Three Things New Business Owners Need From Merchant Account Providers
Starting a new business is exciting. After all, it’s the start of a new adventure that may change your life. But the thrill of going it alone or with business partners can soon touch the reality of modern working life. Government regulations, human resources, cash flow, and other things can give business owners sleepless nights. One way to ease these burdens is to use a merchant account vendor. These companies help companies, among other things, to:
- process payments, manage compliance and help limit fraud
- manage disputes, chargebacks and other issues where finances and customers overlap
- manage inventory, orders, employees, customers and others.
Here are three things to consider when choosing a merchant services account provider:
1. Choose a trusted platform
New business owners need to be comfortable with risk. Many give up the security of a regular salary and put their own finances and reputation on the line.
While this comes with the territory, one area to limit risk is in merchant services. Here, it makes sense to go with an established and trusted provider. Business owners will want to choose a company with a good track record, ideally years, of managing payments and innovating with products.
Internet research, opinions and recommendations of the Better Business Bureau and others can all help narrow down the search. But nothing beats a one-on-one conversation with the merchant account company.
A key area to focus on is their customer service and technical support. Modern businesses, especially exclusively e-commerce businesses, or “bricks and mortar” hybrids and online stores, operate 24/7/365. This makes always-available technical support services essential.
2. Emphasize transparency and flexibility
When choosing a provider, business owners should look closely at the transparency and flexibility of contract terms. This is a good first test of how the provider works and shows what to expect in the future. A simple and helpful company, which offers flexible conditions, is worth looking for.
Look for things like a monthly service contract with no hidden fees or cancellation fees. Other aspects include the state of the vendor’s system, its approach to privacy, and how it interacts with businesses and their customers. Good merchant service providers will work with all parties involved to resolve issues before they become bigger problems.
3. Plan for the future
All business owners want to be successful, but that means different things to different people. This makes the ability to grow and scale as important to the merchant service provider as it is to the business owner.
Finding a provider that helps businesses future-proof is important because it frees owners to focus on important things like cash flow. They can rest easy knowing that the ability to process payments and other things is at their fingertips now and tomorrow.
At a minimum, businesses will expect to see a variety of merchant services hardware and software packages that allow them to start small and grow as needed. And, like their own customers, suppliers must be constantly evolving. This means that they must offer state-of-the-art equipment while developing new products designed with safety, ease of use and utility in mind.
