The Blog

How to Choose a Merchant Services Processor!

Criteria 1

Work with a salesperson who is honest up front and who will disclose all the fees, someone who has been in the business and knows what he is talking about and can explain all the fees to you; not some slick, sales, Willies, intent on keeping the fees confusing so he can pull the wool over your eyes.

Criteria 2

Make sure you have a simple and easy to understand fees structure and monthly merchant statements that you can understand.

Criteria 3

Ask how long it will take to have your merchant account up and running in 24-48 hours?

Criteria 4

Does the processor communicate with you during the application process, from the first inquiry, to the application, through to the boarding process and having a live merchant account.

Criteria 5

Does the processor have a fully trained and highly competent technical support so you do not have to call 1-800-IGNORE ME, wait on hold for 15 minutes, and listen to someone troubleshoot the situation by reading through a script speaking English as a second language. Test call the processor’s phone number before you sign up.

Criteria 6

In addition is there local and direct support staff associated with your salesperson’s local office that has been and will continue to be with the company for the long term and who know who you are by name?

Plus a most important Criteria 7

Ask for a “No Rate Increase & No Surprise Fee Guarantee!” Most processors out there will raise rates periodically year after year. It is like the story of putting a live frog in warm water and slowing turning the heat up little by little so the frog does not know you are cooking him live!

Electronic Money Company is the only processor I have known that does not raise rates. Our goal is to keep you as a client for life. We never turn the heat up and we have our own technical support in addition to the 24/7/365 support.

P.S. We may not be the right choice for you if:

  • You like the fact that you will never be able to talk to your salesperson again and that no one in the company knows or cares who you are or what kind of problem you are having and need to solve.
  • It is good enough for terminals and POS tablets to arrive in a box with a good luck sticker on them.
  • You and your staff’s time is not important and you love calling your processor to trouble shoot PCI compliance, terminal questions, and merchant statement questions.