Have you accepted credit cards at your restaurant for a while and now feel that the price is too high? Times are tough. But luckily there are ways around it.
But searching for the cheapest price won’t get you the results you want. The best way to streamline your search process is to decide in advance that you are looking for a credit card processor that has the specific capabilities and tools you need for your business.
Here’s everything you need to know about credit card processing.
How to Compare Prices
Merchants, account providers, and payment service providers take into account different processing rates. Comparing prices is not always easy. In fact, it may take some time to clearly investigate your options.
You must decide which processor solution is right for you. Despite the complexity of credit card processing and commercial services, there is a simple answer to this question.
As you will see from the differences between the five credit card companies mentioned no provider you can do business with will be cheap. You need to narrow your choice based on the requirements that come with each to determine which provided as a whole offers the cheapest payment transaction for your business.
If you use Microsoft Excell to run your accounts then you might find Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Credit Card Processing is a great option for you.
When it comes to credit card processing, there’s not much that’s easy. There are different types of providers, plan structures, fee rates, and differences between online and personal transactions, making it impossible to find the single cheapest credit card processing company.
Online Vs Physical Store Processing Fees
Remember the cheapest credit cards for processing in a small online store will not be the same as a physical chain store. Think hard about this.
The cheapest credit card deal will depend on the nature of your business. This includes where you work and what you need to do as well as who your customers are.
To find the cheapest payment option, consider your business needs and explore the variety of providers available to you. There are two main factors to consider to determine which provider offers the cheapest credit card processing for your small business: the type of credit card processing provider and the cost of credit card processing.
For processing providers, there may be significant differences between different account providers. The cost of credit card processing fees also varies when you include hardware.
Consider Square
Square credit card processing is one of the cheapest credit card processing solutions for small businesses with clear flat rates, free POS software, and free mobile card readers.
Square has become an industry leader with the rapid development of payment services providers and new ways of accepting payments. Square’s ultimate cost will depend on your business and the type of processing services you need.
Keep in mind merchant account providers and payment service providers, were among the cheapest options for small businesses. No provider offers the cheapest credit card deal, but it is the cheapest for the firm, even if you are not the cheapest.
Payment provider Square offers processing in multiple ways. If you only need to make personal payments, you can use their free Point of Sale software or pair it with one of the numerous hardware options.
Square Restaurants
Hardware in combination with Square restaurants is around 26 plus 10 cents per personal transaction, while Square retail costs 25 plus 10 cents per personal transaction. These are pretty high credit card processing fees.
For Square online payments 29-30 cents per transaction. You get a complementary Magstripe reader. You can use this to pay a handling fee for accepting credit cards.
Other Square machinery ranges from $49 to $799. The Square Restaurant software will set you back between $60 up to $299 per month. This depends on the plan, for one location and one outlet.
PayPal
Paypal is convenient for a lot of people. There are no early fees or contracts and nor is there any early cancelation fee. Customers can also now pay by bitcoin. This is great for technically minded people who love cryptocurrencies.
You can send money easily just through an email address. Paypal also handles foreign currencies reasonably well as it’s a global business.
The main issue with PayPal is that it adds on a rate of 3% to any transaction. It also uses its infamously high exchange rates for Forex.
A customer paying in any currency outside of U.S Dollars therefore might lose out much more than if they had done that conversion themselves using an online bank.
This is a huge per-transaction fee that your customers might object to. Though remember you can soften this blow by spelling out exactly what it is in U.S dollars (often merely a few cents). 3% often feels higher. You could even cover some of this yourself.
Paypal is certainly an option for online payments. However, for physical in-store payments, it’s probably too high a price to pay.
Credit Card Processing: Decide What’s Right for Your Needs
Your credit card processing fees are going to depend on your needs. It’s impossible to compare like-for-like as there may be specific elements that are more expensive but integral to your business. These could include the ability to accept online payments in multiple currencies.
PayPal and Square are both good options to consider, with PayPal having no ongoing commitments. This is great for new businesses
If you are interested in learning more about credit card processing be sure to check out the rest of our site.