If you’re a business owner anywhere in or about Washington DC, or are about to open a business, it’s no secret that most of your customers will pay for the goods and services you offer by using their credit and debit cards. Because checks are used less frequently, more and more purchases are being made by plastic. The cashless society we’ve heard about for so long has finally arrived, and the question is, what’s the best way to set up Credit Card Processing in Washington DC for your new or existing business.

Although it’s not hard to set up a merchant processing account, if you choose the wrong partner, it can turn out to be a costly and painful mistake. It is essential that each business make sure that they are set up with theappropriate pricing model.  For example, a quick service restaurant with a large number of small transactions should avoid pin debit transactions, while businesses with high average sales like tire stores, but which do far fewer sales will save if they encourage customers to use a pin pad and their debit cards.

Tips to help you make the best choice for Credit Card Processing in Washington DC:

• Unless your credit card sales will be less than $3,000 a month, be sure you only consider the“Interchange Plus” model. Essentially, what this does is give you access to the wholesale, itemized network fees that are passed along to the processors from Visa and MasterCard (Interchange), along with a modest, agreed upon up-charge for their services. A reasonable mark up would be in the neighborhood of 50 basis points, or 1/2 % of sales, depending upon a variety of factors like gross sales, length of time in business, type of business etc. Sometimes, the up-charge can be much lower.
• Forget about contracts or Early Termination Fees (ETFs)! As the processing industry has matured and become more competitive, reputable processors will no longer insist on these kinds of onerous terms. Only consider agreements that let you cancel at any time, without being required to pay any kind of ETF penalty. If the processor is as good as they claim to be, you won’t want to go elsewhere.
• Insist on free equipment! Unless you need a POS system, or some kind of very unique (and costly) solution, which is rare, never, EVER buy, rent or lease equipment. Terminals are inexpensive, and a processor that is confident that they can earn and keep your business over the long term will not have a problem providing free terminals or pin-pads.
• Be sure you work with a trustworthy sales rep that can provide references, and that will be available to help you out over the long term. All Real Merchant Solutions’ Merchant Advocates exactly meet that criteria.

Your Bank is Not a Processor

When you’re getting ready to open your business, and set up your bank accounts, the friendly account manager will do everything they can to guide you to processing with their bank. If you want credit card processing services in Washington DC, it might seem like a good idea to accept their offer, but that’s usually a mistake. In most cases, the won’t tell you that they are just middleman,adding extra layers of expense that you’ll wind up paying for. In the Washington DC area, for example, Bank of America and Sun Trust can cost a business thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees each year, and are among the worst offenders. It is not common for a business with monthly sales of $100,000 to pay either of those banks between $10,000 to $15,000 more to accept credit cards each year than if they had chosen to work with a dedicated processor.

Merchant Advocacy

No matter what your business is, it makes sense to work with an unbiased expert. When searching for Credit Card Processing services in Washington DC, the Merchant Advocates at Real Merchant Solutions will work with several of the largest and most well thought of processors in the country to compete and bid for your business. Because Real Merchant Solutions is not a processing company, we can always offer a full menu of competitive choices from major processors that don’t require contracts or equipment charges. Also, if you need other services like POS systems, Website Design and Management, Remote IT support or critical Data Storage, our Merchant Advocates can help with that as well.

If you’re getting ready to open a new business and want credit card processing in Washington DC, or if you already accept credit cards, but realize you’re paying too much, click here to get a free quote, or just give our office a call at 800-551-0850, ext 21. A  local Merchant Advocate will be in touch to review your needs, look after your best interests and be sure you receive the service and pricing you’re entitled to.

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