How does a foot injury relate to the payment processing industry?
Let’s say Sam’s got a broken foot and needs to wear a special pair of shoes until he heals. Naturally, he checks out his local shoe store to find a pair, where one of the employees meets him to show him around.
They get to a shiny pair of shoes perched on a lighted display. The employee, himself having broken his foot in the past, knows that these shoes only look nice; in reality, they’re clunky and painful to wear, especially for someone with a hurt foot. Thing is, he knows he can earn a much higher commission if he just sells those shoes.
What happens next? He convinces Sam to buy the shoes rather than a cheaper, more ergonomic pair. Sam’s foot pain subsequently gets worse, while the shoe employee enjoys the bonus he “earned” from selling off the shoes.
Payment processing is much the same. Processors will lie to your face and claim that they’re offering you an “amazing” deal, but in reality they’re just taking advantage of your lack of knowledge by pricing you higher than you deserve and sneaking in fees you don’t know about.
And they laugh about it all the way to the bank.
You don’t deserve to overpay in fees just because a processor thinks they can slide one past you. That’s why we’re sharing some of the most common lies that payment processors love to tell merchants. Watch out – if a processor tells you any one of these lies, you may need to pivot and look to work with someone else.
“Flat Rate Processing Is the Best Processing”
What that really means: Flat rate processing is best for the processor, not the merchant.
Flat processing rates sound great. Get all your processing done for one rate? Easy enough to understand.
There’s just one problem: if you process a high volume of transactions per month, then a flat rate probably doesn’t make sense for your business. Most processors set flat rates that are well above what you could (and should) be paying.
Instead, an interchange plus might be cheaper for you. Find a program that takes into account what kind of transactions you process and what kind of cards your customers use.
“We Won’t Sneak in Any Extra Fees”
What that really means: Of course we’re going to tack on extra fees!
This one is easy to safeguard against: always pore over your merchant statements to make sure your processor is charging you correctly.
Oftentimes a processor will hype up their pricing structure, and it all sounds great until you take a closer look at your merchant statement and find random charges lumped onto your total amount due.
Again, this is a common tactic that processors use to drain extra dollars from your pockets. They know that most merchants have no idea what something like an “EIRF” fee is, so they charge it and get away with it.
The best way to analyze your merchant statement is to have a trustworthy payment processor analyze it for you. That’s what we offer – and we do it for free. Yes, we want you to process with us, but we also just want you to avoid falling for the same tricks that so many merchants fall for.
“We Offer 24/7 Customer Support!”
What that really means: We offer customer support, but it’s not very helpful.
Let’s say you’re having trouble figuring out how to use your EMV terminal. Or, maybe you need someone to remind you what legal requirements you have to fulfill when running a cash discount program.
In that case, choosing a processor that can answer all your questions is crucial. Thing is, a lot of payment processors claim to offer stellar customer service when all they do is outsource your calls to unqualified reps at a call center.
A trustworthy payment processor will invest in quality customer service. When you call them, not just anyone answers the phone. Instead, you talk to someone with knowledge of the payments industry, of your processing plan, and of the hardware you use. They’re available to troubleshoot your specific issues any time of the day, any day of the week.
The reality is this: a company’s dedication (or lack thereof) to its customer service tells you how much they really care about their clients. Go with a processor that values your business.
Does Quantum Say All That Stuff?
Well…yeah, we do. So what makes us different than any other processor?
- We offer interchange plus rates that objectively outmatch our competitors’ rates.
- We commit to 100% transparency and will never pass on a fee to you without letting you know.
- We offer 24/7 customer support, and we even deploy same-day for businesses near our HQ.
All in all, we’re not all talk. Merchants trust us with their financial needs for a reason. We value honesty over anything else, and that belief inspires everything we do.
So what do you say? Click here to send your merchant statement in to us for a completely honest, no-cost analysis.
