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3 Keys To Uncovering The Mystery Of Your Merchant Statement

3 Keys to Uncovering the Mystery of Your Merchant Statement

Turn the Dials to Your Advantage

Please take the time to pull out your merchant statement from last year and a recent statement.  Are your fees the same?  Probably not, and most likely, not even close. Credit Card Processing Companies raise the rates on statements up to 4 times per year.

With the recent mergers and acquisitions in the processing space, credit card processing companies are trying to make up for all the money they spent on those acquisitions.  Who really is losing out and your rates could be double what they were when you originally signed on? Turn the dial in your favor this time and know your statements.

Every merchant who accepts debit, credit, business or purchasing cards needs to understand its Merchant Account Statement and know which dials to turn in order to maximize the understanding of your processing.  The Merchant Statement has three key pieces of information.

First: The Statement discloses how much your customers paid electronically to your business.  This will depend primarily on your business’ products and services that your customer received. However, having seamless and efficient payment processes certainly will increase the payments received.

Second:  The Statement discloses the interchange fees you paid.  The interchange rate is the fee that you as the merchant pay to the banks that issued the cards you accept.  The interchange rate is specific to each of the 300-plus types of cards, and the rates are reset each April and October.  The interchange fees comprise the bulk of the fees you pay.

Third:  The Statement also discloses the fees you pay to your merchant processor.  The fees should be readily understandable.  If you do not understand what a line-item charge is for, or if your processing rates raise too often, that’s a warning flag.

Even though your Statement should be straightforward, that is not to say that there is a one-size-fits-all pricing plan for processing.  There are many different types of plans, and it is important for you to understand which plan best works with your business.  Some plans work best with high transaction volume and lower average tickets; but that plan would not be well suited for a business that accepts fewer but larger payments.  Do you accept mostly debit cards, or do you typically accept high-reward credit cards?  Are your payments mostly in-store, or online?  Are your payments mostly business-to-business, or are you a retail store?  Are you a service-based business where customers may be open to paying a convenience fee?  Do you want an integrated shopping cart?  An automated and/or a recurring billing platform?  Is it important for your cash flow to receive Next Day Funding?  These are just some of the factors that your processor should consider when offering you the best plan.

Last But Certainly Not Least:  The Statement shows how much money was deposited into your bank account.  The two knobs that you can turn to maximize your deposits are to seamlessly and efficiently accept electronic payments, and to best select a pricing plan. As one of EPNA’s clients recently stated, “Thank you for your help in converting over to your Company. It’s nice to know that we will be saving 40% on the service fees going forward.”– David K., Controller, Advent Systems, Inc. Check out EPNA’s product offerings and services, and contact us for a no-risk review of your recent merchant processing statements.  If we find that you are already getting a great deal, EPNA will be the first to tell you.  But you owe it to your business to find out if it’s time to make a switch.

With any questions, comments or to have a review of your processing statement, contact EPNA at [email protected] today!  847/859-6002

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