Are You Getting Taken Advantage of by Credit Card Processors?

I would say that the merchant services industry is competitive, and even cut throat in some cases. Many merchants have been taken advantage of by credit card processors’ ads of low teaser rates and costly equipment. I was working on a very large merchant account this past week and felt that the proposal we put together was honest, fair, and was beneficial to the merchant. I got a call from the prospective merchant saying that they had a quote from another processor that doubled their savings. With the small margin in the account, the savings they promised seemed too good to be true. After reviewing the quote, I noticed that the processor offered the same rates as I did. So how did they get double the savings?

I then noticed the sales agent wrote, “We will save you X amount of dollars by educating you on how to make your non-qualified EIRF (Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee) qualified.” What they did was take the non-qualified transactions and told her they would be qualified, so she would pay less Interchange fees on those transactions.

This situation happens often, and merchants are not always aware of what to look for or who to trust. There is no way this merchant services provider could guarantee what interchange category each card will fall into.

Here are some tips to ensure you are being treated fairly:

I think as time goes on and merchants become more educated, these types of sales agents will be weeded out. If not, merchants should not give up on the fact that there are good honest companies out there.

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