| A business that selects a credit card processing | | | | Understand the fee structure |
| (CCP) agency, solely because of its cheap processing | | | | Card processors charge fees other than the discount |
| rates, is making a grave mistake. Processing fee is | | | | fee, under various names. Make sure all the fees are |
| only a small part of the complete CCP solution you | | | | included in the contract and that there are no hidden |
| buy from the provider. You must evaluate the other | | | | fees or ambiguous terms and conditions. Never sign a |
| services offered by a merchant account provider | | | | contract without having your lawyer go over it. |
| before signing it on. | | | | Verify the reputation |
| Follow these guidelines to assess a credit card | | | | The market is full of big and small CCP agencies |
| processor: | | | | offering cheap and fast services. Some of these may |
| Verify the customer care service | | | | not even be legitimate. Do not deal with an agency |
| A business may need the help of customer care often | | | | without checking its references. If the agency does not |
| in the initial days of using the point-of-sale terminals and | | | | have any customer referrals, check out its rating in the |
| installed software. It is important that customer care | | | | Better Business Bureau. Any complaints or disputes |
| personnel respond without delay, or you may lose the | | | | against the agency should be listed here. Question the |
| sale. A credit card (CC) processor that has 24x7 | | | | provider on these matters. |
| customer care services is always preferable since an | | | | Get contact names, numbers and email addresses |
| immediate solution is required when you face CCP | | | | The merchant must have details such as the name of |
| problems. | | | | the credit card processor, physical address, a contact |
| Enquire about the quality of customer care service | | | | person's name, phone number and email address. |
| from current and past customers. This will give you an | | | | Having the contact details of other company |
| idea of the agency's attitude towards customer care | | | | representatives is also a good strategy to assure fast |
| service, knowledge level of the personnel, promptness | | | | and timely response. There may be occasions when |
| of the response and what they are being charged for | | | | customer care may not meet your requirements. |
| the service. | | | | Contracts with CCP vendors are usually multi-year |
| Enquire about the security features offered for | | | | and you would not want to be tied down with an |
| card-less transactions | | | | agency that may not be legitimate. You need to be |
| Most internet CCP agency offer security features for | | | | wary of agencies that offer reasonable rates initially |
| card-less payments to reduce the risk of credit card | | | | and then start springing the hidden costs. It is important |
| fraud. Security features include encryption of CC | | | | to verify the reputation and processes of a CCP |
| information, address verification, IP address blocking, | | | | agency before signing it on. A reliable and efficient |
| etc. Advanced security options make the credit card | | | | vendor will not only help you increase sales, but also |
| transactions safer, but may cost extra. | | | | provide financial protection. |