Do you think your credit card processing cost is high? Would you rather partner with a new payment processor and charging lower credit card processing fees? These and similar questions are plaguing many modern-day companies. And many of these companies are unaware of the fact that their respective electronic payment processing solutions are not that bad. Some companies represent high-risk industries and regions. Others have not yet reached processing volumes that would allow them to negotiate lower processing fees with their current or prospective processing partners.
Credit Card Processing Cost Aspects
Even if you are not a high-risk merchant and your consolidated payment processing volume makes you wonder if you should look for a new processor offering you low fees, you should think twice before making any serious steps in this direction. So, the task of building a processing partnership has two sides: business and technical. Business aspect is about particular terms of your contract. The technical aspect, on the other hand, is about specific development efforts, related to migration, integration, certification, and customization of your processing solution according to your particular business needs. How much will you spend on these efforts? And how much will you save as a result of processing cost reduction? Have you considered indirect and opportunity costs? Is the transition really worth it?
Another technical issue related to processor choice is whether the processor supports all the functions you need. These are just a few factors to consider while looking at the big picture:
- Are reconciliation, settlement, and reporting mechanisms transparent enough?
- Does the processor’s platform include fraud protection tools?
- Are they reliable and up-to-date?
- Do you need subscription management logic?
- Will you need to onboard merchants?
- Can the processor provide you with these tools?
Shortly speaking, the most relevant processor selection criterion is not just credit card processing cost, but rather the good old “value for money”.
If you need more information on why cheap credit card processing solutions are not always the best ones, check out our respective article on Paylosophy.