Why Does Your Business Need a Credit Card Processing Service?

A versatile, reliable credit card processing service can help your business increase sales by enabling you to accept all forms of payment from anywhere at anytime. With a first-rate credit card processing service, you can:

• Accept all Forms of Payment - With an adept credit card processing service your business can accept and verify payment from all major credit cards, debit cards, electronic checks and traditional checks.
• Accept Payments Anywhere - The way we conduct business changes everyday. With a good credit card processing service and a merchant account, payment can be accepted anywhere. Transactions are processed online, at a retail site or at a remote location with internet access, such as a trade booth or kiosk. Most services will also let you manually enter information if you sell something away from internet access.
• Get Fraud and Security Protection - A valuable service will offer security protection by utilizing modern encryption technology to give you and your customer peace of mind when processing credit card information. Many will process using a VeriSign SSL Certificate without requiring you to purchase a certificate separately as well as an Address Verification Service (AVS) to protect against the fraudulent use of a credit card.

In this site, you'll find articles on credit card processing, as well as comprehensive credit card processing reviews on our top ranked products: Flagship Merchant Services and Merchant Warehouse.  You can also find a side-by-side comparison to help you make an informed decision on which service is right for your business. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don't Have To.™

Credit Card Processing Services: What to Look For

It's hard to determine which credit card processing solution is best for your business with so many merchant account choices available. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to rank credit card processing services:

Average Approval Rating
This criterion, usually evaluated by percentage of approved applicants, refers to its approval rate, the processing speed and the fee to apply. An accommodating service will have a high approval rate and process your application quickly and without a fee.

Cost per Month
A low monthly cost helps keep overhead costs down. A competitive credit card processing company will require a low monthly fee with clear communication about ongoing fees and costs. Our ratings are based on 500 transactions per month with one statement, charge back and gateway fee.

Start-Up Cost
Credit card processing companies shouldn't charge you too much to set up a merchant account and a payment gateway.

Account Setup Time
A competent credit card processing service will expedite your application and get you in business as quickly as possible. Some can approve the application and set-up a merchant account within a day.

Customer Service
Accessible customer service answers inquiries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service should offer many avenues of contact including telephone, email or instant messaging. Help should be quick to respond and provide useful information.

Internet Based Features
Most companies offer more than one type of virtual terminal as well as an online merchant account and payment gateway.

POS/ Swipers Features
A variety of Point of Sale options and swipers (card readers) should be available through the service. This is especially important if you are a retail business or operate from remote sales locations.

With a good credit card processing service, you can increase your sales and flexibility and give your customers many payment options.