Getting quotes for merchant services

This is one of the most tricky steps. Do not rush and beware of of quick quotes. Not much is standard with merchant services so before you get a quote you must be sure that the sales person understand your own requirements, especially if you are in a speciality business. Fees are directly related to your industry, your card processing logic (not all business have the same processing logic especially when using an integrated payment application), the annual revenue for Visa and MasterCard and the average transaction value. A sales person should take the time to understand your business. Unfortunately it is too common for sales person to issue quick quotes with a statement such as "pricing applies to qualifying transactions" or "non-qualifying transactions will be charged at a higher rate". Sales people have to specify various factors to get pricing. When a transaction meets all these factors they "qualify". Transactions that do not qualify will be charged at a higher rate which often can be significantly higher. So when you get a quick quote you risk that the sales person issue a standard quote based on the wrong assumptions regarding your specific business. Even if the fees look great upfront at the end, your transactions will never qualify and you will end up paying much more than what was quoted to you. So ... BEWARE OF QUICK QUOTES and before doing anything Define your requirements .

Reach out for guidance

Beware of sales people especially the ones who tend to give quick answers and seem to be rushing you to get a quick sale. A good sales persone - one who spends time to understand your own needs and requirements - can be a great consultant, a great source of information and should be able to guide you through the processes.

Searching for providers

Not all gateway solutions and merchant service providers are equal. They do not provide the same funtionalities / services. Your first step is to define your requirements. See Define your requirements so you can select the right partners.

Identify your merchant DBA and charge descriptor

Merchant DBA: "doing business as" name as set in the merchant account
Charge descriptor: text identifying the charge on the card holder statement
Normally the charge descriptor is set as the merchant DBA.
These are too often overlooked when in fact they are critical for your operations.
If the charge descriptor does not clearly identify your business the card holders will not recognize the charge and will most likely dispute it with her/his card Issuer . This will result in a charge back and more importantly result in more work for you as you will need to response to all disputes.
Make sure your DBA and charge descriptor match the business name that the card holder knows. For online purchases for example make sure that the DBA and charge descriptor match the name of the website from which the order is placed.

Define your card processing requirements

One of the most common mistakes is to start looking for gateway solution and merchant account without having a good definition of actual needs and requirements.
1. Understand your own requirements.
2. Identify your own needs
3. Define your estimated credit card revenue = annual Visa + MasterCard $ volume.
These details are key in searching for the right technical gateway solution, requesting quotes (especially for merchant services) and getting accurate quotes.