How Competitive Is YOUR Credit Card Merchant Processing Service Rate?No matter what your current rate structure is or which bank credit card processing company you do business with, Welcome to the world of the "T-Sale Comparison", a smoke-and-mirror sales tool every credit card processing salesperson learns on his/her first day in the industry. The "T-Sale" is simply a two-columned side-by-side 'comparison' of a snapshot of the credit card processing activity of a business during a given period of time. It's goal is to compare how much the Merchant paid with their present processing deal with how much less they would have paid with the competing plan. Of course, the results of the audit will always indicate tremendous credit card processing savings for the Merchant if he switches to the new processor. It can be a very powerful and persuasive yet misleading sales tool. The problem is: T-Sale comparisons are rarely if ever remotely accurate because they are based on assumptions no human could even dream of predicting accurately. As a result, the claims of huge savings are necessarily based on 'best case' scenarios which never, repeat never exist in the real world. All merchants occasionally key enter a sale, or processes a foreign or a rewards or a corporate card, all of which qualify for higher Interchange fees. But in the perfect world of the T-Sale, these real world scenarios don't exist; every sale qualifies for the best and lowest Interchange rate which is a fantasy scenario that simply isn't realistic.In fact, a quick glance at current Visa/MasterCard Interchange Discount Rate schedule will give you an idea of just how many different rate surcharge scenarios there really are out there. The other problem with falling for the T-sale ploy is: If you DO change processors, you'll probably incur early termination fee penalties from your current processor which you'll never make up with your new processor even if they do manage to save you a few pennies every month. Recommendation: If you MUST entertain competing 'bids' for credit card processing services, don't just take the numbers at face value. Get professional assistance if necessary to make sure you aren't comparing apples and oranges which is usually the case. And above all, be aware of the term status of your current merchant services contract before you decide to breach it; a mistake that will cost you dearly.
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sooner or later you're going to get a visit from a competing salesperson. You'll be promised a free no-obligation 'audit' of your recent merchant statements to see if you are paying too much and if they can save you money by 'lowering your discount rate'. 