Thursday, September 17, 2009

Do You Need A Cheap Merchant Account?

By Joe Mears

There is a huge merchant account industry. Credit cards are big business and the guys that are set up to give you accounts so that your business can accept them are very competitive and they have to be. The trouble from the average person's point of view who is looking for a good account, is that this causes a conflict of interest. Some companies are literally desperate to get you to sign up.

Generally many companies will advertise rates, but these do not tell the whole story because the lowest rate is actually rarely the cheapest account. What they do not tell you is that there are other fees that an account must pay and they include a payment for every transaction that is processed.

In the case of many of the less reputable companies the rate they advertise is actually a discount rate that you can only achieve when certain factors are met or that you can only have for a certain time period.

There are a multitude of factors that have an effect on what the actual rate that is charged is going to be including what credit card is used to make the order with.

Also, many providers require people to sign onto long term contracts which keep them tied into accounts and have hefty termination fees. This is never a good thing.

That is why I always advise my clients to speak to merchant account providers that offer a consultation to prospective clients, rather than high pressure sales tactics.

This means that they can explain to you all the potential charges that a merchant account will incur. Only when you fully understand everything yourself can you make a decision on which one is is really the cheapest.

Only when you reach this point are you in a position to make the right decision for your needs.

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