How to Select a Payment Processing System for Merchant Businesses

Market analysts estimate, about 90% percent of all retail sales by 2030 will be e-commerce transactions. Statistics predict that global e-retail sales will reach nearly $5 trillion by 2021.

When customers buy products using their debit or credit cards, the payment processing company manages the transactions for you. It communicates the information to your bank and the customers' banks, verifying the validity of the purchases.

Typically, a payment processor acts as a link between sellers, customers, card networks, and respective banks, ensuring a smooth purchase experience. It is vital to choose the right payment processor for your merchant business and let us see how to select the best suitable solution.

Security

43% of all cyberattacks target merchant businesses. About 75% of all business security incidents can cost your company at least $8,000. Thus, you must choose a payment solution that offers secure data processing and is PCI compliant.

The processor must be diligent enough to protect customers’ payments. It should be well-equipped with the latest data security enhancements, including technologies like point-to-point encryption and fraud management tools.

Features to Support Business Requirements

An efficient payment processor should offer useful features that are best-in-class, with powerful software bundles that streamline business operations. Also, it should provide you with options to choose the smart terminal that suit your business needs. The provider must ensure a smooth integration of the solution with various accessories. It should enable access to merchant capital advances.

Easy Integration and Maintenance

Theoretically, a payment processing solution will work well. However, you should understand whether the solution will efficiently integrate into your business. It includes augmenting applications, hardware and software upgrades, and training.

Likewise, if the mitigation of interfacing issues forces you to troubleshoot the payment processor continually, it is better to switch to a better provider. It is not productive to spend time in solving maintenance concerns, rather than focusing on the core business.

Nominal Processing Fees

While running a business, you will look for solutions with low processing fees. Hence, it is advisable to invest some time to find the providers that offer the solutions at attractive rates.

An ethical provider will offer solutions at nominal fees, such as 2.3% flat processing fees. They do not have hidden charges like early termination penalties, fees for exceeding maximum and not meeting minimum monthly quotas. Make sure to check every feature the provider charges, to confirm you do not miss out on any hidden fees.

Excellent Customer Support

The solution provider you choose should be competent to handle support issues, 24x7. It is beneficial if you can reach the support team over the phone or chat, for active support.

Nearly 5% of the time, unreliable customer support can cause business-related issues. Though the fraction appears to be small, yet it can cause significant losses to your business and severely damage your customer relationships. 

With benefits like increased cash flow and more robust payment data security, the payments industry offers faster and seamless solutions. Aligning industry growth rate with current market size suggests about 700 billion electronic payments, by the end of 2020. Understand your business requirements and the processing fee details before choosing a suitable solution provider.