TOP Credit Card Processing

1
Charge.com Product Image

Charge.com

  • Online for more than 20 years
  • They provide free, high quality equipment
  • Good customer support
  • Flexible in terms of payment possibilities

Charge.com has been on the internet longer than most of the websites you’re currently visiting. This fact is encouraging considering how far the internet has come since 1996. During that time, Charge.com has evolved their product to the point where they remain on of the industry leaders. Due to the generic nature of their name, odds are they’re not one of the most remarkable companies out there. This doesn’t matter because they have a product that stands up to any level of scrutiny. You will find that there’s a reason they have been around for so long. They know what they’re doing.

9.9

BEST!

2
Chase Product Image

Chase

  • The Orbital Virtual Terminal application
  • One of the largest credit card processors in the country
  • The iTerminal

Chase is remarkable just because of its name recognition alone. As soon as you get past their noteworthy reputation, you will find that they have effective financial options. The relief you will feel when you hitch your wagon to a service that’s as trusted as Chase is hard to quantify. You could go with unproven entities or you could do business with a company that has been around. The financial world changes so much with each passing day. Imagine the level of change it has undergone in a century. Throughout all the trials and tribulations that have happened over a hundred years, Chase has stood the test of time.

9.8

Outstanding

3
Flagship Merchant Services Product Image

Flagship Merchant Services

  • A lot of freebies included (a free credit card reader, EMV/NFC terminal, a $50 AMEX gift card)
  • No cancellation fees and long-term contract required
  • The ability to accept payments over the phone
  • High quality security measures
  • Good customer support

Every business needs to promote the best parts of themselves and Flagship Merchant Services fails in this regard. They decide that the part of their business they want to put front and center is the positive reviews they received from one website. This factoid is appealing; however, it falls short of being a relevant piece of information. They should have put features of their business that were worthy of the attention of their potential customers. This information is stuck on pages buried deep within this website. The service itself is great. You have to read and dig to realize this fact, but it’s a fact that’s apparent with even the most minimal amount of scrutiny.

8.8

Very Good

4
CreditCardProcessing.com Product Image

CreditCardProcessing.com

  • Experienced company; on the market since 1998
  • Secure mobile payments
  • Good customer support
  • No long-term commitment required

Although CreditCardProcessing.com is not remarkable when it comes to its name, it has solid features that are well worth the attention of anyone who needs a service like this one. It seems like they borrow a lot from Flagship Merchant Services in terms of the technology they use. Their inability to branch out and become more of a unique entity diminishes their standing in the industry. The options they have are appealing; however, they do not fill in the gaps when it comes to their application process or how much they charge.

8.1

Very Good

Last updated March 21, 2024

All About Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Processing

If you run a business, you have to have some way to accept payment. That’s where credit card processing services come in. The companies behind these services remove the limitations that were once placed on business owners when it came to accepting payments. There used to be a time when you needed a bulky cash register or point-of-sale system to complete your transactions. As technology has evolved and become more multifunctional, the opportunities business owners have for increasing their customer base have gone up exponentially. Now there’s no reason why aspiring entrepreneurs should avoid entering their way into the marketplace.

Sorting Through the Competition

The biggest problem with technology and how easy it is for people to enter into markets in which they were once unwelcome is the rush to fill any sort of need. Companies used to have a need for credit card processing services so up-and-coming businesses rushed to fill that need. As time went on, the need became much less pronounced, but the level of competition continued to rise. Consumers have the option to choose from one of dozens of different credit card processors. This plentiful selection creates problems when it comes time to choose one service over all the others.

Finding the Right Feedback

On the internet, there’s no shortage of people ready and willing to speak their mind. This is helpful as long as people are willing to do their homework and find reviews from trusted sources. Whether it’s a review from a professional who has been writing reviews forever or someone who has just used the service, you should draw some truth from everything you read. Avoid getting caught up in disgruntled former customers who are too busy grinding their axes to give impartial criticism. The reviews you read need to encompass the best features of each service and how they function.

Rising Up in a Mobile World

We live in a world where everyone is mobile. You can’t limit yourself to one type of credit card processing. You need to be aware of all the options people are using and then pick the most frequently used choices. These options include being able to process credit cards in person, over the phone, or online. With these tools in your repertoire, you should have no problems serving the needs of every customer. Rather than sitting back and hoping your customers will use the payment methods you want to accept, you need to cater to their needs.

Coming to Terms with the Obvious

It’s difficult for business owners to avoid accepting credit cards. Not many people use cash anymore. The options are fewer for companies that do all their business online. Thinking that you somehow have a leg up on your competitors just because of how you present your products is ill-advised. You need to have it in your mind that your competitors are out there trying to come up with ways to get a leg up. You can’t let them have that advantage. Your ability to succeed in the world of business comes down to whether you can see signs in the marketplace and adjust your business accordingly.

Catching Up with Trends

Mobile providers have thrown an additional wrench into the gears. Apple Pay and services like it are geared towards those of who want to pay for things without having to constantly reach for our payment card. These services rose to the forefront so quickly that businesses were slow to catch up. The amount of businesses that are not using these services is smaller than ever; however, there are still businesses out there that haven’t incorporated these services into their operations. This is problematic because their use is becoming more common with each passing day.

Avoiding Being the Victim of Catches

Before you decide that you want to sign with a credit card processing service, you need to be aware of all the stipulations they might have in their contracts. Agreeing to work with any financially related operation is challenging because there are catches all over the place. You can’t let any service try to get out of things to which they agreed when you first contacted them. Read the contract several times and ask questions about things that don't look right. Your willingness to stand up for yourself will prevent you from being stuck with a service that has the opposite of your best interests in mind.

Navigating Through the Fees

People who work hard for their money don’t want to give a cent to anyone else. That’s not something that they can get away with when they work with a credit card processing company. The fact that these companies charge fees should be surprising to no one. If they didn’t charge fees, their revenue streams would be nonexistent and out of business in a month. The key to dealing with these services is finding the organization that charges the smallest amount of fees. You have to get a good return on your investment or it’s not worth it.

Picking the Right Service

The complexity of the arrangements credit card processing services have with their customers should be seen as a sign of their value, not a reason to run away from them. As a business owner, you need to select what’s best for your business. Your ability to understand what’s put in front of you is something else entirely. Anything that you can’t understand now will become easily understood with a bit of effort. The service you choose needs to have people working for them who will bring you up to speed and make your experience with their service that much more enjoyable.

Conclusion

Credit card processing services have become a necessity for anyone who’s operating in the business sector. In selecting a service, you have to look long and hard for the service that will bring the best out of your business. Technology can be an asset as long as you make the most of its usefulness. There are so many ways that business owners can go about doing what they do best. It’s all a matter of their ability to concentrate on how they want to move forward. Obsolescence can easily be avoided with a heavy dose of evolution.

Credit Card Processing - What To Look For

Credit Card Processing

Sorting through all the credit card processing services to find the best ones is a task that few should envy. We spent a considerable amount of time cutting the massive list of possible choices down to the options that are featured on this site. Based on our research, we could have easily expanded this site to include dozens of options. Rather than bogging down your decision making process, we wanted to make it easier for you to choose the right service for you. Odds are your rating criteria might be different, but we hope you will get enough out of our review to make an informed decision.

Weeding Out the Suspicious Choices

You don’t need anything more than a website to start a business. Whether or not you provide a service that’s useful to the public is something else entirely. We might like to think that the world is full of good people and it is. Unfortunately, there’s a subset of people who want nothing more than to take advantage of every opportunity to get ahead. Your ideal credit card processing service needs to have a great deal of integrity and be completely devoid of signs that will raise red flags from anyone who’s on the outside looking in.

Focusing on Security

When money changes hands, few people think of the security protocols that are put in place. This is something that everyone needs to think about if they aren’t doing so already. The money that’s exchanged has to be secure when it leaves the person who’s sending it, on the way to its destination, and when it arrives to the person who’s being paid. Both the payer and the person who’s being paid should have the peace of mind to know that their money is safe when they make it available to one of these services.

Knowing Who You Can Call

Every credit card processing service comes with a certain learning curve. Not everyone who takes advantage of these services knows everything about credit card processing. They need to know that there’s someone on the end of the line who’s able to answer all their questions. Without this option in place, the usefulness of the service in question should be thrown into doubt. A service has to be able to stand by its product, even if it’s challenging to come up with the resources necessary to receive and answer every concern as they come in.

Getting to the Bottom of Fees

Regardless of what you might think about a credit card processing service, they are still a business. Instead of attaching a monthly membership fee to their service, they charge fees for every transaction. These fees are small when you look at them on a transaction-by-transaction basis. They add up over time, which is why you have to consider fees when you’re deciding which service will work well for your business. A service that charges fewer fees has to have the same value as the one that charges more.

Setting Up Your Ideal Service

Picking which credit card processing service is yours is not the end of the process. You have to implement this service into your business. Every credit card processing service has different setup requirements. Just because one service takes less time to setup than the others doesn’t mean that you should choose that service over all the others. As long as there’s someone to walk you through the process or documentation that sheds light on what you should do next, you can pick any service that’s out there.

Remaining on Top of Technology

New technological innovations are coming out constantly. Innovators are researching new ways to make our lives better as we speak. Your chosen credit card processing service has to be aware of these changes and incorporate them into their service. This technology should not be used as a means to hide any sort of deficiency in a service. They need to be tools to highlight what’s great about a service and use it to make it better. Your service has to be on the cutting edge and willing to give you the best of what’s out there without trying to slice into your bottom line.

Accepting Any and Every Payment

As soon as a customer comes forward to give you a payment, you have to accept that payment. The moment you’re faced with a scenario where you can’t accept a payment because your payment technology is behind the times is the moment where you not only lose a customer, but you also start an avalanche to criticism where the negative word of mouth resulting from this situation comes back to bite you. Your business needs to have the technology necessary to accept payments from anyone who steps forward. If improvements are necessary, they need to be implemented sooner rather than later.

Looking at Terms and Conditions

Anytime you’re faced with a situation where you have to sign an agreement to work with a financial company you need to pay attention to the terms and conditions. These stipulations are key in determining what a company wants out of the arrangement they’re making with you. Don’t expect that your chosen service will explain everything that they intend to do. They put this responsibility in the hands of their customers. Some of them provide the information necessary to answer these questions. Others require inquiring minds to dig deep and ask the right questions, hoping that the people they’re talking to know how to help.

Conclusion

Don’t sign your name on the dotted line until you find the credit card processing service that suits your needs. You might see some promising signs in certain companies, but if there’s any hesitation whatsoever in your mind, you should pull out and keep looking. It’s better to do the work to find the right company now than to wish you would have done the work after you’re locked into an agreement you have no chance of escaping. Once you find the right company, you will wonder why you waited so long to have one involved with your business.

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