactions and transfer of money between individuals, commercial entities, and banks.

Examples include credit card companies and online platforms that allow members to have accounts like PayPal and Stripe. These payment processors provide both merchant acquirer and payment processor services because they handle both the technical order management and the receipt of money sides of the payment equation. Larger brick-and-mortar banks also offer these types of things to smooth the process for their larger clients. Firms that do both are often referred to as merchant acquirers even though they are also payment processors, too.

When companies use a payment facilitator, they do not need to establish relationships with merchant acquirers or payment processors directly. This simplifies the entire thing and may reduce the risk of ever or security breaches because the payment funds go through fewer processes. A payment facilitator handles both sides of the transaction so the merchant enjoys a hands-off relationship with long list of credit card companies and banks. Choosing one of these services creates a highly efficient payment processing system for digital and real-world sales.


Steps to Become a Registered ISO for Selling Payment Processing Services

Merchant services is a very lucrative and flourishing industry with many possibilities, making it one of the most attractive industries to be in right now. One of the best ways to get in on the fun is to become a registered ISO. Becoming a registered ISO means that you will be authorized to work with a provider of merchant processing services to provide your merchants with the services that they need to effectively and efficiently process payments. If you want to become a registered ISO with North American Bancard, then there are certain steps that you will have to take to make it happen. Here are the various parts of the process that you’ll have to go through if you’re ready to start an engaging, rewarding, and lucrative career.

Benefits of Becoming a Registered ISO

When you are a registered ISO, you’ll be able to gain access to better rates and have sub-agents that earn income for you. Being a registered ISO allows you to expand your network and grow bigger as you attempt to accommodate more merchant partners. As opposed to being a traditional agent, being an ISO is truly the next step in the merchant processing career and a great way to expand your income and your reach.

Steps to Become a Registered ISO/MSP

Becoming an registered ISO can be a very lucrative business and it deals with finance at a high level. Because of this, it is also a very tough industry to crack into and a lengthy and expensive process to gain approval. ISOs must be very trustworthy and legitimate organizations, which is why exhaustive measures are used to verify various aspects of the business and personal information of those that own ISOs. These are the in-detail steps of how to become a registered ISO for North American Bancard.

1) Finding a Partner

The first step of your journey to becoming a registered ISO is finding a partner. Finding a good parent company to have your ISO operate under is a crucial aspect for a number of reasons. Good companies include those that have a positive reputation, give you access to a suite of tools to increase sales, and always pay on time.

When you are finding a partner, there are a number of ways to identify a suitable partner for which to team up with. You should read reviews and talk with other ISOs to get an idea of how the relationship between a processing company and their ISOs is in terms of health, communication, and payments. You can learn a lot of information simply by poking around and asking about others' experiences with them.

If you ask about North American Bancard, you are very likely to hear good things. North American Bancard has long been the gold standard in merchant services and we have been providing our ISOs with quality service, superior support, and better-than-average payment times for years. If you are looking for a company that you can trust to partner with and register as an ISO, then North American Bancard is one of the best decisions that you can make.

2) Application Process

The next step in your process of becoming a registered ISO for one of the most reputable merchant services providers in the world is to do your application. The application is a very important part of this process and as such, much attention should be paid to it. During the application, you will be asked a series of questions that are designed to test your suitability for being a registered ISO. If filled out correctly, you should be able to have a successful ISO application process.

One thing that you should be aware of when filling out the application to become an ISO is that it is a very lengthy and very expensive process. Your financials will need to be investigated and you will likely need to hire a legal team to guide you through the paperwork and process. Be prepared for this.

3) Compliance

If you are approved for your ISO application, then the next step in your journey as an ISO is to remain compliant with all applicable regulations and rules so that you can stay a certified ISO with the right to work with North American Bancard. This industry is quite strict, so taking actions to ensure you remain compliant throughout your time as an ISO is essential. This means that you should keep a legal team on standby to help you with any issues that might arise.

Being an ISO is considered a privilege, especially when you are working with North American Bancard. With an ISO certification, you can spread your agency and ensure that you build a foundation of future earnings on a strong, compliant partnership with North American Bancard.


Best Way to Generate Endless (Merchant) Credit Card Processing Leads

Do you want to get more credit card processing leads but don’t know the best ways to get started? You have come to the right page! To generate more leads, there is a simple formula for guaranteed success i.e., spends time and involves greater investment. But investing money can’t generate leads unless you don’t know how to invest it in marketing approaches. Let’s find out together how to get merchant services lead generation.

The Problem in Credit Card Processing Service Industry for Generating Sales

Some problems exist in setting the appointment and prospecting selling merchant services.

The credit card processing industry is overcalled, and merchants are swamped with calls for merchant services.

Secondly, it is sad but true that most salespersons who call trying to find potential client, do it poorly and waste the time of merchants.

Most of the sale scripts and sales pitches that are used in telemarketing are poor and almost similar to each other. They communicate poorly, or benefits options are so little for merchants.

Moreover, when the merchant recognizes the sales pitch is trying to ask him to switch to the new payment processing services; he loses interest and starts rejecting the merchant processing agent. Who wants to listen to the same old sales pitch again and again about your merchant services?............ Keep Reading


Best Merchant Account Affiliate Program

Do you have a significant online audience that is geared towards business and merchant services? Do you engage thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs on a daily basis? If so, then you might be a great candidate for the merchant account affiliate program. Every day, millions of businesses operate on their selected merchant services. These services are essential to a vibrant and robust economy, as they often power the businesses that we use the most and facilitate transactions to make them easy and affordable for everyone involved. However, some business owners are not always getting the great merchant services that they deserve. 

If you believe that some of these business owners and entrepreneurs are in your audience and you want to point them in the right direction by helping them pick a new merchant services partner while you earn a cut of the profit in exchange, then this is the right program for you. Our merchant account affiliate program provides you with the tools that you need to make your website or content into a 24/7 salesman that earns commissions for you on a regular basis. Read more to find out the benefits of working with our merchant account affiliate program...... Continue Reading


Credit Card Processing Business for Sale

If you’ve put in the leg work required to build a successful credit card processing business, then you are probably at a point where nothing feels impossible. However, to continue growing your business or jump to another venture to make even more money, you will need an injection of capital. Credit card processing client portfolios are great for building income over the long term, but don’t do much for those that want to get a fast injection of capital to build businesses. If you want to get a lump sum or a loan against your residual portfolio, you can do that. All you have to do is list your credit card processing business for sale and get a buyer or lender to borrow you money or give you money against your portfolio assets.

Though the concept is pretty straightforward, you should still learn as much as you possibly can about this process to ensure you do it safely and effectively and that you get what you deserve from your credit card processing business for sale. This guide will go over some of the most important concepts and points you will need to know if you hope to successfully sell your portfolio of residual income.

Preparation Is Key 

If you hope to have success in selling your credit card processing business, then you need to be sure that you have your ducks in a row. This means doing the preparation work and familiarizing yourself with what is possible and what is not when it comes to your residuals portfolio. By going through this process, many credit card processing business owners discover things about their residuals portfolio that they previously didn’t know. This information is vital for anyone that wishes to succeed in selling thier credit card processing business. Follow these basic steps as a launching pad for the sale of your credit card processing business.

Verify Residuals Ownership 

If you want to sell your residuals portfolio and credit card processing business, then the first thing that you will need to do is verify that you indeed own your residuals. Many merchant services agents and owners operate under the assumption that they do--until they see the fine print. Working with certain ISOs and other companies could prevent you from selling your residuals. So, instead of wasting your time pursuing something that might not even happen, make sure that you verify that you are authorized to own and control your residual portfolio.

Selling Your Residuals 

When you are hoping to sell your credit card processing business, you will need to not only ensure that you own the residuals and portfolio you are looking to leverage into cash, but also that you have the right to sell that portfolio of residuals. This is done by simply looking at the contract that you are entered into. You will need to verify that you have the full right to control this portfolio and pass it on to someone else or use it as leverage in a cash transaction. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to enter any arrangement with full knowledge of what you are able to do with your portfolio of residuals.

Ask About Borrowing 

Selling is one thing, but borrowing against your portfolio is another. You will want to make sure that you are able to borrow against your portfolio, which is similar to leveraging what is in your portfolio for a cash infusion. Some processing companiesallow this and others don’t--it is specific to who you are working with. In addition to borrowing against your assets with an external lendor, you might also explore the option of borrowing directly from the payment processor. Many companies have programs that will allow you to do this easily and affordably.

Things to Know When Selling Your Residuals

If you are hoping to list your credit card processing business for sale and leverage your residual portfolio into cash, then there are some things that you will need to know ahead of time to ensure a successful transaction. These concepts will teach you more about how to have success when selling your credit card processing business or leveraging your portfolio into the cash you need to pursue your business ventures.

Qualification 

One thing that you will need to be aware of before you sell your residuals portfolio is whether you qualify for a sale of your residuals. For many partnerships, you will need to have a business that generates $1000 or more per month in residuals in order to be considered for a sale of your residual portfolio or a lending option that is centered around your residuals portfolio.

Buyout Ratio 

If you have determined that you are going to sell your residuals portfolio and you are eligible for such a sale, then you will need to be familiar with the buyout ratio. Basically, the buyout ratio dictates how much you will receive from the sale as it relates to what your income is from the residuals portfolio. For many portfolios, this number lies between 12 and 24 times what the monthly income is from your residuals. This is what you should generally expect to receive when you sell your residuals portfolio.

Earn Out

Earn out is similar to a buyout, only that you will continue to earn your residuals and gradually be phased out. The payout is paid over a certain amount of time. This allows you to continue earning from your portfolio while also receiving a lump sum up front. This allows for the best of both worlds and makes it easier to make the transition.

Grow Your Business And Gain Capital By Listing Your Credit Card Processing Business For Sale 

If you have a successful credit card processing business and have become a merchant services agent and you are looking to sell, then listing your credit card processing business for sale or entering into a lending agreement that uses your credit card processing business as leverage are two of the best ways. Now that you know more about these options, you have the power and knowledge necessary to make your cash infusion and business expansion dreams a reality.


Accept Crypto Payments : Bitcoin Merchant Account Services

The cryptocurrency industry is booming, with over 1.1 million transactions per day through Ethereum alone. And even though most retailers are still wary of accepting bitcoin payments, the list of companies that accept cryptocurrency payments is growing continuously.

As more and more online and offline brands start accepting cryptocurrency payments, the number of people willing to use it increases as well. You can, too, start receiving crypto payments from clients around the globe. But first, you should know how it works, the potential benefits and drawbacks, and how you can start accepting bitcoin and altcoin payments on your website and physical store. Let's discuss all of that and more below.

It's exactly what it sounds like; using cryptocurrency to make payments for services and goods. However, it should be noted that crypto has not yet become a legal currency anywhere around the globe except El Salvador, which only accepts bitcoin payments. Nevertheless, you can trade crypto in most countries as if you're trading a property.

You can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, Monero, etc., on exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, Coinmama, and Binance, etc. Still, many online and offline merchants accept cryptocurrency payments, including AT&T, Microsoft, KFC, Starbucks, Namecheap, Whole Foods, NewEgg, and so on.

Since cryptocurrencies are typically designed for easy peer-to-peer transactions, receiving cryptocurrency payments is as straightforward as sending coins from one wallet to another. The customer can use their phones to scan the QR code or copy the hash code of the merchant's wallet and make a transfer without involving any intermediary......... Read More


Payment Processing Sales Training

Do you want to become a merchant services agent, and you are wondering where to start? You might be convinced that this is what you want to do. It is true that payment processing is a highly lucrative industry, and this makes it attractive. Becoming a successful merchant services agent is not easy because you will need some training to learn how to do this successfully.

The earning potential of a merchant services agent is incredibly high, but to get there, you will need to take steady steps towards attaining success. One of the steps is to seek merchant services sales training. Merchant services have some key pillars that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.

The following are the crucial credit card processing sales training structure that will increase your chances of becoming successful in the merchant services industry.

Learn Quality Partnership 

This is one of the most critical concepts that you need to be familiar with while pursuing merchant services sales training. As a merchant services agent, you will need to partner with a merchant services provider. Your partnership needs to be solid in order to facilitate success. We can say that the merchant services provider will be the epicenter of your business.

The provider you partner with should be able to offer reliable payment processing services to your merchants without failing. They should also be able to offer the additional perks and tools that you need in the merchant services business.

Some key things that you are going to learn in the quality partnership training are the ability for the merchant services provider to offer good payment structure, offer prompt payments, good communication & support, the handsome share of profit, regular bonuses and modern and technological tools to help you succeed in your business.

A good merchant services provider you chose should be able to provide all these. You will be closer to your success and business goals if you are careful in selecting a quality ISO partnership. A good merchant provider will help you enjoy great profits as well as passive income from your merchant services business.

Pricing Structure

Another key thing to learn in merchant services training is the pricing structure. In addition to being able to make sales and getting new leads now and then, you will want to be sure of the right way to price your products and services. To have meaningful success in the merchant services business, you need to take your time and optimize your pricing.

A good pricing structure will enable you to have the appropriate profit margin. This will help you to keep on running a sustainable merchant services business. With the right pricing structure, you will be able to raise your income as you grow.

Learning about the pricing structure will help you to do things such as offering discounts, upselling, and many more. For now, the pricing structure may not seem to make a notable difference in your business, but as you start to accumulate hundreds and thousands of transactions, you will note the impact. It is, therefore, critical to fully understand the pricing structure in the merchant services sales business.

In Merchant Services, More Options Are the Best

In training to become a merchant services agent, you need to understand that a good merchant services provider should offer as many options as possible. There should not be limits to the payment processing options your merchant services provider is offering.

This is because if sometimes your customers happen to require something, you should be able to get it from your merchant services provider. On the other hand, if there are limits to options they can provide, then you might end up disappointing your customers.

As a good merchant service agent, you should lookout for a provider who allows access to a wide range of options, such as in payment processing. They should offer credit cards, debit cards, cash, ACH, and more payment processing options. If your provider gives you these options, you can offer them to your customers, and this makes them happy.

Several options mean that you will have the flexibility, and you will be able to offer solutions to your customers without running out of options. This is a win-win situation.

Customer Service 

This is an important lesson to learn in merchant services sales training. The customer is the most important player in your merchant services business, and therefore they should be your highest priority all the time. As a payment processing agent, you should strive to keep your customers happy, and if you fail to do so, you will have a very hard time. It might even become very difficult to succeed in your business.

You should, therefore, brace yourself for customer service lessons in payment processing sales training. Customer services training will help you master the techniques that successful salespeople use in order to close more sales. They are always keen on the customer's needs and devise ways to fulfill these needs.

You should be able to attend to your customer’s queries in the shortest time possible. It is also critical to realize that when it comes to customer services, your merchant services provider will also play a key role. This gets us back to the previous point of choosing the right partner. If something happens that is beyond your control, you should be able to reach out to your provider for an effective and speedy solution.

Free Terminal for Your Merchants 

For success in the merchant services business, the secret is to have a free terminal included. Merchant love bonuses in their payment processing packages. Note that you will be offering a POS which is designed to increase efficiency in payment processing. The terminal you provide should offer exceptional user experience for the satisfaction of your merchants.

For a strong bond between you and your merchants, you should be providing incentives. This will make them feel that they have the right agent by their side. For increased conversion rates, it is highly recommended that you offer a free POS terminal to your merchants.

You want to be a successful merchant services agent, right? The above learning concepts are the key to success in the payment processing business. Therefore you should ensure that you fully understand these in merchant services sales training.


Are you Considering a Career in Merchant Services Sales?

Merchant services is quickly becoming one of the hottest industries to be in. There are a variety of factors that are attracting people in masses to this industry including flexible work schedule, increased earnings, and an exciting, fast-paced career in business. However, not every corner of this industry is a cookie-cutter example of the perfect life. There are certainly benefits to be had by working in merchant services, but there are also things that you should know beforehand if you want to really get the most out of your experience. With these facts in hand, you can be sure that your career in merchant services more closely follows what you actually want to be doing and how you envision your perfect work life.

Different Types of Merchant Services Careers

The first thing to understand if you are thinking of a career in merchant services is that there are several different areas within the broad umbrella of merchant services that you can do. Merchant services such as processing are offered by more than one company and is a highly competitive industry. This means that not only agent positions are available, but also various other support positions that surround sales. If you want to become amerchant services agent, there are a couple different ways that you can go. 

The first way to become a merchant services agent is to apply for a position at a large corporation or bank in a standard sales role. In this role you would be expected to meet sales goals, have a manager to answer to, and otherwise be restricted by the rigidity of how they do business. The other option is to become a merchant services agent that is independent and works with a merchant services partner program to earn a commission of each sale. Each of these positions have their benefits, and we will review them here. 

The first type of merchant services sales position that we mentioned was with a larger company that has a manager to answer to. In a position like this, a merchant services sales professional would have a very small territory that doesn’t generally expand much beyond where they are based out of. As a result, commission opportunities are rather limited. Someone that works in this position would have very limited upside potential and room for error if they want to earn a good living with selling merchant services. In addition, they would be limited by the corporate structure of the company that they are working for. In this situation, it is hard to find passion in the job because you feel more like an account manager than a real sales professional with control over their destiny. 

That brings us to the other type of merchant services sales position. This sales position is much more independent and operates on a commission structure out of their home or wherever they would like their office to be. Because they are not beholden to corporate offices or territories, their sales scope is much larger and they can serve almost anybody that they please. They can travel to visit their merchants, forming a tighter and more lucrative bond. Their earnings potential is unlimited because their merchant selection is also unlimited. They are happier in their job, make more money, have more flexibility, and are not tied to the desk. Someone in this position is usually much more pleased with their career in merchant services and generally makes more money, as well. 

If you are choosing a career in merchant services, knowing about the two different paths that you can take is absolutely essential. When people talk about the benefits of being in merchant services and what a great career it can be, they are generally referring to those that choose to work independently with a merchant services partner program and earn commissions on their own schedule instead of being restricted by a desk in a corporate office. You should think carefully about which of these situations is better for you before you select a career pathway in merchant services so that you can plan accordingly and ensure that you put yourself in a good situation to succeed.

Earnings Difference Between Types of Merchant Services Careers

One of the most stark differences between those that work for large corporations to sell merchant services and those that choose a more independent path is the earnings potential. For those stuck in a corporate job, the earnings potential is far more restricted and the path to a high income is basically impossible. The reason is that these individuals are mainly restricted by their contracts which award them very little for a sale and instead keep more of the profits for the company. In this structure, sales professionals are hardly incentivized to sell and are rarely rewarded for their hard work. 

In contrast, those that decide to work for themselves have a much different experience. Yes, you risk more upfront because nothing is guaranteed in this line of work, but the long-term payoff can be so much better. When you work independently or under a ISO partner program, the earnings potential is unlimited and restricted only by how hard and how much you work. If you want to achieve a high income, you can put in the work to attain it. You are rewarded for how hard you work and you have flexibility in what you do.

Is a career in merchant services right for you?

With this information in mind, the decision you must make is whether merchant services are right for you. WIth the right career path, a job in merchant services sales can be one of the most liberating careers out there. However, if you choose to restrict yourself in a corporate merchant services job, you might quickly find that this type of merchant services sales doesn’t make for a very fulfilling career. You should carefully consider these two possible pathways before you jump into merchant services sales and decide which one is going to be right for you.


How to Become a Registered Merchant Services ISO/MSP

If you’re looking to make a name for yourself in the merchant services industry, then you have probably, at one point or another, considered how to become a registered ISO. In the merchant services industry, becoming a merchant services ISO is one of the highest levels that you can achieve. Becoming an ISO is a highly desirable position to be in because it opens up your earnings to an entire new world of potential. You’ll gain access to more revenue streams and you will also be able to market your services under your own unique brand instead of having to operate under the umbrella of another company.

However, the process of how to become a registered ISO/MSP is not one that happens overnight. When you become an ISO merchant services, it requires that you have a large budget for paperwork, legal, and administrative expenses. You will need a considerable amount of resources to become an ISO for merchant services in a timely manner and have success in the transition process. This short guide will show you the steps that you will need to take if you want to become a registered ISO and enjoy the benefits that the status has to offer.

Steps to becoming an ISO

Pick Your Business Name

The first step in the process is picking your business name. Though it seems like an arbitrary thing, you should take great care in selecting your name since it could play a large part in your branding and marketing efforts.

Pick A Business Type

Once you have a name picked out, the next thing that you will need to decide is which business type you want to register as. This decision will vary based on your situation and who you are going into business with.

Register With Your State

Next, you will need to register your ISO merchant services business with your state. It is important that you make it known to your state that you have registered as a business so that you can legally be identified by the right business name.

Get Your Permits

Without the right permits, you won’t legally be allowed to conduct any business. Be sure to not neglect this very important step. Consult your local relevant governing bodies as well as your state and federal guidelines, as well. Get your business permits and any other permits that you need to operate a business in your area.

Register With Relevant Tax Agencies

If you are going to operate a merchant services ISO, then you need to ensure that you are compliant with all tax regulations as well. Be sure to register with the relevant tax agencies to make your business known and compliant.

Find A Sponsor

The next thing you will have to do is find a ISO sponsorship  that you will operate under. Though you will retain your own name, the sponsor that you select will be providing the merchant services that you sell to your clients. Finding a good one is very important to the success of your business.

Sell Your Services

Once you have finalized things with your sponsor and completed every other step of becoming a registered merchant services ISO, you are ready to sell your services. You can bring other agents on board and start expanding your lines of revenue with a lucrative merchant services ISO program business model.


Merchant Services Partner Program : Payment Processing Partnerships

Do you want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which program to join? Well, then we can help you find one. We understand that you will have various questions in your mind, like do I really need to work with the best merchant services partner program? Or, what are the benefits that a good merchant services partnerships program can offer?

We will answer all of these queries and will also suggest the leading merchant services reseller program so you can kick start your career and make a decent income. With that said, let’s get started:

Is It Really Necessary to Work with the Best Merchant Sales Partner Program?

Yes, it is extremely crucial that you have the top merchant services reseller program working with you. There are many logical arguments that we can make here but to keep things short...... Keep Reading


 

Top 5 Merchant Services Agent & ISO Programs

In order to help you get started on your quest, here are five of the best ISO agent programs out there that you can look into:

 

1) North American Bancard 

Looking for a company that has a lot of experience and support? This can be especially important when you're first starting out. You don't want to just be left in the dust whenever you have questions or if something goes wrong. They're very committed to offering the best service possible to not only their end-users, but more importantly to their sales agents. They'll provide you with the latest technology, varied offers to give to your clients, and top-notch service. They also offer extremely fast payments, and in fact will pay you every day instead of making you wait for weeks.

If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of credit card processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, North American Bancard might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive merchant services commission structures in the industry, NAB will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.

As one of the top ISO/MSP programs, NAB has a history of a favorable commission structure, superior products, and sales support for thier ISO partners. With so much commission at stake, you will truly feel like a partner in the NAB business plan.

With North American Bancard's Registered DBA Program, you'll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.

 

2) CardConnect 

Want to go with a leader in the industry? CardConnect is a great ISO with a lot of options for the ambitious sales agent. For one, they have a proven track record of service and have been around since 2006. They offer some of the easiest-to-navigate merchant applications around, a great support team, and in-depth training so that you can sell more effectively and grow in your payment processing career. They were among the firsts in the business to offer lifetime residuals from every deal that their sales agents close. If you want a reliable company that will let you build the passive income side of your business, you should seriously consider CardConnect.

Naturally, you are probably going to want to research more than just a few companies, but these are truly some of the best and brightest in the industry, and it's not a bad list to start with. Before anything else, it's important to perform a self-assessment and decide what your needs and wants are when it comes to an ISO partnership. Really, this means asking yourself: What kind of ISO is going to best serve my clients? If you still have no idea, that's perfectly fine. You don't have to limit yourself to a single ISO, and in fact it's probably a good idea when you are starting out to try several different processors.

 

3) PayProTec 

Maybe you're looking for a very reliable company that has a history of great service and close relationships with their merchants and sales agents. In that case, you won't go wrong with PayProTec. They offer great customer support, as well as extensive online resources that you can use to build your business. When you sign up as a sales agent, you get a free website, a back-end portal where you can check your stats online, and the ability to look up trouble tickets and see any problems that your merchants are having. Like HarborTouch and a few others mentioned here, they also have a free terminal program.

Interestingly enough, they're not just paying lip service when they say that they care about their sales agents—they offer health care benefits and will reimburse half of your costs! This definitely helps to relieve one of the bigger headaches of being self-employed.

 

4) SHIFT 4 Payments

Shift 4 Payments (AKA: HarborTouch) is one of the largest providers of POS systems and payment processing services in the US. They handle over one hundred thousand merchant accounts across the nation, and billions of dollars worth of transactions. Part of the reason they are so ubiquitous in the payment processing field is no doubt due to their superior partnership program. They have smart, forward-thinking, and extremely competitive offers that make selling merchant accounts a snap compared to more “traditional” programs. For example, they helped pioneer the introduction of free terminal offers. In other words, you can provide the hardware to your client for no upfront costs to them, and still receive a handsome commission and great residuals afterwards.

“Free” is not a hard sell at all, so even if you choose another company, it's probably a good idea for you to make sure that your merchant services partner has a free terminal program. It's not always going to be a good fit for every merchant, but rest assured that more and more of your clients will be expecting free equipment.

 

5) eMerchant Broker

Part of working in any field is having a niche, but oftentimes you can find yourself partnered with a company that won't approve of the merchants that you want to work with. Nothing is more disappointing than having great personal connections and prospects, but needing to turn them down because they run a “high risk” business, such as a liquor store, an e-commerce business, or any sort of retail store that would be subject to a lot of charge-backs.

With eMB's program, however, you won't have to worry about any of that. They will deal with just about any sort of merchant, including high-risk applicants. In fact, they approve about 95% of the merchants who seek accounts with them. This is good news for your clients and for you—especially since high risk accounts can be particularly lucrative.

Like the name implies, eMerchant Broker is a good choice if your merchant is an e-commerce business. They offer multiple gateways to make sure your client's shopping cart software will work perfectly with them. Give them a try, especially if your merchants tend to get rejected by other ISO's.


Credit Card Processing Sales Commission Structure: Merchant Services Residual Income

Are you going through different merchant services sales jobs and thinking if you can make enough money from selling merchant services to afford a luxurious life? Well, the answer to this depends on how much work you put in. Since you will be relying on the commission and monthly residual income you get for each sale, your earnings will directly be dependent on how much you sell.

However, we have created this guide to give you a general idea of how to calculate your earnings and the things to consider when looking at the residual income structures offered by the merchant services agent programs. That being said, let’s dive right in:

How Much Can I Earn Selling Merchant Processing?

The first question that comes to mind of everyone taking up the merchant services sales jobs is; how much will I earn? And that question is fair because you need to pay the bills and keep your belly full. So to know how much you can expect if you become a credit card processing agent, you need to know about the sources of your income.

In merchant processing sales jobs, you have two ways to earn the greenbacks, the first one is by selling merchant services to the merchant. The second one is by selling/leasing the equipment like POS terminals. Now the most lucrative between both is the former one because by getting the merchant onboard, you will be getting residual income for as long as he is using your credit card processing company.

The second one is also not bad if you can manage to lease out or sell a couple of machines per month. You can combine both to increase your revenue as well, but since residual income is the most practical and long term earning approach, we will focus on it for this guide........ Keep Reading


What's a Payment Aggregator? How Does One Become a Merchant Services Aggregator?

Many businesses that are just starting out don’t know how to get paid online with ease. They usually create their merchant bank accounts after a tedious process and start accepting payments with just one or two modes. This is where the payment aggregator comes into the equation.

With their help, you can get paid with ease while not having to put up with the policies of a bank. Want to learn more about payment aggregation? Well, read this guide till the end; you’ll know what it is and whether it’s good or bad for your business. That said, let’s dive right in:

Simply put, a payment aggregator is a service provider allowing merchants to process payments via mobile or the internet. They are direct payment facilitators that let businesses accept debit card or credit card payments without the need to open a merchant account with a bank.

Instead, you use a 3rd party payment service provider, the aggregator, who processes online transactions for you. Since you won’t have your own merchant account, you’ll be the ‘sub-merchant’ under the aggregator along with other merchants.

So, for instance, if a client wants to buy something online, let’s say sports shoes, and you sell them, they will go to your eCommerce website, select the product and move to the checkout page.

On the payment page, he/she will be provided with a range of payment options by the payment aggregator. The customer can select the option they want and make the payment. The money will land in the account of the payment aggregator, who will then pay it to you.

If you want to skip the step of getting paid by a 3rd party after selling something, you can become a merchant aggregator and start a payment processing company. But that can be a lot of hassle, especially if you’re not a multi-million dollar organization.

Straightforward Application Process:

If you become a merchant aggregator, you’ll have to go through a tedious process involving piles of paperwork and some hefty fees.

Alternatively, getting a payment aggregation service involves very little work. Plus, the application gets accepted fast, so there are no lengthy waiting times.

Start Right Away:

It can be very overwhelming and anxious when you’re starting a business. Setting up everything on your own can also tire you. You don’t want long set up times when it comes to accepting payments. You need something simple and fast that can be implemented quickly, allowing you to accept payments from the next day.

If you’re that person, signing up with a payment aggregator is the right choice. Plus, you can accept payments from customers through a number of methods from the get-go.

Straightforward Fee Structure:

Most payment aggregators have a flat-fee policy which is pretty self-explanatory. Whichever payment aggregation service provider you decide to work with, visit their website’s fee policy page, and you’ll get everything in one place.

Go through it, and you’ll know exactly what they’ll charge depending on the type of transaction and payment method. Furthermore, Plus, you won’t have to sign any long-term contracts, so you can switch to a merchant service provider whenever you feel like it.

Cheaper for Short Term Use:

In the long run, when businesses are generating big profits, they find merchant accounts to be more affordable, especially if a large number of transactions are processed on a daily basis.

However, if you’re just stepping your toe into the business and expect the transaction volume to be low, a payment aggregator will be cheaper.

It Takes Time to Process Funds:

Although setting up an account with a payment aggregator is a breeze, and customer transactions are fast as well, getting paid takes time. When a customer pays for your product/service, the money lands into the aggregator’s account.

So they have control over when the funds are transferred to you. Most of them will have 24 to 48hours of hold on clearance of funds but can be longer in some cases.

Accounts Can Be Put on Hold:

Yes, this is a very real possibility. This happens because the aggregator takes a risk by accepting payment on your behalf, which can also include fraudulent chargebacks. So, if there’s any activity that’s suspected of fraud, your account can go on hold.

However, don’t let this scare you; it’s not like you won’t be able to get back. It can take anywhere from 1-2 days for the inquiry of the case; some can last up to a month as well, depending on how complex it is. But when it is done and you’re in the clear, you’ll get your account back. However, you won’t be able to get payments during that time.

Cost Efficiency vs. Transaction Volume:

As the volume of your transactions increases, the charges from payment aggregators can too. This is because the bigger a transaction is, the more risk a payment aggregator is taking holding it for you.

Some aggregators have fixed payments for different volumes of transactions; ask yours about that before signing up.

Parting Words:

When it comes to deciding how you should accept the payments, there’s no right answer. You can become a merchant aggregator and get payments right into your account or use one to avoid the hassles and the risks that come with being one. But if you’re a small business that’s just starting out, going for an aggregator might be the right thing to do.


How to Make HUGE Income Selling Merchant Processing Services

Do you want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know how to make a massive income selling credit card processing? Well, don’t fret, we will help you not only choose the best career in the merchant services field, but we will also help you understand how you can truly help your merchants save tons of money in fees while doubling your own income. If you are excited to know all of this then we suggest that you stick to this guide till the end: +

Which Career to Go For?

When you are selling merchant accounts, there are different models that you can choose from. You can go for the typical model of trying to reduce the fee paid by merchants in credit card processing. Or, you can also try to eliminate this fee, yes you read it right, you can make it vanish. The latter one is a more attractive career option as there are more chances of earning a decent amount. Most of the agents selling credit card processing will be trying their level best to reduce the fees that businesses pay for each transaction. However, if you come with your zero-fee solution, then who wouldn’t get your services? Every business likes to make as much profit as it can, which is why you will have a better chance of converting the merchants. Besides the merchants, you will be making way more money than you would’ve made when trying to reduce the merchant’s fee. Now you might be thinking, what is this zero-fee merchant services reseller program? Well, why not we explain it to you in detail and show you how it can increase your income...... Read More


How to Start an Online Payment Processing Company

One of the most lucrative fields that you can get into as a salesperson is selling to other businesses. Unlike most end consumers, business owners keenly understand the value of investing wisely in long-term solutions, and not merely throwing away their money on something cheap. If you want to truly contribute value to other business owners, while making a decent paycheck every month yourself, one of the best ways to do that is to offer quality merchant services. You will be invaluable to your clients, and if you serve them well, they will continue to look to you for ways to make their business more efficient.

Why start selling merchant services on your own, though? Isn't that a lot more work? What are the benefits if you're already working in a commission-based kind of job? Well, here are a few of the major ones:

More Control - Even if you're working in a field where you get a relative amount of independence, like in sales, you still don't have complete control, and your whole work life revolves around satisfying someone else's numbers. You may have your own personal selling style, but the overall strategy that the company follows—the direction in which “the ship” is being steered—is not determined by you, but by someone else. This may not be such a bad thing for some people, but it also means that your livelihood is ultimately in someone else's hands. What if the owners of the company that you work for make a dumb decision that spells the end of the business? You will have to suffer the consequences anyway, even though it wasn't your fault.

More Cash - Of course, if you start your own merchant services business, you have the potential to make a lot more money than someone who doesn't. If you're an independent contractor, at the end of the day, the people above you are raking in the most money. Sure, as a salesperson, you might make a hefty percentage of that, but the fact of the matter is that your potential for financial growth is stunted. If you have a business that you control yourself, it is basically up to you how much money you want to make, and you keep more of the fruits of your hard work.

The Potential for Scale - The thing about a normal job, even a sales job, where you're working for someone else, is that you rarely have the possibility to scale things up. In other words, you can't “replicate” yourself by hiring someone else to do some of your tasks, and this can greatly reduce your long-term income potential. When you start a merchant services business, you can choose to run it in many different ways, but one way is to outsource the work slowly until your business can practically run on its own. For true residual, passive income, this is the kind of situation that you will want to be in. This is what makes it possible for you to work because you want to, and to make money even in your sleep. You just can't do this when you work for someone else.

Now, you may be thinking: How do I start a merchant service business? Maybe you've been a salesperson for awhile—maybe you've even been selling POS equipment and other important retail tools—but you're not sure how to make that leap into selling for yourself.

Well, unless you've invented and designed your own solutions, you're going to have to start by forming a partnership with a merchant services agent program that you believe in. They're going to have to make a product that you can really get behind because, if you're building a business for yourself, most of your money is ultimately going to come from the back-end, from repeat customers. This is why it is so important to take a step back and think about quality above anything else. By all means, find a program that is lucrative, but don't ever sell a product that you wouldn't feel enthusiastic about using yourself. In the end, this is what is really going to create repeat business.

What traits do you look for in a merchant services agent program, then? Don't be taken in by any fancy bells and whistles. Basically, these are the things you are going to want to see:

A History of Reliability - Again, there's no sense in selling shoddy services or products. Look up reviews of the company and decide if they are any good. Research their products and make sure that they are user-friendly. Find a way to use them if you can. The easiest products to sell are the ones that are actually good because they basically sell themselves time and time again.

Generous Revenue - Share Since this is going to be the core of your business, you are going to want to find a merchant services partner program that gives you a good cut of the sales. If you're doing all the work of finding and maintaining leads, then you need a fair percentage of what that customer is paying.

Residual Income - Part of what makes selling POS services so lucrative is that there is often a monthly fee involved or else the merchant services agent program takes a percentage of the user's sales. As a partner, make sure that you have access to a significant portion of that long-term income as well. This is what is going to pay you month after month, even long after you have made the initial sale. This is where most of your money is, really.

Lots of Options and Flexibility - The company you work with should have lots of different options when it comes to revenue sharing, that way you will be able to build a strategy out of the one that best suits your business.

So, what specific company can you go with that will fulfill all of these needs? There are a few, but one of the best and most reliable is North American Bancard. We provide real value to their clients, so you should have no trouble working with them and building a stream of residual income from their products. Ultimately, though, just focus on solving your customers' problems and finding a company that can help you do that, and you should be able to start your own merchant services business.


Why North American Bancard is ISO of the Year

NAB believes in the American dream of opportunity for everybody. We believe in it because we live it daily. North American Bancard opened for business on day one the same way many entrepreneurial companies do - with just one employee and NO money coming in. Now, we have over 900 employees and process billions annually.

NAB has achieved success following the simple-focused mission of assisting businesses grow and prosper. Today, we have over thousands of happy merchants and ISO partners that can back up our commitment to that mission. By providing the best free equipment, industry-leading customer service and sales support, and the guaranteed best processing rates, we help our merchants grow because they have more cash to spend on their business-building needs. Our ISO partners benefit just as much. With unrivaled support, flexible compensation, and innovative, one-of-a-kind sales and management tools, our ISO partners have more money and time to spend on their own business-building projects. By providing every type of payment processing solution, we ensure our ISO partners have the ability to offer customized solutions to help drive both their and their merchants' success!..... Read More


How to Earn a Stable Income: Selling Merchant Processing Services

Do you want to pursue your career in merchant services sales? Then, you should read this article before considering a merchant services career. Merchant services is not only to help businesses with payment processing it goes beyond that. You should fully understand how it works. If you are going to work as a merchant services sales representative, you need to partner with a merchant services provider. There is no doubt that the merchant services sales job offers you plenty of advantages, but it is not the same for all. In a merchant services career, you can sell the services to the businesses over the phone and even in person, but you can’t afford any hasty switch. So, you need to learn first what part of the merchant service job is suitable for you. For instance, if you have decided to work in merchant processing sales, you have come to the right page. Here, you will learn how you can earn more, hone your skills, and have more security by choosing the right company for payment processing...............Continue Reading


Benefits of Merchant Services Sales Jobs

When it comes to merchant services sales jobs, there is a lot to love. This is the reason that it is such a popular industry. Merchant services has long been one of the most lucrative and enjoyable fields, but that doesn’t mean it has its drawbacks. For most people, the risk is well worth it to enjoy the benefits that often come along with working in merchant services sales jobs. Here are some of the many benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a career in merchant services sales and use our free tools to find your next merchant services sales job.

Income

One of the greatest benefits of being in merchant services sales is that the income potential is basically unlimited. If you want the benefit of working in a field where your only income limiting factor is how hard you are willing to work, then this is the field for you. In merchant services sales, you are generally paid out on a commission basis. This means that for every sale you make, there is money involved for you. If you are looking for a field where your income can reach sky-high limits, then merchant services sales could be the ideal landing place for you.

Flexibility

Another amazing benefit of working in merchant services sales is the flexibility that this career often allows those that are in it. When you work in merchant services sales, you generally work for your own company or as a contract employee. This means that you are generally able to set your own schedule and enjoy the benefits of a great career while also getting a work-home balance that you’ve always wanted. It is the ideal solution or anyone that values flexibility highly in their work-home life.

Work Life

When you work in merchant services sales, you work for yourself. This means that not only do you have a lot of schedule flexibility, but also that your work life is more pleasant and geared towards how you actually want to spend your day. Instead of being beholden to a supervisor, set schedule, and set of rules that you don’t want to follow, you will be free to run your merchant services business as you please to provide you with a much more pleasant work life.

Rewarding

For some people, it is very important that they feel happy and fulfilled in their career with merchant services sales. In the case of this career field, it is pretty easy to achieve that sense of fulfillment. As a merchant services sales representative, it will be your job to work with small and medium-sized business wonders to find the solutions to the problems that are holding them back when it comes to payment processing. Through your work, you will be able to help small businesses operate more efficiently and improve their business. This bolsters the economy and helps the backbone of the economy all while providing you with a lucrative and rewarding career.

Finding Merchant Services Sales Jobs

To enjoy all the benefits of merchant services sales jobs, you first need to know exactly what to look for when partnering with a merchant services company to offer their services to your clients. This brief list of the main factors in finding a merchant services sales job with a company that will help you to succeed will give you some of the most important factors to look for in a merchant services company.

Area

Though many merchant services sales agents can work remotely from just about any location, it is still important to consider where your merchant services company is located. Much of this will depend on whether any in-office work is required and what travel is required. If you can work completely remote with the company that you have chosen, then this is not much of a concern at all. You can easily find which area your company has offices in simply by asking.

Reputation

These days, it is easier than ever to learn more about a company and the reputation that they have in the industry. Simply do some online research to determine what others have to say about the company and whether they consider the company to be a good partner to their agents.

Customer Support

One of the most important aspects in getting and keeping merchant services clients is the ability to provide them with high-quality and responsive customer support. Typically, this is the responsibility of the company that you have partnered with to offer the merchant services. Therefore, one of the first priorities that you should have when assessing merchant services companies to work for is their reputation and quality of the customer support.

Payout & Commission

Another factor that you should evaluate when choosing the next merchant services sales job for you is the payout and commission. It is important to select a merchant services sales job that has a high commission structure and is well-known for paying accurately and on-time. It’s important to make sure that they have a trusted payout structure in place so you can ensure you are paid for your efforts.

Our Merchant Services Sales Jobs

If you’re looking for the best merchant services sales jobs that fit this criteria, then you are in the right place. We provide merchant services sales jobs lists and other resources that help you to find an amazing career.

04-22

Flat Rate Payment Processing: Understanding the Benefits

If you are a first-time or small business owner, then you may have heard of flat-rate credit card processing. Every business needs a provider for credit card processing, as it is one of the most important aspects of any business--the ability to accept payments. However, choosing a provider and a fee structure can be a challenge that takes time, energy, and research. If you’re going to succeed, then you need to be familiar with every type of processing service and why they might be suitable for you. One of the most popular services purchased by small businesses when it comes to credit card pressing is flat-rate credit card processing. 

Flat-rate credit card processing has many benefits, but it's not the right situation for every business. This brief analysis of flat-rate credit card processing will give you some insight that helps you decide whether flat-rate credit card processing is the right option for you, or if it's a bad choice for your specific business.

Credit card processing isn’t always the easiest concept or industry to understand

As a business owner, you are already aware of some of the struggles that you can experience when trying to determine a credit card processing provider. It is one of the most difficult things to do as a business owner, especially if you are trying to estimate the cost of accepting credit cards using a merchant services provider. Determining these costs can be difficult, which is why some business owners are drawn to a flat-rate processing model where the pricing is easier to understand.

However, these decisions depend on so many factors that it becomes a time-consuming task to determine which pricing model is best for you. To make it easier, this article will serve as a knowledge base and guide to helping you understand the factors that go into this decision and what concepts you need to understand.

Definition of flat-rate credit card processing

The first important concept of credit card processing to know is what exactly flat-rate credit card processing is. If you’re going to determine if it is the right choice for you, then knowing what it entails is the first and most important step. With an understanding of what flat-rate credit card processing is, you’ll be well on your way to understanding it at a deep enough level to decide whether it is the right choice for you. 

Credit card processing isn’t free. It costs the merchant a fee to implement and accept payment processing solutions. The variable here is what the cost is. Just like in any purchase, there are varying costs from different providers. Though consumers don’t consider it, it is the reality of being a business owner. In addition to trying to find the lowest fee, merchants also face the possibility that credit card processing fees will vary within the credit processing provider that they choose. 

One of the most significant and common reasons for credit card processing fees to fluctuate is the various fees charged by Visa, Mastercard, and other suppliers for using the card. In addition, there are fees charged by the issuing bank for the transaction and there are a couple more mouths to feed along the way. There are hundreds of services that are involved in this process and each one takes a different sized bite. For this reason, credit card processing fees can often fluctuate and have business owners confused about what they are actually paying to process credit card transactions.

To simplify things and make it easier for the merchant to understand, credit card processing companies have begun to offer flat-rate credit card processing fees. With flat-rate credit card processing fees, merchants are more able to predict exactly what the cost of accepting credit cards will be and forecast that into their profits and margin calculations. It comes with many benefits, but it’s not right for every business.

Benefits of Flat-Price Processing

As you can imagine, there are many benefits to flat-rate processing and that is why it is so commonly used by businesses that are seeking simplicity in their processing arrangements. When you have flat-price processing, there are a few aspects to love about your credit card processing agreement.

Predictability

The first benefit of using flat-rate credit card processing is being able to have a predictable credit card processing fee each month. With predictability in the rates that you are charged to process credit card transactions, you can not only plan your expenses better, but you can also price goods and services better to provide you with a more consistent margin. 

When you know what your processing rate is going to be, the need to fluctuate your item pricing will disappear. You can plan ahead and be sure of what you are going to be charged to process credit card transactions.

Flexibility

When you have a flat-rate processing plan, another benefit that you will be entitled to is the flexibility that comes with these processing plans. With flat-rate credit card processing plans, you often don’t have to get locked into long-term commitments that hinder your flexibility and make it difficult to plan ahead. For small businesses looking for short-term credit card processing or to lessen the long-term overhead for their business, this is the ideal situation.

Flexibility is also a benefit to any business that might be considered high-risk or in general need of agility due to possible changes in the business model, revenue, and other aspects affecting their business.

Simplicity

When you work with a flat-rate credit card processing contract, one of the most important benefits is the simplicity of the contract. As we touched on earlier, traditional credit card processing agreements will often feature clauses, charges, and fees that you don't even have access to seeing the details on. For this reason, in those arrangements, you can never tell exactly what your credit card processing fee will end up being.

However, with a flat-rate processing plan, you can always understand what the fees are and exactly how they impact your business. You can plan to include enough margin for your processing fees and make it easier to understand the implications of your credit card processing agreement. 

Who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing?

If you are considering flat-rate processing for your business, you probably want to know a bit more information about who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing and which businesses should pursue flat-rate processing for their processing needs. It is very easy to identify merchants that are good fits for flat-rate processing because of the straightforward nature of flat-rate processing. 

Startups

Startups are the ideal businesses for flat-rate processing because they usually need to have less overhead and a shorter contract. Startups are often young and unstable, so having a processor that is flexible in the terms is ideal. Startups also typically have a lower volume of transactions. Many credit card processing companies have solutions that are specifically geared towards the needs of startups and young companies. 

Small Businesses

Small and local businesses are another frequent customer of flat-rate processing solutions. This is because small and local businesses typically have a much lower volume of transactions than larger companies and they are unable to attain better rates. In addition, small businesses are slightly more unstable and higher risk than other companies and don’t have the leverage to get favorable contracts with other processing solutions. 

High-Risk Businesses

Businesses that are higher risk industries also tend to use flat-rate processing because they are subject to riskier transactions that could lead to increased fees by processing companies. If they are able to get an account with a flat-rate processor, then high-risk businesses typically take that opportunity because it is a favorable situation for them. 

Doing better than flat-rate processing

For some, flat-rate payment processing simply isn’t a great option. This leaves many wondering if it’s possible to get a better deal than flat-rate processing. It’s true, there are some downsides to flat-rate processing and that is the reason that some choose to pursue other options. It is possible to get a better deal than flat-rate processing has to offer, but there are certain conditions that you have to meet. 

The first condition that you have to meet if you want to get a better deal on your processing than what flat-rate processing has to offer is that you have to be able to do a high volume of transactions. The higher the volume, the better deal you are going to get on your processing. 

Another condition that you will have to meet if you are going to get a better rate than what most flat-rate processing solutions have to offer is you will most likely have to sign a longer-term contract for your processing needs. This means less flexibility, but it is possible that you will get a better rate, though it will be dynamic and subject to change. 

If you are a business that cannot get flat-rate processing or you do a high volume of transactions for an established and long-lasting business, then you can possibly get a better deal by going with a solution other than flat-rate processing. 

Applying for a Merchant Account for Small Businesses

If you are a merchant, then you will undoubtedly need a merchant account. Merchant accounts are accounts that your business holds with a payment processor or merchant services provider that give you access to the critical tools that your business needs to succeed and accept payments. Without a merchant account, your business will be unable to complete the most important part of any transaction--the receipt of the funds for the goods or services that were rendered. If you want to get a merchant account for your business, then the first thing you need to know is how to apply for a merchant account and what is involved in the process of the application. This insight will give you the knowledge and information that you need to be successful in the merchant account application process and provide you with a competitive edge when applying for a merchant account.

Information needed for applying for a merchant account

If you’re hoping to have success in the merchant account application process, then one of the first things that you will need to know is about the requirements for applying and gaining approval for a merchant account. There are several pieces of information and documentation that you will need if you’re going to have success in your application. Providing these pieces of documentation and information will greatly increase your chances of being successful, but that’s not all that matters. You will also need to display several traits and factors that prove yourself to be a reliable and trustworthy merchant.
 
Here are the pieces of information that you will need when applying for a merchant account:

  • At least 3 months of bank statements
  • At least 3 months of processing statements, if applicable
  • Valid identification
  • EIN or SSN for the account
  • A functioning website that has information about your business

Before you apply for a merchant account, you should be sure to have each of these pieces of information available and ready to send with your application. The absence of any of these pieces of information could prevent you from getting a merchant account or getting good rates if you are granted a merchant account. This could delay the process and make getting a merchant account take that much longer.

Getting approval for a merchant account: factors explained

When you are applying for a merchant account, one of the most important concepts that you should understand beforehand is that there are a variety of factors that go into your approval or rejection as a merchant for a merchant account. Being familiar with these factors can increase your chances of success when applying for a merchant account because it will enable you to optimize your application and make it much more attractive to the merchant services that you hope to work with. Here are some of the most important factors in getting approved for a merchant services account and why they are considered to be important.

Bank history

The bank history is one of the required pieces of information for your business if you hope to get a merchant services account. The merchant services provider that you apply with will ask for at least documentation of 3 months of bank history. The reason that merchant services providers ask for this information is pretty obvious--they want to ensure that your business is reputable and is in good standing with your bank. Without this verification, they might not be able to establish confidence that you are a trustworthy financial partner to work with. Merchant services companies want to verify that you are a legitimate business with a verifiably good relationship with your banking provider. By verifying this, they can guess that you will be a good partner to them, as well. Always provide the most comprehensive statement information that you can and be sure to not just provide the bare minimum, if possible. Applications will ask for at least 3 months, but if you are comfortable you should supply up to 6 months of statements.

Processing history

Another thing that will factor heavily into the decision that is made regarding your merchant services account status is the processing history documentation that you are able to provide. When you apply for a merchant processing account, the company that you apply with will very likely want to see at least 3 months of processing history. Again, the more information that you can provide, the better. Those that are able to provide up to 6 months of documentation will likely have more success. The reason that merchant services companies request this information is also clear--because they want to know that you will be a good partner to them in your merchant services and credit card processing relationship. Being involved with a company to provide credit card transactions is no small matter, and the companies that you work with want to protect themselves just as much as you do. When you provide this information, they will look into your past success, chargeback ratios, and any concerns that have arisen in your past relationships with processing companies.
 
It is possible that you are not able to provide this information, in the event that you are a new business. Still, you should answer as many questions as they have and provide them with answers to the questions that you are able to such as what your expected volume will be. Going the extra mile to provide this information could certainly be the difference between denial and acceptance for your merchant services account.

Credit score

When evaluating your application for a merchant services account, your merchant services partner will very likely want to see your credit score. This is a piece of information that you will likely not have to provide yourself, as many merchant services companies have a way to check this. Your business credit score will tell the underwriter, the person who approves and denies processing accounts, about your financial history and whether there are any red flags. If there are blips on your credit score, that doesn’t mean that you will not be eligible to get a merchant services account. However, it might mean that there are more hoops to jump through or that you don’t get as good of a processing rate that you were hoping for. The best way to handle a poor credit score as a business is to apply to a merchant services program that approves businesses that are in a similar situation and works with businesses to overcome challenges that they might have struggled with in the past.

Industry

Even though you might not have given much thought to it in the past, one of the most relevant factors in your approval or rejection for a merchant services account is the industry that your business is in. It is very important to consider the industry that your business is in because some businesses are at higher risk than others for chargebacks and fraud. If you are in a very normal and ordinary industry, then you probably don’t need to worry that much about the specifics. However, if you are in a high-risk industry that is known for chargebacks and fraud, then you likely want to start looking at ways to bolster your application and show that you can stand out above the rest as a merchant that will not cost the services provider money in the long run.

How long does it take to get approval for a merchant account?

One of the most common questions that is asked when applying for a merchant services account is how long the process takes. The answer is not so straightforward, as there are dozens of factors that go into the decision-making process of either approving or rejecting a merchant for a merchant account. If nothing goes wrong in the process and the underwriters don’t need any more information, then it’s possible that you receive an answer within 24-48 hours, when working with the right merchant account provider. However, this is not always the case. Oftentimes, your merchant account provider will require additional information including clarification on the business plan, more documentation, or just general questions about your business. You can help to reduce the amount of time that it takes to get approved by being upfront with all of the information that you will need for the application and having it on-hand for clarification if needed.

Be selective in who you choose for a provider

One thing that you should know if you want to get the most out of your merchant account is that merchant processing is a serious business. There is a lot of money at stake, and that is why merchant account providers are so selective in who they approve for a merchant services account. You should be equally as selective when choosing a provider. Make sure that you know what you are looking for in a merchant services provider because they are going to have a large impact on your business and what you are able to achieve with your merchant solutions.