Why You Should Never Meet With Another Payment Processor

Why You Should Never Meet With Another Payment Processor

Today, I sat with a business owner as we met with a credit card processing company that sold them $600 worth of equipment on a 48-month lease for $400 per month.

The business owner had been having problems with the credit card swipes on their Revel POS system and they took a call from a local company claiming to be the best credit card processor in the world. Unfortunately, when the business owner met with the credit card services agent, the agent made everything sound amazing and got him to sign to get new equipment.

A week later when the equipment arrives, the merchant realizes that the FD-130 credit card terminals don’t integrate with his Revel POS system and that he unknowingly signed a lease for equipment that doesn’t work with his system.

As I sat there across the table from the company that trains agents how to scam merchants, I realized why business owners like you should never meet with another credit card processing company.


The first reason is the industry is far too complex for a business owner to understand how to make a quality decision on which provider is going to be best for their business. This is why merchants switch processors year after year and never quite find what they are looking for. In addition to it being difficult to understand, payment processing agents, even the least educated ones, can be very persuasive and promise significant savings without caring if the merchant sees the results they promised. By the time the merchant gets their merchant statement, they realize the savings never materialized.

You would think that this problem would be solved with POS systems like Revel, Toast, and Clover offering their own payment processing solution, but it hasn’t.


The second reason you should never meet with another payment processor is because there are no consumer protection laws that protect you from being scammed by a credit card processor. This means if you sign the wrong agreement, the laws in your state, or the Attorney General will likely do nothing about it.

When I worked in the insurance industry, I had to pass a background check that included a financial review and credit report. The merchant services industry is not scrutinized or regulated in the same way which is why there are so many dishonest business practices prevalent in the industry.


With an industry being complex, and unregulated you don’t want to give your most important financial information to the wrong company. This can wreak havoc on your business and can cost you a significant amount of money and frustration. As a small business owner, or business of any size, it’s never in your best interest to lease a $200 credit card terminal for 48 months regardless of how sweet the rates sounds. That’s a routine bait and switch deal that has been going on in the merchant services industry for years. You don’t have time for that!


After meeting with hundreds of merchants and listening to what frustrates them about merchant services, we have created a service that allows them to never meet with another payment processor and it’s called Concierge.

For a monthly fee, we manage and monitor the merchant services for business owners so they don’t have to deal with evaluating bids and reading through their merchant statements every month.

If you’re tired of having to evaluate your payment processing, being in the dark about your rates, or not knowing who to call when you have question, give us a call or start a conversation with us.

Myth #1: Going Direct Is Best For Your Business

Myth #1: Going Direct Is Best For Your Business

As a business owner needing a quality solution to accept credit cards, you are constantly pursued by credit card processing agents telling you to “Go Direct” so you can eliminate all your payment processing headaches. This “pitch” is used by thousands of credit card processing agents across the country even if they don’t work for one of the few actual direct payment processors.

As a consulting firm that works in partnership with direct processors and independent sales organizations, we understand why this pitch is bogus!

Credit card processing is nothing like buying furniture or refrigerators. The credit card processing rates are set by the card issuing banks and the card brands (i.e. Visa, MasterCard, etc.) and are non-negotiable. In fact, these rates equate to as much as 90% of your overall bill in most cases as I mention in my recent article “Where Credit Card Processing Fees Go”.

I’ve come across merchants processing with direct processors that were getting great rates and service, and merchants that were being overcharged and mistreated by their direct processing relationship, so going direct is not the silver bullet.

The reality is, the experience you will have with your merchant service provider along with what you pay is dependent upon how they configure your fee structure, the technology they provide, and their approach to customer service. These vary from company to company and it’s up to you to have an interview process to determine which provider is the best fit for your business.

How We Help

Northwest Advisory Group is a payment consulting firm that helps businesses eliminate the stress related to managing payment processing. We accomplish that by understanding the needs of our clients and recommending payment solutions that help them reduce costs, save time, and increase revenue.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you save time and money, let’s start a conversation.