There comes a time with every online business owner where you must decide who offers the best payment gateway services for your business. Meaning, which company will allow you to accept credit cards over an Internet connection, without the card present, with ease of use and low fees?
And when you set out to make this decision, you should make sure the payment gateways you are considering maintain a high level of transparency.
What do we mean when we talk about transparency in a payment gateway service? Specifically, transparency when it comes to pricing and overall costs.
If you’ve done any research yet, you’ve probably noticed how varied the pricing for payment gateway services is between companies. Reputable gateway services will be upfront and open about the fees associated with their services.
If you have to dig to find their fees, you may want to tread carefully. You shouldn’t have a problem finding their pricing information and you should also be able to verify those prices with a representative over the phone.
In fact, just to be sure, you can call a few different customer service representatives. They should all confirm the same pricing scheme. If you get inconsistent feedback, be careful. Take more time and do more research before moving forward with them.
Be aware many services charge a setup fee, as well as monthly service fees, a fee on top of the interchange, and in some cases a cancellation fee. These fees aren’t the same in every case and not every payment gateway service charges for each of these.
Pricing is highly competitive so the best thing to do is shop and compare. Some payment gateway services don’t charge you if you need to cancel their service and will allow you to pay month-to-month.
Situations change and business needs change too. It’s important to have as much flexibility as possible as a business owner.
Many payment processors will negotiate their pricing with you based on the type of business and merchandise you sell, and also the number of payments you accept.
Just be careful if it seems too good to be true. Some services offer a lot but come up short on the delivery.
Don’t shoot yourself in the proverbial foot. You could get stuck in a contract with a payment gateway service who has poor customer service, high rates, and a massive cancellation fee.
It is not uncommon for two different payment processing companies to offer similar products and usually one is trying to offer “rock bottom” prices. This is great on the one hand because it stimulates competition.
But beware. The more attractive the price, often times the customer service and actual content is lacking depth and quality. And maybe even lacking security! Yikes.
Sometimes paying a little more for the same product pays off. Especially if you get personal customer service.
It’s like hiring a personal accountant. You are basically entrusting this person with your life in many ways. Do you really want the cheapest CPA out there handling your finances? I think not.
Now, I am not suggesting you spend outside of your budget. And yes, shop around for reasonable pricing schemes. But just keep it in mind.
Some of the fees can be waived or lowered as already implied, so this could actually end up saving you money in the end.
Bottom line, you need to set your business up with a solid payment gateway service. Your customers are counting on you to give them the option to pay however they choose to pay for your goods.
You will find out quickly how important it is for the success of your business for you get yourself equipped and ready to take their orders.
If you are operating on the small scale (as in less than $3,000/mo) you should definitely consider an easier payment method like PayPal or Square.
They are the fastest to set up and they have flat rates per transaction. There is no complicated, long wait for approval. You just simply sign up to be a member. No fees for membership either. They basically charge you per transaction and that’s it.
They do offer more, which of course you have to pay for. But if you are just starting your business, this is a great way to get off the ground.
We over here at RedFynn would love to assist you with anything we can, and this “anything” happens to cover all of the bases. Just so you know.
Contact us at (888) 510-9871 to ask ANY questions you have. Or shoot us an email here. We’re here to serve and always happy to help!
