.You’ve opened your business. Your customers love your products and services and now they’re ready to hand over their hard earned money to you. Most of the time, your customers are reaching for a credit or debit card, rather than cash. In fact, 80% of consumers prefer to pay with a card.

So what do you need to know about Payment Processing?

Setting up a merchant services account

To accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover branded credit and debit cards, your business must have a merchant services account. To open a merchant services account you’ll need to complete a merchant services agreement. The agreement tells you exactly what you will pay, when you’ll receive deposits in your bank, and how to process transactions safely and securely. Setting up your account typically takes less than 48 hours for most businesses.

How should you accept payments?

You’ll need some way to accept credit and debit cards. If you own a brick & mortar location, you can process your payments with a countertop terminal or Point of Sales system. If you run a mobile business, you can process your payments through a mobile device like your smartphone or mobile credit card terminal. For online businesses, accepting payments usually requires either a payments gateway or integrated solution.

What does your payments processor do?

Payments processors, like International Bancard, handle the processing and batching of purchases made with credit, debit, or gift card payments. Your processing partner also monitors your transactions for fraud and risky transaction activity. 

International Bancard processes millions of transactions for businesses across North America. It doesn’t matter if you process a handful of credit card transactions a month or generate thousands of sales every day, we have a solution to fit your business.

How much should I pay?

There are many factors that determine how much you pay for your merchant card services. In-person transactions, when the consumer and credit card are both present, tend to cost the least. Card Not Present transactions represent a higher risk and cost a little more.

Traditional credit card processing typically costs your business between 2.5% and 3% of the face value of the transaction. International Bancard offers traditional credit card processing, Cash Discount pricing, Flat Fee pricing, and surcharging. Each of these programs can significantly lower your monthly processing fees.