Why Credit Card Processing Is Never One-Size-Fits-All

At SwipeSum, we always talk about how confusing the payments industry can be. Merchants try to avoid this confusion, but that’s no easy task. Far too often, merchants make the mistake of choosing a processor that is convenient rather than one that offers real value to their business.Take a look at the current payments landscape and you’ll see that there are a number of trendy processing platforms claiming to be one-size-fits-all. They claim that they’re the best option for any business. While the popularity of these systems might be attractive to many merchants, failing to evaluate a payments solution beyond its sleek appearance and supposed ease-of-use is a big mistake. I’m not saying these solutions are bad. In some cases, they really are the perfect fit. But many business owners are losing money by choosing to use them. If you’re in the process of choosing a new processor for your business, there are several reasons why you should evaluate your processing beyond what is easy. Here are three of the big ones:

POS Integrations

These easily-accessible platforms are often tied to a single POS, which can be detrimental to your business. You will have to operate on their system, which is not specifically designed to fit your industry or business needs. This prevents you from optimizing your daily operations, which in turn has adverse effects on virtually all other areas of your business.Luckily, there are a number of POS systems that cater to the unique needs of different business niches. Taking the time to thoroughly research your POS options, choose the right one, then selecting a processor that is able to integrate directly into your POS will save your business a huge headache in the long run.

Hardware

Similar to POS integrations, these platforms have designated hardware that merchants are unable to escape from. This causes essentially the same problem that merchants face with the platform’s specific POS; they get locked into using terminals that may not be optimal for their business. And as we saw with getting locked into a POS that is not designed for your business type, this can cause a multitude of problems.Additionally, the hardware that they are given “for free” is typically just rented from the processor. In most cases, merchants who use them often sink money into them without realizing it. So, by choosing one of these convenient and easily-accessible platforms, not only are you creating future problems for your business, but you are losing money while doing so. An up-front investment in a full terminal that fits your business needs will end up being much cheaper than the “free” option in many cases.

Price

Take away all of the issues that come with being bound to a single POS or hardware, these platforms are just downright expensive. They’re pretty, it’s true, but that comes at a hefty price. Because they’re so convenient to us, these platforms can get away with charging high percentages, well beyond what most other processors would charge. Also, processing fee percentages are uniform for all businesses, meaning some businesses might be grossly overpaying. In order to save your business money for the long term, you should find a processor that integrates with your POS and hardware and negotiate a reasonable rate with them.There is no doubt that these trendy platforms offer a quick and convenient option to get your business up and running with credit card processing. But this convenience comes at a price and can do more harm than good for your business. When looking for a new payments solution, merchants would do well to evaluate not just the convenience that comes with a platform, but other factors like your point-of-sale software, hardware, and pricing structure. This is a painstaking process, but luckily there is a solution. At SwipeSum, we go through this process for you - completing work that could take you months in just a few hours. If you want to find a holistic solution for your payment processing needs, get started with SwipeSum today!