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.