Yes, I’m admitting that credit card processing companies FAIL.

This is one topic your credit card processor won’t like admitting.

Unfortunately, failure happens.

I have a long list of failures as a human being and credit card processing professional.

The road to learning the payment processing industry hasn’t come without making mistakes.

  • The $20,000 adjustment I paid out of pocket to meet the savings goal I projected when working for a direct processor.
  • Not programming the credit card equipment right the first time.
  • Quoting the price of equipment, only to order it and come to realize I misquoted the price.

 

These are all mistakes I’ve seen made by other companies including mine. It’s an unfortunate aspect of being human.

MISTAKES. ERRORS. INEXPERIENCE.

The rapid change of technology can get the best of you, even when working with a single provider.

Working with dozens of platforms can magnify that challenge.

FAILURE.

I wish there was an easier way to learn.

If I remember my grandmother’s insight correctly, she said “A bought lesson is better than a taught lesson”.

I suppose it’s better because with it comes the financial challenge or pain it creates, and the humility you need to grow into a better leader for the future.

We tend to learn better by the 2X4 to the head instead of by the metaphor to the ear.

We recently absorbed the cost of a payment solution for a customer due to the unforeseen costs associated with implementation, and it caused us to postpone a software license were eager to launch.

IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I want to sleep well and night, and sometimes that means doing whatever we can to make sure the customer is taken care of at the end of the day.

The true testament of your payment processing relationship is not whether or not they make mistakes.

It’s how they handle the mistakes that determines their value.

When we talk with business owners about their experience with credit card processing providers, they share with us all the problems they’ve had.

The challenges they experience working with credit card processing companies are often met with, unreturned phone calls, lack of responsiveness, and a commitment to blame-shifting.

We believe in facing challenges head-on while ensuring the same mistakes are not repeated.

As you shop for the perfect credit card processing relationship, make sure you look for one that admits when they are wrong and are committed to doing what’s right as a response to their own failure.

Remember this one thing.

It’s okay to fail, but it’s never okay to shirk your responsibility or intentionally harm someone’s business.

If you suspect that your credit card processor may be shirking their responsibilities to you, it may be time to have a conversation.

We won’t promise you perfection, even though that’s the likely result, but we will eternally do the right thing.

If you’d like to learn more about how credit card processing providers get paid, download a copy of our unbiased report on credit card processing.