No web store is going to be in business for long unless it can process payments online electronically quickly and cost-effectively. It is a fundamental processing step and is absolutely critical to the business. As an ecommerce consultancy, we recommend that web store operators look to review (and change their payment processor) from time to time.
Quck, simple and easy payments is an absolute prerequisit for an ecommerce website.
When considering such a change, some of us can be unaware of contractual nuances which might apply with someone new. For those considering moving, we’ve put together a list of questions that you might want to ask before selecting a supplier.
For example, having a high cost here can impact your customer acquisition cost negatively, especially the first transaction when a discount is likey to be offered to win a new customer.
The answer to these questions should allow you to build a comprehensive picture of costs and contractual obligations.
Questions to ask a payment processor about hidden charges
- What is your Gateway Fee? Do you have any other fees - such as Authorisation Fees? Do these ever vary?
- What are the rates (or any additional fees) payable when I accept a credit card online?
- Are there any fees payable if I have to make a refund online? Do I get any of the original fees returned to me?
- Do you have different fees for different types of credit or debit cards?
- How long is the term of the contract? Are there any early termination fees if I decide to move my business to another provider?
- Are all fees relating to one month’s worth of transactions charged once for that month? Do any fees overlap into subsequent months?
- Do you apply any fees for Activity Statements? Do these vary if it is paper statements or web access?
- Do you have a minimum amount of activity every month (minimum fee)? Are there any annual fees due within the contract?
- Do you charge a PCI Compliance fee?
Three more things to think about
This should cover off all the possible combinations of additional fees and costs payable to a Payment Processor (but there is a chance that some companies might have others). What is most important?
It depends from business to business:
- If you have a high frequency of transactions then the individual transaction fees will be most important
- Annual fees (which might be quite large) might be important especially if they are charged all in one month
- What is the cost of early extraction?
Anything else I should be considering in switching payment processor for my web order store?
- Integration: You should probably also be asking questions about the technology and how it can be integrated into your store. However, Payment Processors are in business to make their service as accessible as possible. Therefore, I wouldn’t expect big problems here, especially if your store is based on a standard platform. But it is worth making sure that it will work and to identify the costs involved in integrating the new solution.
- Level of service provided: Typically, if usage prices get too low then the level of service provided starts to deteriorate. The provider isn’t making sufficient margin and needs to manage costs too much. You should take references about service provision. And understand whether there is an account manger, telephone or internet support is something to look at. Lastly, you should also understand when the support is available too. Web stores don’t have traditional opening hours and you may well require 24 hour support (which will attract a cost to the provider).
At the end of this process, you should be able to answer: who are the best web store payment processors.
If you liked this blog then you might also like this blog too. Please consider us if you are looking for an e commerce consultant Cheshire.