Ways to Obtain Lower Rates for your Hotel Credit Card Processing

You can never succeed as a businessman if you do not take your own share of risks, but to consider acquiring hotel credit card processing machines and paying for their respective fees as one of the so-called business risks is definitely an overstatement.

Paying for the processing of the credit cards of alliancebankcard accepted by your hotel is a necessary cost that you should make, especially if you are new in this kind of business. Since most of the consumers nowadays prefer paying via credit or debit cards, owning a couple of credit card machines won’t surely hurt your business even though it comes with a cost. Processing fees vary depending on the sales that you make in a month and on your credit card service provider. Here are some ways to cut back on your credit card processing rates:

Hire a reliable merchant service provider. The first thing that you should do before thinking of going for a lower processing fee is to look for a trustworthy and efficient merchant processing service provider. Make sure that you are earning more than they want you to believe. There are a lot of merchant service providers that offer fast processing and authorizations out there, but only a few offer low processing fees. So, choose wisely.

Ask what exactly the fees you are paying for are. If you are a new hotelier, you probably don’t know the kinds of fees that you pay in processing credit cards. Basically, you pay for Interchange fee which is the rate paid to your merchant service provider for each card-based transaction and for an additional fee charged by your service provider which is also a fraction of the transaction. Usually, to avoid scaring away the merchants, they call these fees discount rates and intentionally don’t let the merchants know about the exact percentage they are charging them. Also, there might be some hidden fees that you are not aware of. Have them explain everything and ask. Always ask.

Consider the size and reputation of your business. The bigger your business is, the higher your chance of getting a lower processing fee. If you are earning at least $20,000.00 in your transactions alone, you might be able to settle for a more reasonable Interchange fee, commonly known as the Interchange Plus fee wherein you pay the exact Interchange rate, plus a flat additional fee. This way, you will be able to pay a fixed processing fee, thus avoiding other charges or hidden fees.

Read everything your merchant service provider sends you. Thoroughly go through all the contracts and papers your service provider will send you, especially the most seemingly harmless ones, including the small print. This way, you will know all the fees that they are charging you, including the penalties, termination fees, or monthly minimums and maximums. Be critical and cynical.