How to choose a merchant provider

There are many options available in the market for choosing a credit card processor. While having choices is helpful for comparison shopping, it also can get quite overwhelming. To select a processor, you really want to focus on the factors that are most pertinent to your company.

It's important to note that stand-alone credit card processors such as First Data or Jet Pay typically offer lower rates than the merchant services department at a major bank such as Bank of America or Chase. It may seem that it would be more convenient for your bank to be the processor, but bank fees are usually at least one hundred basis points higher.

Another factor to consider is cash flow. What do I mean by that? Credit card processors can hold the money from the time it is processed to the time it reaches your bank account. Each processor follows a different system, and some even manage the time in order to gain the interest income on the "float." In contrast, a payment "wallet" provider such as Paypal offers immediate access to the funds. PayPal can do this because its process integrates the gateway, processor and merchant account into one step. However, such companies' fees are sometimes not as competitive as those of independent providers.

At Bank Card Buddy we have taken the guesswork out of the equation and offer a solution to only provide the best service companies while also offering the most competitive pricing under one roof.