A merchant services account is required by anyone who sells goods or provides a service and takes credit card payments. Without the ability to accept plastic, you will be losing sales; in fact, some merchants simply can't afford not to take credit cards.
When you sign up for a merchant services account, you will be assigned a sales representative (or have the opportunity to choose one yourself). The sales rep will contact you periodically to offer his or her service, or provide information about new merchant services accounts that are available. If you are not already selling merchant services, ask your bank about an account. If they do not offer this service, they should be able to refer you to a company in your area that does.
Once you have a merchant services account, there are several things to keep in mind before accepting credit card payments at your company:
Make sure customers feel comfortable about handing over their credit cards. Your staff should be well trained and know how to use the equipment properly. A conscientious attitude will help customers relax, which means more sales.
Make sure you have a system for processing payments and depositing your earnings promptly so that fees don't add up. It is best to set aside time every day (even if it's only 30 minutes) for handling merchant services transactions. Be sure to keep detailed records of all your sales, as well as the fees that merchant services charges you for each transaction.
Remember that a merchant services account is a business expense, and track all your income and expenditures conscientiously.
Do not rebate fees that you have already been charged. It is one thing if you feel that there were extraneous circumstances that caused extra costs to accrue, but only rebating something because you "didn't make enough money" off a sale is unethical.
Remember that the merchant services account you have with your bank or credit card company is not an unlimited resource. If you exceed certain limits, your account will be terminated. This means you won't be able to accept payments anymore until you get another account, which can take time and money to set up.
You should always look out for customers' interests and try to provide a service that meets their expectations, but do what you can reasonably afford to. There are a lot of small companies that could benefit from accepting credit card payments, but if it's going to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to keep up with credit card transactions, it is best to think twice.
