10 insider tips to save money on card processing fees
Germaine Henry, Director at Compare Card Processing writes:
If you want to learn more about the payments process we have an explanation here.
Before you embark on this cost-saving journey, there are 10 things you might want to consider.
| WHAT | HOW | |
| Setup fee | Most payment providers will charge you a setup fee for the privilege of taking payments with them. | Like any cost in business, this is negotiable so make sure you get the lowest cost or if you’re a good negotiator you can get them to waive the fee. |
| Terminals | If you have a small shop that isn’t busy do you really need two of the newest GPRS terminals with all the trimmings. Probably not. | Make sure you only sign up to what you need as it’s always easier to ask for more than less and it’s far cheaper. |
| 3D-Secure | 3D secure is a technology that allows your customers to make purchases securely online. When they buy something online they may get a pop-up asking for a password called ‘Verified by Visa. This is what 3D-Secure is. | Due to 3D-Secure being secure, the cost of processing payments is reduced and you’re less likely to be subject to Fraud and Chargebacks. This ultimately reduces your business costs. Sometimes this can affect your conversion rates so do your testing. |
| PCI Compliance | PCI compliance essentially means you are treating and managing your cardholder’s data securely. | There are multiple ways to do this successfully, which reduces your payment processing costs. Speak to your provider to find out if they charge for non-compliance and what they can offer to help you become compliant. |
| Fraud Tools | Most providers will have tools that allow you to screen for fraud online. These tools may come at a cost although they can be far less costly than having to pay out for fraudulent transactions. | Investigate the different fraud tools with your provider and ensure you’re getting the best value for money. Alternatively, you can search the open market for fraud specialists and potentially integrate them with your payment provider’s platform. |
| Monthly minimum billing | Some providers will have a threshold you must reach before you will be charged at a transaction level. If you don’t meet this threshold they will charge you a minimum fee. | Be sure to request the removal of this cost and/or ensure that you have multiple terminals across one merchant to potentially mitigate these charges. |
| Contactless enablement | With contactless payments exploding in popularity and almost half of all cards having contactless functionality (UK Cards Association – UK Card Payments 2016) it is vital for any business to be able to take these types of payments from their customers. | There are two ways to benefit from accepting contactless cards. Firstly, they come at a lower cost than regular chip and pin transactions and, secondly, you can get people through the queue quicker – ensuring more people can be served. Make sure to negotiate a lower rate for your contactless card transactions to take advantage of this saving. |
These are the tools we use to save our clients £1,000s each month. We hope that reading this will help you achieve the same.
If you have any further questions feel free to visit us at www.comparecardprocessing.co.uk