Congratulations! You're chasing your dream of owning a business, or you've decided to start comparing vendors to find the best credit card processing company. No matter who you are, it's safe to say credit card processing isn't your sweet spot. It can be tempting to sign up with the first or easiest company you find online because you are unfamiliar with the industry, but that could be very costly. Before you commit to any company, we want to give you a simple checklist to help narrow the search for the best credit card processing company.
1. Do you have to sign a long-term contract?
This is typically not a good sign. You’ll find some disturbing things in the fine print of many long-term contracts. When trying to help people out of their contracts, we’ve seen everything from unlimited rate increases to hidden fees. Once, we even saw a cancellation process/fees equivalent to almost $50,000!
Yes, you read that correctly. Something more frequent is that many of these contracts state that you must give 90-days’ notice to cancel, or you are automatically locked into another 3-year contract. The list of horror stories goes on, but a good rule of thumb is that a long-term contract is usually not a good sign, so make sure you ask many questions before signing one.
2. What are their customers saying?
Reviews don’t lie. While it would be easy for a company to pay for good reviews, they have no way to delete the bad ones. Google and Facebook are the best places to find reviews direct from customers because many of the articles you see online for “best companies” only list companies that paid to be there. If a business doesn’t have reviews on either of these sites, that’s likely a red flag.
Cut businesses slack if they have a small number of bad reviews; unfortunately, things sometimes happen. However, if they have a lot of negative thoughts, that’s probably not a good sign. A top-rated credit card processing company on Google and Facebook is perhaps top-rated for a reason.
3. What will it cost you?
Surprisingly, the first two questions will also help you here. There are so many moving parts to credit card processing, so remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. One of the everyday things you’ll see on unhappy reviews is a complaint about undisclosed or hidden fees. Avoid companies where that is a common theme within their studies, and look for transparent companies.
Another thing to watch out for is a company that advertises giving away free equipment. If they are willing to give you a free $1,500 POS system, there is likely a contract attached. Make sure that if a company offers you free equipment, there are no strings attached. Customer reviews are a great way to find the most trustworthy credit card processing company that will hopefully not take advantage of you.
4. How is their customer support?
Great rates and low transaction fees are significant, but what if your machine goes down? What if you have a billing question or change you need to make? Which credit card processing company has the best customer service or support for you? This is something else that people don’t think about until they've been waiting on hold for an hour to get their machine up and running again. The best customer service is crucial to the best credit card processing company.
One of the largest companies in the industry is known for its ease of signup, innovative technology, and terrible customer support. Make sure your company proves its dedication to you by focusing on supporting you. You might even consider testing it and giving their support line a call. How long did you have to wait?
Small business owners founded us to look out for small business owners.
At VizyPay, we believe you should trust the people you are doing business with within an industry as complicated as credit card processing. That is why we believe in 100% transparency and have all our fees and costs on our website. This may give our competitors some inside scoop into how we do business, but that’s something we are willing to risk knowing that it earns your trust in the process. So while shopping for the best credit card processor, look at how VizyPay stacks up, and explore our blog to learn more about the best tips to benefit your business!
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