Merchant Service Providers (such as TransFirst, Acceptiva or Heartland) are entities licensed to work with Credit Card networks (such as Visa, MasterCard) and issuing banks (such as Wells Fargo) to provide the technology needed for businesses to accept credit card payments for goods or services.   A merchant service provider will set up rates and fees for credit card acceptance and then connect your current bank account to their system for you to receive batches of the payments processed by your business.  A Value-Added Merchant Service Provider provides significantly more functionality that fits your business needs.

Businesses can choose to work directly with a merchant services provider to set up and negotiate credit card rates or choose to work through a reputable 3rd-party technology partner such as PayQuiq which bring added value to your business.   The benefits of working through partners such as PayQuiq include;

  • Integrated payments through additional technology advancements (such as online form builders, automatic recurring payments, easy to read reports, email billing statements, website integration, pre-filled forms, etc)
  • Long standing relationships with merchant services providers
  • Deeper level of support from negotiating rates to helping with disputes and issues
  • Credit card rate discounts available such as Non-profit discount rates or large volume discount rates etc.

It is always recommended that you do a comparison of various merchant service providers to find one that offers the lowest rates but the highest level of support and features that fit your business needs.  See our post about reading your Merchant Services Statement to learn more about the rates that Merchant Service Providers charge and how to read your statement.

Top 5 things to look for when choosing a Merchant Service Provider:

  1. Proven Customer Service
  2. Fair and Industry Competitive Rates that fit your business or organizations volume and payment needs
  3. PCI Compliancy
  4. Short processing time frame for funds to be sent to you
  5. Low or Zero Early Termination Fees