I know it sounds odd that I would say that, but it’s the truth.

There are 10-15 payment processing platforms in the United States that deposit money.

The most commonly used platforms are Elavon, First Data, WorldPay, Vantiv, Chase Paymentech, Global Payments, Heartland, TSYS, EVO, and Clearent. Over 90% of all payments processed in North America are processed on these platforms, which means, there’s a 90% chance you’re using one of these providers currently.

There’s also a 90% chance you will be solicited for credit card processing in the next 7 days by a provider.

How do I know that?

Because there are thousands of resellers selling credit card processing for these platforms and their reselling partners.

These companies hire hundreds of credit card processing agents every year and retain about 10% of their team annually, which is why the customer service always falls apart.

Why It Always Falls Apart

The reason it always falls apart with your merchant account is this:

  • You Don’t Have An Interview Process:

Would you hire an employee without first having a job description and a formal interview with a list of questions? Likely not! Why do we only ask a couple questions when it comes to selecting a merchant account provider then? Having an interview process will help you weed out agents that wouldn’t be a good fit for your business. It will also help you secure a provider based on what is critical for your business as it relates to price, technology, and customer service.

  • Savings Is Your Only Goal:

Payment processors have intentionally deployed deceptive billing practices so they can overcharge merchants after promising them significant savings in their proposals. Choosing a provider based solely on how much money they claim they can save you is deadly and causes merchants to waste a significant amount of money on credit card processing. We recently helped a merchant that had wasted over $60,000 by working with a processor that promised low rates but buried fees in their statements.

We find that the merchants that sign with the company promising the lowest rates often get taken advantage of with equipment leases, high termination fees, and poor customer service.

  • You Have A Credit Card Rep Instead Of An Advisor:

A credit card representative that works for a payment processor has a job to do, and that is to get you to sign a contract with their company. When you sign a contract with a credit card processor, what’s their penalty when they underperform? They don’t have a penalty which is why we don’t recommend you sign one.

A contract signed in their favor is what allows payment processors to treat you so poorly while they make money on your account.

These processors are also great at teaching their representatives how to sell the services, but not how the industry works, which costs you more money as a business owner.

Most of my coworkers and managers at the processor I worked at didn’t know how to read a credit card processing statement. Can you imagine that? Yet they will walk into your business and promise you savings!

You Need A Relationship.

You need a relationship that is positioned to do what is right for your business. One that understands the industry, the technology, the various payment platforms, and how to manage your payment processing expenses.

If the relationship is right, the processing rates and technology will be right.

The right relationship will empower you to focus on running your business instead of trying to sort through all the capabilities of the various credit card processing platforms.

The right relationship will position your company to receive the most favorable payment processing terms and technology while removing the failure points in customer service.

That is what the Northwest Advisory Group was established to do.

We have partnerships with most of the payment processing platforms available in North America and leverage our experience and relationships to extend the best solutions to our clients.

If you’re looking for the right relationship, let’s talk!