Fernanda Fuentes

A few variables are important to consider when choosing a payment provider if you own a new business or are switching providers. Understanding the concept of merchant services and the variables that you need to look at when making this decision is key, and it will define the way you will accept payments and do business with your customers.

Below are some important questions to research when choosing a merchant services provider for your business.

• Do they offer the devices/hardware and software I need to run my business?
• Are the costs and rates simple to comprehend?
• How long has the provider been in business?
• Are there any termination fees?
• Is the merchant services support agent helpful and accessible?
• Do they offer other services and tools that I will require if I decide to expand my business?
• Are there any hidden fees not discussed in your quote?

Rates & Fees

Always talk to the merchant provider about your fees, and be sure you understand how is your pricing model (flat rate, interchange plus, tiered rate), how is the length of the contract, and if there are any termination fees.

Security

To minimize risks related to accepting payments, it’s important to work only with PCI-compliant payment providers who offer advanced fraud protection – including tokenization, encryption, hosted payment forms, and other fraud management tools.

Payment integration

Make sure you partner with a merchant provider that has a variety of payment processing technology that is compatible with your current software provider. This is important to automatically import your sales to your POS device without having to enter them manually. In addition, check if your merchant provider has software that is fully integrated with their terminal offering.

Merchant Services Support

You never want to deal with payment processing issues when you’re busy doing other things in your business. But when you need it it’s essential to have support available 24/7 to troubleshoot the problem and switch your device as soon as possible if necessary. Make sure you have extra support from your merchant services provider if you need support.

Bottom Line

To discover the best merchant services for your business, look for providers who can assist you in managing and expanding your business and who are open and honest about their prices, and who offer the hardware and software that will suit your business needs. Universal Payments has been in business since 2009, we believe in a transparent and understandable pricing model to offer to our merchants. Our merchant support is always available to help, and we strive to offer our merchants the best-in-class payment technology available in the market. Our team has been involved in different businesses prior to being involved in payment processing, so we completely understand all of your concerns. We are here to help and keep you as a customer for many years and have a great working relationship as we are on your team.

Universal Payments was Incorporated in February 2009. It was founded to help merchants navigate their way through the murky waters of the credit card payment industry.

The world of credit card acceptance is very convoluted and confusing, and at Universal Payments, we try to simplify and present the products, services, and rates easily and understandably to our merchants.

Our founder adapted this methodology as he was a merchant prior to getting into the payment industry. Not knowing about all the different rates and hidden fees in the credit card industry he just acknowledged his credit card fees as a cost of doing business.  Once he entered the credit card industry he educated and saved thousands of merchants’ money on their current fees. 

How we work

We feel dealing with a small provider in the scope of the pie you get a personal service and a dedicated team to help you navigate all the different products and providers in the credit card-acquiring world. We also are here to step in if you have an issue and dealing with your terminal provider.  No one is excited about being on hold and speaking to more than one person to troubleshoot your device.  If for any reason you are on a prolonged hold we will assist and use our channels to help with your issue.

We act as your extension in managing your account and step in if you encounter any issues along the way.  We also will help set up, assist, and support any POS software on your environment that we provide in conjunction with your point-of-sale terminals.

Our services

We provide different models on all credit card rates depending on your business from a Flat Rate program where you know what you will be charged on every transaction, this is a good solution as the fluctuation in the industry will not affect your rates and you will always know your cost in so that you can calculate that into your cost of goods.

Our second offering is our Discount Rate program, where you will get a fixed “Interchange” rate on cards that don’t have associated loyalty or points programs.  There will be an uplift on all the associated loyalty/points-type cards.  This program benefits merchants that have a higher volume of cardholders that don’t have a loyalty or points program.

Finally, we have an “Interchange Plus” program where we pass along our cost from Visa, MasterCard, and an agreed-upon markup. This is a catch-all type program where you will see all the costs from Visa, MasterCard, etc., plus our nominal markup.  This is our most popular pricing model as you will provide the cost for all the different card types and our markup is clearly marked on your statement.