Choosing the best merchant account should be easy, in theory at least. However, in real life things are a little more complicated. The merchant account industry is a very competitive place and the account providers stand to make significant profits from each account they sign up.

Due to that fact, many companies use hard sales tactics and it may not be easy to understand all the charges that will be added to each account, unless you know the right questions to ask.

Many people are most concerned with the rates that a provider quotes them. Whilst the rates are always important, they are just one of several charges that merchant account holders have to pay.

These other charges may include contract fees, possible joining fees, transaction charges, as well as statement fees. Even the rates themselves will change depending on card types and when and where the transaction is performed.

Usually providers will quote rates under the best possible scenarios which will probably not occur regularly for most merchants, or actually give ‘discount’ rates that only apply for introductory periods.

Really the only way to fully understand all the potential charges that you could end up paying is to have a full consultation with a consultant from each company.

Unfortunately, most are reluctant to do this favoring the hard sell approach. This type of approach should be seen as a warning sign and set alarm bells ringing.

However, the best companies in the industry will offer consultations, as well as excellent rates backed up by very good customer service.