THE TRUTH ABOUT TOP 10 MERCHANT ACCOUNTS – A MUST READ
No Such Thing
Have you ever tried doing a Google search for the top 10 merchant accounts? If you have, you would have realized one truth – there is no such thing as ‘top 10 merchant accounts’.
You would have come across numerous lists of top 10 merchant accounts on different websites, each differing from the other. Just take a look at the following two websites and you’ll understand the truth:
http://www.toptenlinks.com/cat.php/Finance:Banking:Merchant+Accounts
http://www.gspay.com/the-top-10-merchant-account-providers.php
So, what should you do if you want to find the top 10 merchant accounts in the market? Are there no uses for these lists that are available on the Internet?
How Do You Find The Real Top 10 Merchant Accounts?
Step 1 - Know your business profile and create a suitable processing profile
There is no way you are going to find a merchant account provider who charges the lowest rates and fees across the board. So identify your business profile and then make a list of all the rates and fees that matter to you. For example, if you realize that your average ticket size is relatively large, you will have to forgo a higher transaction fee for a lower discount rate.
Include in the list other features that may be important to you such as customer support, credit card processing hardware/software and locality.
Step 2 - Don’t do a general search
Do a search on the specific type of merchant account that best fits your business needs. If you want to get an Internet merchant account, search for “top 10 Internet merchant accounts”. Example: http://www.weeviews.com/tag/internet+merchant+accounts
Step 3 - Obtain as many lists as possible
There is good use for the many top 10 lists available on the Internet. Get as many as possible. Compare across the lists and sieve out those that are repeated in different lists. Try to create a list of about 12 to 15 merchant accounts.
Step 4 - Do your research on the reliability of the merchant account provider
Do various checks on each of the provider in your list.
- Go to Better Business Bureau and check on the complaints against these providers. Read up on how these providers had dealt with the complaints.
- Do a Google search for the reviews on each provider. Type the name of the provider in full within double inverted commas and add the word ‘reviews’. Here is an example: “Authorize.Net” + reviews
- Do a Google search for scams or fraud in a similar way. For example: “Authorize.Net” + scam
- Join different networks of merchants and request for referrals or reviews on the providers in your list.
Step 5 – Sieve out the most suitable
After the background check, you’d probably be down to a list of 8 to 10 merchant account providers. Now that you have a few reliable merchant account providers, there is just one more thing left to do before you can have your list of top merchant accounts.
Compare the costs, incentives, solutions, customer service and technical support offered by the few merchant accounts left in your list. Use your business profile and processing profile that you had prepared earlier to guide you through this process. Go through the terms and conditions of the providers conscientiously.
No doubt, you’ll probably end up with a list of less than 10 merchant accounts by the end of the 4-step process. However, you can be sure that your list is made up of the truly top merchant accounts for your purpose.
Most Important Truth
The most important truth - there is only one person who can decide what the top 10 merchant accounts are and that person is you. No business needs are the same and hence, the top 10 merchant accounts for your specific requirements cannot be a generic list prepared by someone else. Use the above mentioned guidelines and make the process of crafting you own list more manageable.
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