If a merchant is unhappy with service or rates they shouldn’t have to pay a financial penalty or an early termination fee to find a better service.
Ever had a bad relationship with a merchant account provider? Perhaps you know what it is like to get into a long-term contract only to be disappointed in the service and find out you are paying too much? You know, that feeling of being trapped. Nobody likes that feeling. Why does getting a merchant account have to be like that?
Well it doesn’t have to be that way. There are ISO processors out there with enough confidence in their rates and services to offer month to month contracts. And it just so happens we know of couple of them. Here’s the deal: One of our primary partners for merchant accounts is a First Data ISO from Pennsylvania that really runs a good operation. They were like the #3 ISO to sign on with First Data back in the day when First Data first launched their ISO program in 1998. The team that supports our clients are very experienced; 12 years on average. They are very experienced with petroleum accounts and offer next day funding for retail and restaurants. They are big but not “too big”; they really do a good job taking care of our clients. We have a lot of clients with them and haven’t heard a thing negative. They have A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They can get accounts approved quickly and get clients switched over in a single day. We really like just about everything about this first class partner and know you will like them too.
Instead of me telling you about the program, we thought you might like to hear about the month to month merchant account program directly from the VP of Sales and Marketing in sort of an e-mail style interview.
From: G. Jason Schnellbacher
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 11:49 PM
To: ‘Jim Black’
Subject: month to month merchant accounts
Hello Jim.
If someone was searching online for a “month to month merchant account” and e-mailed you about it, how would you respond?
Please write out an email response that I can use to post on our website.
Thanks!
GJS
From: Jim Black
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:41:42 -0500
To: G. Jason Schnellbacher
Cc: Tony Drescher; Thomas Shanley
Subject: RE: month to month merchant accounts
As a long term ISO of First Data (14 years), we have complete control and flexibility when it comes to setting merchant service fees and contract terms on a Merchant Application and Agreement.
This would include any early termination fees assigned to a Merchant Application and Agreement as well as the overall term or length of the Agreement which can be anywhere from a month to month all the way up to a 5 year commitment.
By the way, Industry standard merchant services contracts usually run for 3 year terms.
With that said, the strong majority of our merchants have month to month contracts. We do this by setting a “zero” early termination fee on the Merchant Application and Agreement with a standard 3 year contract term.
Since there is no early termination fee cost the Application and Agreement is essentially a month to month program term for the merchant.
We work hard day in and day out to take care of our valued merchants. If a merchant is unhappy with service or rates they shouldn’t have to pay a financial penalty or an early termination fee to find a better service. Nor should any merchant ever be locked into a contract – Period!
This commitment to customer service and willingness to do whatever it takes to make merchants happy allows us to hold onto signed merchants for longer periods of time while only extending a month to month contract.
Please tell your clients we would welcome the opportunity to learn more about their processing needs and of course to share with them more about our overall program and terms to determine if there might be a potential fit between us.
From: G. Jason Schnellbacher
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 4:46 PM
To: Jim Black
Subject: Re: month to month merchant accounts
Perfect. Thank you. I will post a derivative work here soon and have you review/approve.
Sounds good.
Any conditions to qualify for month to month? Retail only? Volumes?
No conditions to qualify whatsoever for a month to month program with us – All merchants qualify including: Retail, Moto, Restaurant, Lodging and Internet.
What pricing/rates are available on these month to month merchant accounts?
We sign up all merchants on Pass Thru pricing programs + a small 20 basis points surcharge, .08cents transaction fee and $8.00 statement fee.
Any other common/frequent questions we should proactively answer?
Not really, that’s pretty much everything your clients would need to know about getting a month to month contract.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: G. Jason Schnellbacher
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2013 9:55 AM
To: ‘Jim Black’
Subject: RE: month to month merchant accounts
Whoa… you want me to promote 20bp online? That might be bold.
Related, how is it you are always the most competitive on true interchange plus pricing AND fees?
Our readers are often the inquiring kind that like to do research online.
What is your closing sales pitch?
From: Jim Black
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2013 11:04 AM
To: G. Jason Schnellbacher
Subject: RE: month to month merchant accounts
Definitely post 20 basis points (bp) over interchange on your site. That’s our “standard pricing” so to speak. We can go even lower with higher volumes. We do a lot of 10bp deals and pennies over deals.
And since you asked, here’s our philosophy on pricing:
We believe in pricing deals right up front so we keep our merchants; we don’t want to charge them too much for a while then lose them as clients; we would rather price each deal uniquely based on volume and merchant type such that competitors can’t come in and offer something substantially lower cost and still make any money on the account. As a 14 year ISO of First Data with big volumes and thousands of merchants, we have great pricing flexibility; our rates our unbeatable; we can always be the lowest if it comes to that; we never lose on price, we set the price floor others can’t touch.
We know price is what is most important to most merchants but we also know that differentiated features, the whole experience, and reputation are also super important. While we may be one of the lowest cost proposals on the table, the real reason most of our clients go with us is because they believe in us. We have been a consistent, reliable and trustworthy partner of First Data for roughly 15 years. In fact, we were the 3rd ISO signed by First Data when they introduced the ISO program Sales Channel to the marketplace back in 1998. Over those years we have signed thousands and thousands of merchants up through our sales channel which has allowed us to keep costs above Interchange to a minimum when negotiating rates with First Data. With minimal costs above Interchange we then have the ability to provide merchants with aggressive pricing programs which allow for nice bottom line cost savings.
In terms of differentiation, there are a couple key things to consider there. In the ISO world, only First Data offers next day funding on retail and restaurant merchants. Most ISOs out there can’t offer next day funding.
The other big differentiator: WE DO NOT CHARGE JUNK FEES. Savings on junk fees can be substantial for some merchants. Some credit card processors are unscrupulous with all the fees (that all somehow have some sort of good explanation ironically). Eh, we don’t believe in that.
Hope this email is what you were looking for. Look forward to speaking with your clients soon.
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If you are looking for a good month to month merchant account with no junk fees, let us introduce you to our First Data ISO partner.
Request a proposal?
As payment consultants, what is most important to us is client satisfaction (being happy with the solution/provider we recommended); so naturally, we only partner with the very best payment service providers. We have had many relationships with ISO processors over the years and of them all, we really like this First Data ISO partner the most for retail and restaurant merchants. They are good all the way around; in terms of pricing/rates/fees, service, and reliability.