5 things to consider while choosing the best merchant solutions for your business

Online payment transactions are growing rapidly. And the number of businesses needing online payment processing and related merchant solutions is increasing with it. Owing to this, businesses have started making their payment systems more adapting and accepting towards card payments.

According to a study by the business research company, the global credit card market is expected to grow from $99.08 billion in 2021 to $101.98 billion by the end of 2022. And by 2026, it is expected to reach $106.67 billion.

It has compelled many businesses to consider accepting credit and debit cards. Today, nearly every business accepts credit and debit card payments. Any business that accepts card payments needs a merchant service provider.

However, merchant service providers are not limited to credit cards. There are several other aspects to it and it depends on the type of business you own. So, it is very important to choose the best merchant service provider for your business.

Before diving right into it, let’s understand what are merchant service providers.

Merchant Service Providers

To create a successful business, an online payment presence is necessary. For that, the business needs a payment processing solution and a merchant service provider (MSP) who can do it.

The business that sells its products or services online is the merchant. The merchant service provider is the company or service that provides you with the necessary tools to enable the best practices for successful online transactions.

There are four major merchant services provided by merchant service providers (MSPs):

1: Merchant Accounts

Merchant accounts are accounts created for easy card payment processing for the business. It plays the role of the intermediary between the customer’s and the business’s bank account.

The companies that set up merchant accounts for the business provide processing services for major credit card networks like VISA and MASTERCARD. Stripe and Stax are the best examples of merchant account companies.

2: Credit Card Processors

Credit card processing can be done for physical as well as online businesses. If the business is a physical store, the owner would need credit card processors that can be used in person by the customers. It can be in the form of a card reader.

A credit card processor facilitates the transactions between credit card companies and businesses. Square and PayPal are the best examples of credit card processors

3: Payment Gateways

The payment gateways facilitate payments between the business’s service providers’ processing networks and their website or application that helps to accept payments. There can be a monthly fee attached to the payment gateway.

These payment gateways consist of recurring bills, security features like encryption to protect customer data, and customer data management. CC Avenue, RazorPay, and Bill Desk are the best examples of payment gateways.

4: Point of Sale

POS or Point of Sale, is the payment counter where customers pay for the purchases they make. It is software on a business owner’s PC used to accept online payments. The software on the POS helps in managing the analytics and inventory.

Today, it also has receipt printing and scanning options. The best examples of POS are Lightspeed and Clover.

What should you look for in an ideal merchant solution?

Finding the ideal merchant Payment solution highly depends on the type of business. It is necessary to find a merchant service provider that can provide the right services required for your business.

For example, if you are a retail food owner, you require merchant solutions that can directly be integrated into your POS system. Here are several things to consider when choosing a merchant solution for your business:

1: Customer reviews

The quality-of-service matters! Before choosing any merchant solution, look for the reviews their clients have given them. This will help you gauge the potential merchant solution.

You can go through various forums and social media platforms like glass door, LinkedIn, or through the website specifically dedicated to giving reviews and suggesting the best services.

You need to find out all about, were their clients happy with their services, do they face any difficulty at any point, and what features retained their clients. However, all these reviewing platforms can have biased or made-up reviews.

So, the most reliable platform for reviews is Google Reviews only. It is the least biased platform. Shortlist from the merchant solutions that have at least 350+ positive reviews and an overall rating of 4 stars. You can now make your own informed decision post discussion with your team.

2: Customer Experience

Due to the excessive use of merchant services, there is a possibility of something going wrong at some point. It could be a technical error, a glitch, or a maintenance problem. Your service provider must have good customer support for resolving such problems.

It should provide FAQs for solving minor issues on your own. This comes in handy for non-working hours too. In addition, there should be a 24*7 chat support system and email support for resolving queries and major problems with the service.

Many companies may offer 24*7 telephonic support but it will mainly be an outsourced service, so there are chances that your problem might not get solved. So, look for merchant solutions that have dedicated account management teams.

3: Value for Money Services

The best merchant services come with a cost. But, if you are spending your money on it, it’s your prime right to get the best quality out of it. So, your ideal merchant service provider must be honest and own up to the prices, fees, or membership plans.

This represents a sense of responsibility that they feel toward their clients. Also, if you find the fee or membership structures too good to be true, do go through the fine print and contracts. This will help you ensure that there’s nothing fishy with it.

Also, merchant service providers must provide extraordinary functions and services which are most suitable for your business. This shows their personalized dedication toward your business.

4: Best Security Functions

Your customers put their trust in you by choosing to make purchases from your business. And, you have to grant complete access to your customer’s financial information to the merchant service provider. Thus, security should be your biggest priority in the process.

You need to make sure that your merchant service provider keeps your customer’s transactions secured. For that, you must find the solution that is proven to be the safest and most secure for their clients, over the years.

Furthermore, your merchant service provider should always maintain the required high-security standards and PCI compliances to protect your business’s online transactions at all costs. Make sure to check your accessibility to the money and its related information.

5: Integrations

The merchant service providers must have payment methods that can be integrated with the tools that are already used by your business. Fixing and changing the entire framework for making the new payment processes work can be a daunting process.

For example, all payments should be integrated through the payment gateway and be accepted by the merchant service provider. This makes the payment process smooth and seamless.

The merchant service provider must integrate their services with maximum shopping carts like Shopify, Wix, open cart, and many more. This facilitates online businesses and their payment processes.

Conclusion

To wrap up, not every company will need a full merchant services account. But, if you are a small business or a beginner, a simple yet effective merchant service provider can be perfect for you. If you are a large-scale business, the volume of transactions will also be large. Here, you need a multiple-service integrated merchant solution.

To find the best merchant service providers, make a note of your business’s current and upcoming potential functions. It could be the security, reliability, features, pricing, and a variety of important requirements. The main goal should be to meet your business needs and purpose.

Thus, if you consider the above-discussed factors while choosing the merchant solutions, you will definitely land on the best payment processing solutions leading to the ultimate goal of a successful business.