What to Avoid in an Online Merchant Account

If you have an online merchant account, then it is almost certainly a significant part of your business’s payment processing. This can be even more true if you offer products or services in the form of a subscription service with automated payments. Giving your customers efficient payment methods will typically increase sales.

There are right and wrong ways to do this, however. When setting up your online merchant account, Keep some things in mind as things to avoid. Offering efficient credit card charging services is essential to enabling your business to survive the COVID-19 lockdown and beyond. Here are the things to avoid when setting up your online merchant account.

Unnecessary Fees

The fees associated with accepting credit cards on your website should to be considered before you signing up for a merchant account. A mistake that some businesses make is not checking how their processing fees work before starting to accept credit cards.

For example, just because a company doesn’t charge monthly fees doesn’t mean they offer the lowest fees – their rates per transaction may be much, much higher to compensate for this.

To avoid getting stuck with fees when you sign up for your online merchant account, make sure you calculate how the processor calculates the fees.

Cancellation Fees

Many credit card charging services charge cancellation fees, so make sure to sign up with a company that does not charge these fees if you want to terminate your contract.

Volume Limitations

Merchant accounts can have limitations on volume that can end up being extra expenditures for your business if you don’t take them into account when you sign with your client. Some processing companies set limits on maximum or minimum monthly transaction volume that can affect fees or even result in the suspension or termination of the account if the limits are breached.

Avoid volume limitations that don’t match your planned volume when setting up for your online merchant account. Make sure to match not just your business’s present needs with the agreement you make with your merchant, but also its anticipated future needs.

The Takeaway

Financial experts now say that people will expect more options for online payment services even after the quarantine lifts, so it’s essential to start preparing your website’s infrastructure for the future now. When you sign up with an online credit card merchant account and refine your site’s credit card charging services, try to avoid unnecessary fees, including cancellation fees, excessive transaction fees, and volume limitation fees and restrictions.

Your agreement with your payment processor will contain this information. Be sure to match your deal to the needs of your online business, especially as you begin accepting more online transactions than ever before.

Charge.com can help you view your options for merchant account services. Visit their website or call them at (888) 924-2743.