Here’s a little industry secret: terminals are not made of gold.
In fact, terminals usually retail for around $300. But many people pay hundreds of dollars a month against a multi-year terminal lease. This is maybe the most crippling and underhanded scam used by processing reps. The victims are often small and medium sized companies, the hardest hit business owners in this unstable economy.
The list of merchant complaints stemming directly from leasing is staggering.
By the rep inflating the cost of the equipment it seems perfectly reasonable to enter a long-term lease. These leases are usually non-cancellable and are not even lease to own!
Merchants feel it’s the only option because the money to buy isn’t available immediately. Because there just aren’t enough hours in the day, careful reviews and research of the equipment just isn’t possible. The easiest rule of thumb is if a company doesn’t provide the option of a free terminal… end the conversation there.
At Sekure Card Services, we have the resources available to give you the equipment you need at no cost. Anyone who is actually interested in your business will provide you free equipment as a loaner. It’s a small but realistic investment in your business.
Two of our preferred brands are Verifone and Hypercom. They are the two biggest names in processing equipment for a reason. Both are reliable, easy to program and not tied to any one processor.
If your business is mostly manual entry and you are keying instead of swiping consider a virtual terminal. Sekure Card Services is a direct reseller for Authorize.net, a widely used online payment tool that works with most payment processing companies. This means better customer service, monthly costs and per transaction fees.
A virtual terminal is basically just a website. You go to the site, log in and enter the credit card information. It gives you an authorization code and you’re done. You can set up recurring billing and customer profiles for regular clients. The added option of being able to review the past two years of transactions in depth is great as well. For wholesalers, manufacturers and web-based companies this is definitely the most practical solution.
Knowing the basics is half the battle and the rest is putting that information to good use. A brokered quote from a company that is genuinely interested in your business and can prove it is definitely the way to go.
