A payment processing company is the entity that will provide you with all of the hardware, software, and support you will need in order to effectively process customer payments at your retail store.
Conduct even the most cursory of internet searches for providers, and you will quickly discover that there are many candidates vying for your money.
While it may be tempting to simply select the option with the lowest prices or the most recognizable name, the reality is that taking time to vet the ideal company to mesh with your business will serve you and your customers well for years to come.
What is a payment processing provider?
The credit card payment process is pivotal to most modern businesses. The job of the payment processing provider is to act as a sort of mediator among the various players, including the merchant, the customer, and the associated banks.
In addition to acting as a middleman, the processing company also provides the merchant with the full suite of credit card hardware and software necessary for completing purchases using plastic or digital wallet options.
In short, operating in today’s increasingly cashless payments landscape is virtually impossible without the services of a payment processing provider. And when you do the legwork involved in selecting the best option for your company, the rewards can be even richer.
The anatomy of a payment.
The purchase process occurs at lightning speed from start to finish, so much so that you may not fully understand the steps involved or how a payment processing company facilitates the transaction. There are several steps involved.
First, the customer elects to make a purchase at your retail establishment and submits their payment details. This information is then transferred to the payment gateway, which passes the data to the payment processing company.
It is the processor’s job to then transmit the data to the card network, which then hands it off to the customer’s bank. That institution is responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient funds in the account.
Depending on funds availability, a payment acceptance or declination response is then sent to the card network. The details are then relayed to the payment processor and ultimately to the payment gateway, at which time customer and merchant are made aware of the payment status.
If the payment has gone through, funds are deposited by the customer’s bank into the seller’s merchant account where they will remain until settlement.
What the ideal processor can do for you.
Finding top-shelf payment processing for your retail store can give you ready access to a host of valuable features that truly can take your business to the next level.
For one thing, an excellent provider can help you to streamline processes by making checkout faster and safer, and minimizing errors such as declined charges that can make customers unhappy and lead to costly disputes.
That’s not all that a good payment processor can do to enhance the customer experience.
The ideal vendor will allow you to accept a wide variety of payments in addition to straightforward card transactions, including digital wallets, mobile payments, and recurring billing. If you sell internationally, they can also allow you to configure your systems to accept payments in multiple currencies.
While these features come at a cost, they don’t need to break the bank. Your chosen provider will work hard to ensure that the fees you pay are fair and competitive as well as completely transparent.
Through it all, you and your customers can count on the company’s commitment to enhanced security protocols, including fraud prevention and detection tools, and the most updated software available.
Additionally, the vendor will be able to demonstrate its compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a set of measures implemented to protect cardholders throughout the payment process.
The software furnished to you by your processing provider should also be equipped with reporting and analytics capabilities. These tools can examine your data, creating documents that enable you to take the temperature of your business and your sales and employee performance with just a few clicks.
Streaming your operations with the help of your payment processor is, however, impossible without one final ingredient: prompt and effective customer support.
Should any difficulties arise with your point of sale system or peripherals, your company should be readily available to troubleshoot and train, enabling you to get back up and running quickly to minimize the negative effects of downtime on your customers and your profit margin.
Matching your business to the ideal payment processing provider can be a partnership for the ages. As a team, you can work together to offer payment security, choice, and flexibility.
Behind the scenes, the vendor will be at your side to ensure that your infrastructure is both strong and scalable with your changing needs. Demand the qualities set forth above, and you can look forward to a long and productive collaboration.
