Whenever a customer or client uses a debit or credit card to make a payment to your business, you are charged a fee. Additional fees imposed by credit and debit card issuers can add to the overall cost of taking credit and debit cards from your consumers.
Credit card processing costs may not be the first thing that springs to mind for small company owners.
When it comes to fees, the modest percentages processors charge for each transaction may soon mount up. Your monthly credit card processing expense might skyrocket if transaction fees, assessment fees, authorization costs, and monthly fees are added together.
You may minimize your credit card processing costs by using some of the following methods:
Talk to credit card processors about lowering fees.
The executive director of a merchant service provider feels that the greatest way to get a better deal from payment processors is to be perceived as a firm that offers value, making the vendor want to work with you.
Processors are able to bargain with their suppliers based on the amount of processing their customers perform. If you pay them a lot, they have a lot more leverage upstream to assist you to get reduced overhead expenses in other regions. As a result, your fees will be reduced,” he says.
Reduce the risk of credit card fraud.
Credit card processing costs will rise as a result of the greater risk you face as a merchant. Swiping credit cards and inputting security information are the two most common ways to prevent credit card theft, says Jeffrey Gehrs, president of Electronic Merchant Systems, a credit card processing business.
You can swipe as many cards as you like, Gehrs instructed. Since card companies like Visa and MasterCard establish prices depending on the likelihood of fraud, he explains, the rates are greater when cards are entered manually.
This may seem like a little inconvenience, but ignoring this step might cost your firm more than 1% of each sale,” he stated. When you don’t use this technique, you’re increasing your chance of fraud.
Use an address verification service.
Use an address verification service (AVS), a system that validates the billing address of the cardholder with the card issuer, to reduce credit card fraud even more. Chargebacks are kept to a minimum thanks to this powerful fraud-fighting tool.
The customer’s address is entered during the checkout process and compared to the bank’s record of the customer’s address.
AVS is supported by both Visa and MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa offers a cheaper interchange charge to merchants who execute an AVS check on transactions as an incentive to encourage its use.
Consult with a credit card processing expert.
Payment processing is something that the vast majority of small business owners have no idea even exists. To get the most out of your credit card processing, get help from an expert.
“Here is the secret that merchants are generally astonished to learn: Regardless of their size or volume, almost all credit card processors obtain their rates directly from Visa, MasterCard, and Discover for the same amount.”