05 Things to Know About Credit Card Processing (And Why It Matters) in 2019

Credit card processing might not seem complicated, but small businesses, like home-based sellers and one-person operations, have a lot to contemplate when they accept card payments. The way to accepting credit cards is not simple at all. Getting permitted for a merchant account, utilizing the similar technology as a large business, and keeping up with the ever-changing safety protocols and needs can be harrowing assignments in their own right; all in all, the hurdles can seem insuperable. Small business holders do not need to feel as though they are at a total disadvantage. Here are top 05 Things to Know About Credit Card Processing in 2019 to stay ahead.

First, Learn The Lingo:

Accepting credit cards denotes having to know about a new vocabulary to comprehend how the cash is being moved and who is doing that. But for the majority of resource-strapped small companies, the center is more on getting the system set up than being concerned with such particulars and industry jargon.

Nonetheless, to save yourself any future annoyances should an issue come up, it is significant to at least have a little idea of what takes place behind the scenes. To begin, Intuit, the maker of the accounting program QuickBooks, identified the following few key players in the credit card processing:

• Merchant Bank: 

The financial institution that offers merchant account services to make transactions to bank accounts easy. (Note: There’s dissimilarity between aggregators and merchant banks. Credit card processing services, like PayPal and Square Here, are aggregators that might make merchant accounts and process your credit card transactions, but they’re not financial institutions or banks.)

• Processor:

Basically, the 3rd-party middleman that takes on merchant bank errands makes credit card transactions easy and routes credit card info to the correct merchant accounts and payment networks.

• Issuing Bank:

The monetary institution that issues a credit card to a consumer is called an issuing bank.

• Card Payment Brand:

Credit card brands such as MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express are different card payment brands.

Second, Locate The True Credit Card Processor:

Only because you are an extremely small business does not denote the credit card processing choices are limited. It all rides on the type of your business, where and how you mean to conduct your business, and how much streamlining you will require to make running your business a lot simpler.

For example, if you own mobile business, splurge a lot of your time going to trade shows or else desire the flexibility of accepting the credit card payments anyplace, a moving credit card processor is the great option for you. And if you own an electronic commerce store, contemplate a shared commerce POS (point-of-sale) system that combines credit card transactions with the accounting and CRM (customer relationship management) program to automatically merge online and offline sales data.

Third, Revenue Needs:

Despite the numerous credit card processing choices accessible, one problem to being an extremely small business is that it can be a dare to meet seller needs if the business does not make enough profits, credit card processing businesses might reject the application. Income needs differ broadly, but a few credit card processors expect at least ten thousand dollars in profits a month. If you do not meet strict revenue needs, have no fright. With a little digging, you will locate credit card processors that deal with very small businesses.

One such low-income seller is BluePay, which presents customizable solutions for companies of all sizes, from mom-and-pop shops to sellers. Others include Stripe, Helcim, and PayPal Credit Card Processing.

Forth, Security Of Data:

Small companies are held to similar security standards as large companies. Irrespective of the business’s size and which processing service you go for, you are accountable for ensuring the seller has strict standards of security and fulfillment measures primed. Such standards comprise the 3-digit CVV2 (card verification value), the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Data Security Standard, E2EE (end-to-end encryption) and SSLs (secure sockets layers) protocol.

In fact, new Payment Card Industry changes implemented 30th June 2018, need that all electronic commerce merchants update their measures of security by utilizing either Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.1 or Transport Layer Security 1.2 to encrypt better credit card and client info transmitted between their browser and server.

Fifth, The Fees Of Credit Card Processing:

Finding out the fees of accepting credit cards can look like rocket science. There is a myriad fee engaged, varying from proportions to actual dollar amounts that differ based on the kind of processor or transaction. Such fees are principally significant for extremely small business merchants who are worried that the fees of credit card processing might cut a lot into their bottom line (for example, mom-and-pop stores that need a minimum buying amount to make use of a credit card). Here are the kinds of fees extremely small businesses ought to be cautious about as they append up on a per-transaction and monthly basis:

• Statement Fee:

Costs charged to cover the mailing and printing charges for credit card statements (the industry standard is ten dollars a month but can be as low as five dollars or as high as fifteen dollars per month).

• Payment Gateway Fee:

Just like terminal charges, such fees apply to electronic commerce companies to process consumers' credit card information (fees differ).

• Average Discount Rates Fee:

A proportion of the sale that your credit card processor keeps (rates vary).

• Monthly Minimum Fee:

Costs charged to merchants who do not get to their transactional total for a month or the year (differs but might need you to disburse extra if you do not meet the least).
Transaction Fee:
A set dollar amount charged for each transaction.

• AVS (Address Verification Service) Fee:

If you have an electronic commerce company, you will be charged an Address Verification Service fee on each transaction.

If you keep the things mentioned above in mind, these can really help you grow your small business. Hope that this guide will help you learn a little more about the credit card processing.