Are you trapped in your current credit card processing company agreement?

When signing on the dotted line for credit card processing, many forget that they are signing a contract that’s been written by a bunch of attorneys who aren’t there to help you. Their goal is to help the organization that hired them. (You know, the ones who are shuffling YOUR money around.)

It’s key to pay attention to that fact.

Another error that business owners make is walking into their bank and saying, “Hey, I set up my bank account here and now I want to get set up for credit card processing.”

Big mistake! Don’t use your bank because if you have questions or need help, the branch is going to hand you a “1-800-eat-crap” number that likely will not get you the help that you need. You need a credit card processing specialist (like us) who can easily navigate these issues because they’ve dealt with them before.

So, if you think you’re stuck or are about to sign an agreement and don’t want to end up in a bad agreement – keep reading.

One of the first things you’ll want to ask to find out if the person that you’re talking to really knows their stuff is, “What’s your non PCI fee?”

If you’re not familiar with this term, but PCI DSS stands for payment card industry data security standards and every merchant in America has to be PCI compliant. That includes the processor, the software, the credit card machine, virtual terminal gateway, etc.

If you’re using Square, PayPayl, or Stripe, you might not be PCI compliant! If you don’t believe me, do your research. Go to Google and search, “Do I need to be PCI compliant with PayPal? Do I need to be PCI compliant with Square, with Stripe, with any merchant service company?”

And I guarantee 100% of the time it will show yes, you, the merchant needs to be compliant with those organizations.

It’s not just a safety measure, but there is a fee associated with being non-PCI-compliant. Take a look at one of your invoices that you’re getting. It’s going to have a couple of things listed that you need to be paying attention to, one of them being the non-PCI fee which is going to range anywhere from $19 or $20 bucks to as high as $150.

So, if someone tells you, “Oh, you don’t have to be PCI compliant,” you’re going to remember this and go, wait a minute something’s not quite right. You should not be risking your security or paying outrageous fees. We actually offer a service that’s only $7.50 a month to get you compliant so that you can avoid these issues altogether!

Next thing you want to ask – Can you help me with that? Most people won’t even know what an SAQ (Self Assessment Questionnaire) even is!

And if they do know, they likely won’t know how to go through it correctly. They won’t know how to get you complaint. That’s why doing YOUR research is so important. This is your paycheck in a sense, right. If you’re not accepting payments, you’re not going to get paid.

Make sure you’re working with a RELIABLE source. How long have they been in the industry? If they are brand new – yes, everyone has to start somewhere – but that is not enough time to know the ins and outs of this industry. Here at Swypit we have over 50 years of combined knowledge alone!

Another big mistake that business owners make when choosing a credit card processing company is going with the first one someone you know refers you to. They may not be the best fit for you. You have to do your own research to make sure they can get you PCI compliant and have good customer service to assist you with any questions or issues you might have.

Or maybe a door-to-door salesman comes and pitches you a product. Maybe even scares you into it so you sign on the dotted line and then two or three years later rates shoot up but it’s too late because you’re locked into an agreement, overpaying for service that under delivers. We see it all of the time.

What you really need to know is are they going to give you the best service? Most of these software companies that are tied to credit card processors have teaser rates that guarantee to be the lowest or match anyone who is, but you need to make sure you sign with a company that is going to support you.

I am such an advocate for having a credit card machine, but you also need the right software. I have so many clients that have software, but they’re using the credit card machine on the side. I don’t how many times people call me up that have integrated software and their software went down!

Suddenly, they’re out of business. You can’t even take payments, but what if you had a credit card machine sitting there costing them money?

You know what we do? We provide those credit card machines for free. We’ll give you one. How many do you want? I recently had a guy up in Boston who used to be a client in North Carolina, and goes, “Hey, Kevin, I’m opening a $5 and below and need 15 credit card machines, how much is it going to cost me?”

And I go zero, $0. We want you processing credit. Listen, the idea of business is to help people in what they do, right? You want to be having good partners. You want to find the right partners.

And that’s why people work with us. It’s really easy and we know how to do it.

We don’t just hand over a machine, we make sure that we set up merchants to be successful. The first time we’re all about following through and giving them the knowledge and expertise that they need or what they need in their business. Not some canned approach. We customize everything to make things easier.

We’re not just about making money. We’re about helping our clients be more successful in their business.

If you’re ready to make credit card processing easy and work with industry experts that KNOW how to get you the right agreement, the best prices, and are here to help you grow your business, not be just another expense – give us a call.