Want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which merchant services ISO agent program is right for you? Well, why don’t we solve this problem for you? This guide is specifically created to help people who are stepping their toe into the vast sea of merchant processing. By the end of it, you will have a pretty clear idea of how to find a good processor.
10 Things You Need to Consider in a Merchant Services Agent Program
We will tell you 10 factors that you need to consider when looking for a viable, credible merchant services agent program. This way, you will ensure that there are no problems later on in your career as a credit card processing agent. With that said, let’s get started:
1. Fast Funding:
One of the most important things to look for in a merchant services ISO agent program is their funding period. Clients should not have to face delays in terms of funds transfer after a transaction is made. One of the most attractive and compelling features of a good merchant services ISO program is that the merchants get their funds the same day.
This is what attracts most of the merchants as they do not want their earnings to be kept by a 3rd party for more than a day. You will also be able to sell this kind of program better because of the speedy service.
2. Several Discounts:
When you are deciding to become a merchant services agent, go for the processor that offers a cash discount program. Simply put, it is a payment processing tactic where the fee of a particular credit card transaction is offset to the customers. This means that the merchant will not have to pay any transaction fee, the customers are using the facility instead of paying in cash, so it should be them who bear the cost.
The best cash discount program allows merchants to do just that! The algorithm of POS software is already trained to charge the percentage of fees levied on each transaction from the customer. Plus, some of the top merchants also provide free signage that educates customers about the fee on a credit card transaction, so there are no surprises at the end.
3. Dealing in High-Risk Industry:
There are many that become a credit card processor, but they have a very low-risk appetite. This means they will only deal in safer industries and not offer services to risky businesses like medical marijuana stores, travel agencies, and pharmacies etc. Now you might not work with these businesses when starting out, but soon, when your business grows, you will have to get clients from high-risk industries.
So if the credit card processor doesn’t deal with these industries, then you will be limited to a few fields which will put a cap on your growth potential. So instead of finding a merchant dealing with high-risk industries later on, you need to work with one from the start.
4. Assistance in Marketing:
As a credit card processing agent, you will need several marketing resources at your disposal to close sales. One of them is a team assisting you with lead capturing and turning the cold ones into warm leads. A terrific processor will have excellent merchant support that will help you convert more merchants with minimal energy, time, and resource exhaustion.
Plus, some of the excellent credit card processors also have their own landing pages designed to show to your potential customers. These landing pages can take several hundred dollars to make, but the processor will offer you for free, making your conversion process easier.
5. Flexible Plans:
One of the most necessary parts of working with a merchant services ISO program is to get paid properly and on time. You do not want to be underpaid, so make sure to work with a processor that offers a fair share of the income to you. Also, they must have lucrative bonuses if you go out of your way to close a specific number of sales in X amount of time.
You need to properly analyze the contract you will sign with them and check their payment terms, make sure to work with a company that pays on time.
6. Merchant and Income Analytics:
The best part of working with the top credit card processors in the industry is that they leverage technology to make things easier for their agents. A good processor will provide you with your own dashboard that will display various performance metrics like the number of sales you closed, your earnings, number of clients, and more.
Some even go the extra mile and provide data on merchants as well. You might be able to see the number of transactions they make and even get information on individual transactions.
7. Equipment and Software:
Many become a registered ISO for merchant service providers, but they do not work on their equipment and its advancement. The credit card processor must provide you with the necessary technology that you can offer to your clients and seal the deal. A good processor should offer these equipment and facilities:
- Point of Sale terminals to suit the needs of merchants
- Smart online payment options
- Facility of mobile payments
- Support loyalty programs and gift cards
- Fast processing with minimal errors As for the software, they must have up to date, user-friendly software in their equipment, allowing merchants to complete the transaction process smoothly.
8. Excellent Support:
Besides the marketing assistance that we discussed above, the merchant services provider should offer fast, responsive, and friendly customer services. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your customers are facing any issues that need to be solved, and you cannot get in touch with the processor’s customer support to fix them.
In this case, even if the problem is not caused by you, you will be the one facing the consequences if you cannot get a customer support agent to solve the problem. The merchant might stop using the processor, and that will result in your financial loss.
So before you decide on working with a merchant, you need to ensure that they have a dedicated customer support team that can quickly answer your questions and solve any problems as soon as possible.
9. Multiple Boarding Options:
Look for a program that provides different boarding options from big payment processing platforms like EPX, First Data and Global Payments. Being able to access these programs means complete peace of mind for both you and the merchants.
Because there will be fewer chances of facing any integration or technological problems when connecting the POS or billing software of the merchant with the platforms your program uses. This will ensure your whole sales process goes smoothly, and you don’t lose a ready-to-convert client at the last moment.
10. Must Be Credible:
Lastly, you need to do your complete due diligence in finding everything about the company you can. They should not have a shady track record, damaged reputation, or bad reviews on the internet.
You need to work with a company that has the face of its CEO attached to it, has a brick and mortar headquarter, and is licensed to operate.
Plus, keep your eyes peeled for any too good to be true bonuses or discounts; these things come with bad surprises later on.
Is There Any Program With These Qualities?
Glad you asked, I was wondering that I have written 10 points for you to look in a company so it might be challenging to find one that meets this criterion. Well, let me make things simple for you by introducting North American Bancard. They are excellent at what they do, and their core focus is to benefit their agents and merchants. Have a look at a few of their key features:
- They have Global Payments, EPX and First Data powered merchant accounts
- Their terminals work with both credit and debit cards. Plus, they support both EMV and NFC based methods of payment
- They also support mobile payments via PayAnywhere technology
- Their PayAnywhere feature also works with storefront point of sale system
- Automated cash discounting
- They have web-based terminals that provide agents with all the details of their performance and the specifics of their merchants
- Very attractive signup and profitability bonuses
Parting Words:
If you have successfully made it to the end, then it means you already know about the key things to look for to find the cream of the crop credit card processing company. We have also suggested the leading program with all the qualities discussed in this guide. So it is fair to say that you have everything you need to get started on your journey to working as a merchant services representative. You just need to take the first step and make a career doing what you really want to do.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partnership program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
How Does the Payment Processing Busines Work?
It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant services company. If you want to become a payment service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.
The Credit Card Processing Industry
When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.
Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.
Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.
Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.
Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.
Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.
Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.
Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.
Facilitation and Communication
If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.
- The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
- Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
- The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
- The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
- Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
- The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
- Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.
What Is PCI Compliance?
If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:
• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.
• Quarterly network susceptibility scans
• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.
Fees and Processing
When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.
Before You Start
If you are going to start a merchant services company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.
Research the Market
In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.
Start Fresh or Franchise
You have to decide whether you will be starting a credit card processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.
Choose a Legal Structure
Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.
Start a Credit Card Processing Company
There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a payment processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.
Comprehensive Business Plan
Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.
Insurance Types Needed
You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.
Partner With Other Companies
Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.
Lease Equipment for Processing
When you are going to start a processing processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.
Merchant Services Sales Reps
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
Are you tired of losing a percentage of your sales to the credit card companies? That’s the cost of doing business, right? Where do you draw the line, though? When does it become too expensive to allow customers to pay with credit cards? You can’t just turn credit card paying customers away – that’s bad for business, so what should you do?
Try the dual pricing cash discount program. It helps ease the financial stress on merchants while rewarding cash buyers with a discount. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Understanding the Cash Discount Program
When you use the dual pricing cash discount program, you must make it known that you offer cash buyers a discount on the total cost of the items and customers paying with a credit card pay the full, listed price. This isn’t a surcharge – you aren’t penalizing credit card paying customers. Instead, you’re offering cash discounting or rewarding cash-paying customers.
Here’s an example.
You have a product listed for $20.
John comes in and buys the product for $20, paying with a credit card. John pays $20. Jan comes in and buys the product for $20, paying cash. Jan pays $19.20 because she gets a 4% discount for paying cash.
How Merchants Benefit from the Dual Pricing Cash Discount Program
It may seem strange to advertise that you offer discounts for cash buyers, but it has its benefits:
- You’ll reduce your cost. The fewer credit cards you process, the less your cost will be.
- You’ll have access to your funds faster. With more incentive to pay cash, more customers will do so, giving you instant access to your revenue.
- Fewer credit card purchases means a lower risk of chargebacks.
How the Dual Pricing Cash Discount Works
The process is simple. Just let us know you want to be a part of the Cash Discount Program. We’ll provide you with signage that states the percentage credit card customers will pay if they pay with a credit card.
You go about business as normal, processing payments as you normally do. If you have a credit card paying customer, our terminal will calculate the cost for you. There’s no extra work on your part, and you reward the cash-paying customers with a discount – it’s that easy.
The Cash Discount Program is Great for Business
You may think the cash discount program would turn off your credit card paying customers, but it won’t. A majority of customers don’t mind paying a slightly higher price, (cents on the dollar really) for the convenience of carrying credit cards versus cash.
You and the customers come out the winner in the deal. You show honesty and integrity by providing signage that lets customers know of the price difference if they use a credit card and you reward those that choose to pay cash. Eventually, more customers will catch on and have cash available when they shop at your store - after all, who doesn't love a little discount, right? Take a look below at the summery of benefits:
Lower Processing Fees
The main benefit of a cash discount program is that it results in lower or zero processing fees. While many don’t give a second thought to what the processing fees are on any given transaction, business owners certainly know that these fees do add up and can affect margin in a very real way. When merchants use Edge pricing they are, in effect passing on that processing fee to the customer. Over time, this can save merchants thousands and provide them with a higher margin on their sales.
Discounts for Customers
What customer doesn’t love a discount? Being able to provide every customer that pays in cash with a discount is not only a very marketable promotion, but it helps to make your customers happy. Customers love going to businesses that offer a cash discount because it allows them to feel as if they are getting a good deal and somewhat have control over what they pay at your establishment. When it comes to happy customers, it is very hard to put a price tag on that.
Increased Loyalty/Happiness
When your customers are continuously having positive experiences at your business and are getting to know your establishment as a place that offers a cash discount, that can only help you. This creates loyalty and happiness in your customer base and helps to establish brand and customer loyalty. This is a very valuable asset and it can help to offer consistent cash discounts to your customers.
Easy to Deploy
When you think of implementing a program like this, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and assume that you won’t be able to do it easily. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In truth, it is growing increasingly easy to deploy a cash discount program and with all of the resources that we provide to our merchants, it is easier than ever.
What’s Included in Our Cash Discount Program?
With our cash discount program POS, you will be able to process a wide variety of payments from all major credit card providers. This offers your customers even more convenience and helps to build loyalty time and time again.
Free POS Equipment
Don’t worry about the cost of upgrading to a whole new system--we have you covered. We provide free POS equipment to our merchants to once again make working with the Edge program as easy as possible. When you work with us, there will be very little to be worried about.
Fast Funding
We are known for providing fast funding to our merchants. It’s hard to operate a business when your cash flow is being restricted, and that is why we put a focus on making payments accurate, concise, and fast to provide you with a business partner that you can trust to keep your financial interests at the forefront.
Flexible Contracts
Worried about getting locked into a long contract? Don’t be. We don’t believe in limiting the options of our merchants and that is why we offer flexible contract options that don’t lock you in for years at a time. With the Edge cash discount program, you’ll have options, which are extremely valuable to have when operating a business. You can pivot at a moment’s notice, should you need to.
Easy to Understand
From a customer and merchant perspective, operating on a new POS system can be complicated and difficult. That isn’t the case with Edge. We have structured this program to make it as easy as possible to understand and use so that any business can use this program to their advantage.
FAQ
Is it legal for merchants to offer cash discounts to their customers?
According to the FTC, it is illegal to inhibit the ability of customers to pay cash. Therefore, programs like cash discounts and surcharging are legal and encouraged.
Does a processing fee drive customers away?
Studies show that this isn’t an issue that consumers are worried about. Most consumers are happy to pay an additional small fee for the convenience of using their card.
What happens if I don’t like the merchant cash discount program?
We have flexible contract options so that you don’t have to be locked into a merchant cash discount program that you don’t like. We love providing flexibility to our merchants and agents. We’re confident that you’ll love our program, though.
What’s the difference between this and surcharging?
The act of providing a discount for those that pay with cash is different than charging an additional fee for credit card users. This is confirmed by many of the major credit card associations.
Why should I choose the merchant cash discount program?
We have been in business for years and have a reputation for providing the best merchant programs.
What resources do I need to ensure that I’m running this program correctly?
We provide our merchants with all of the resources that they need to implement and operate this program, including POS systems, back-end systems, and signage to notify their customers of the change.
As a merchant services agent, you know that one of the largest struggles is finding a way to organize your merchants, monitor their activity, and review your own performance. With a traditional merchant services company, this could fall to you to monitor. However, there is a better solution. The North American Bancard Sales Partner Portal is one of the most innovative partner portals in the industry and it has a robust set of features that allow you to do all of these things and more with ease. With this partner portal, you’ll be empowered to handle your merchant services business and gain full control over the metrics that drive your livelihood.
Feel at home with custom branding
One of the most interesting features of the partner portal is that you are able to brand the portal with your own logo and color to make it feel more personalized and specific to your brand. This feature allows your firm to gain all the reputation and legitimacy of a large corporation just for cooperating with North American Bancard.
Easy to use dashboard
If you have ever dealt with an unnecessarily complicated dashboard that is complicated to use and navigate, then you know the strain that it can put on your workflow. With this dashboard, you’ll never be held back from productivity. This dashboard is one of the easiest to use in the industry and provides you with an easy way to navigate and find the information that is important to your business.
Visualize your progress
When you are making progress and signing on new clients, it is always helpful to visualize your progress and see how far you have come from the beginning of your journey. If you are a visual person that values having these resources, then this portal is perfect for you. It contains visual aids to show you your progress and visualize the performance of your business.
Gain access to marketing materials
Within the portal, you’ll not only find payment information and performance metrics, but also the tools that you need to improve your performance as a representative. There are marketing materials located within the portal that will help you close more sales, connect with your clients, and save time throughout your day by giving you all of the information that you need in one central location. With the help of these marketing materials, you can quickly rise through the ranks to become a highly paid account representative.
Handle support tickets
When your merchants have issues or concerns, it can often be a hassle to try and communicate with them and organize their issues while also documenting them well. That is where the partners' dashboard comes in. The dashboard contains support capability to allow you to handle and facilitate product support inquiries from within the dashboard. There is also a knowledge base within the partner portal to help solve any minor issues and give your customers the care and attention that they deserve.
What to Know about Selling Merchant Processing Services
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services sales programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Become a white label payment provider today and take your business to the next level. If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of payment processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, the SMG white label program might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, our white label program will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.
Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label payment processor program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.
We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. There is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:
- Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
- Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
- This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
- When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under their brand name.
Selling Merchant Services Benefits
Have you ever gone out shopping in your community? Have you ever shopped online at the webstore of one of your favorite local businesses? If the answer is yes, then you’ve been on the other end of a credit card processing solution. You took your credit card or debit card, entered the checkout process, and completed your payment easily and quickly. Every business needs a reliable payments solution--it’s how they accept payments for the goods and services that they render. However, it sounds much simpler than it is. Finding a payments solution that meets the needs of their business can be challenging. You can help your local businesses solve this problem by starting a credit card processing company of your own--selling merchant processing services from home.
What does being a merchant account salesperson mean?
If you’re going to sell merchants services, you first want to know what exactly that means and what it is going to involve. Merchant accounts are services rendered to merchants that are essential to the business to operate such as payment processing and facilitation. As a merchant services representative, you will be the person in charge of identifying businesses that aren’t quite getting as much as they would like to out of their existing processing solution or new businesses that are looking for a reliable partner to start with. You would be speaking with these businesses, presenting them with options, and signing them to merchant services contracts.
While the literal definition is one thing, what you will be doing as a merchant services representative is expanded far beyond that. Yes, you would be selling merchant services to businesses, but the process of making that happen includes much more. As a merchant services sales professional, you will meet with businesses to have a long-form conversation whether in person or on the phone to determine what they need out of a payment processing provider and how you can meet those needs.
As a merchant services representative, you will be critical support staff to businesses all over that need reliable merchant services such as processing and POS systems. In many ways, you would be essential to one of the most important sectors in our economy--small businesses. If you are passionate about helping small businesses and coming up with creative solutions to solve the problems of business owners, then this could be a great career path for you.
Benefits of being a merchant account sales professional
There are many benefits to becoming a merchant services sales rep, and there are definitely reasons for why it is considered one of the most desirable positions to do from home. If you want to become a merchant sales representative, then you can expect to enjoy these benefits as a result.
Earn from home
Perhaps the greatest thing about being in merchant services sales is that you can earn an income from home. Many people dream about earning a living from home, but very few are able to achieve it. There are scams out there that promise this flexibility, but our program is a very legitimate opportunity to earn a full-time living from home or earn some side money as a representative. When you are able to work from home and earn an income, many opportunities for life improvement open up. All in all, working from home as a merchant services representative makes for a very desirable living.
Have flexibility in your schedule
If you value flexibility in your schedule and having more free time to enjoy with friends and family, then being a merchant services representative might be the right option for you. Because you will be earning an income on a commission basis, there is no supervisor to tell you when to work or for how long. This means that while you should be providing basic support and communication to your merchants, you can take a vacation as needed or switch around your hours as you see fit. It’s the ideal situation for anyone that wants to have maximum flexibility in their life and achieve the ideal work-home balance.
High earnings potential
The main reason that so many people find merchant services sales to be such a desirable industry is because the earnings potential is high. The amount of money that you earn in merchant services sales is entirely dependent on how you perform as a salesperson, so the sky's the limit when it comes to your earnings. In addition to regular commissions that you earn from sales, there are also frequent opportunities for performance-based bonuses that you can use to increase your income.
Help your local businesses
One of the main benefits of working as a merchant sales representative is that with the solutions that we have to offer, you’ll be able to help your local businesses. For anyone that is passionate about small and local businesses, this is a great career choice. When you work as a merchant services representative, you’ll be able to work closely with businesses in your area and around the country to find solutions to the problems that they face on an everyday basis. With the help and services that you are able to provide to your clients, you’ll help them function with more efficiency, increased profit, and better customer service. Enhancing your local economy and businesses is truly a passion worth exploring.
No sales experience required
While being a salesperson might be new and intimidating to you, you should know that becoming a merchant services sales rep requires no prior experience and can be done by anyone that has a passion for helping businesses find the solutions that they need. With our training modules and comprehensive suite of solutions, you’ll have everything you need to learn about this industry and thrive while on the job.
Are most merchant account salespeople successful?
If you are thinking of making the leap into merchant services sales, you might be wondering if most people enjoy success. While not everyone enjoys success in sales or is cut out for sales, those that work hard and are determined to help local businesses find the ideal payment solution for them have a higher chance of success than those that are just in it for the income. If you want to have success in merchant sales, you should be ready to make a strong effort and be persistent.
How to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent
If you’ve been considering becoming a merchant services agent for a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.
Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).
Have a Plan
The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.
The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.
What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?
Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.
The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.
Leverage Your Social Network
Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.
etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.
Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.
Pick the Right Partner
The decision of which ISO agent program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.
You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.
Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.
Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.
If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.
There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.
Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.
Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:
Actually Know What You’re Doing
When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.
The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.
When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.
Be Completely Honest
Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.
Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.
When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being a merchant services agent can be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.
The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right ISO agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.
All around the world, there are thousands of businesses that use vital services that are referred to as merchant services. These are services such as payment processing, which is what allows businesses to accept and process payments so that they can make a profit on their product. Without these services, businesses would be unable to function in the modern world. You might think that the fact that these services are an absolute necessity to these businesses make them an easy target for selling, but that is now always the case. There are definitely some positives as well as some negatives when selling merchant services.
This guide will show you some of each and hopefully give you some insight as to whether a career selling merchant services is right for you.
Pros
Undoubtedly, there are some very positive aspects of selling merchant services for a living. If you have had a sales job that is similar in the past, you already have known some of these benefits. Here are some of the best things about selling merchant services.
There is always a market
One of the best things about working in the merchant services industry is that there is never a lack of demand for these services. There are always new businesses sprouting up as people chase their passion for owning their own business. And existing businesses are always evaluating their options and ensuring that they are getting the best deal on the market. For that reason, you won’t ever have to worry about the industry as a whole drying up. People will always need to spend digital money and businesses will always need to find a way to accept it.
Set your schedule
For many that are in a commission-based sales job, one of the greatest benefits of it is being able to get to the point where you are working when you want to work instead of punching a time clock when you get to work. When you are a partner in a merchant services ISO agent program, you will be able to set your appointments on a schedule that works well for you.
Build passive income
Finding and signing clients to lucrative merchant processing contracts is hard work, nobody denies that. However, all of the hard work that you put into this process could end up paying out tenfold throughout the years. One of the greatest things about being a merchant services salesperson is that your accounts can earn you passive and residual income long after you have closed them to a contract. This could help you build passive income for years to come and eventually phase out the bulk of the labor that is involved in this career.
High commission rates
When you compare merchant services to other industries out there, you will find that it has a very competitive and comparatively high commission rate compared to those other industries. The high price of the contracts and the fact that they continue to pay out for years to come is what makes these sales so valuable and why some of the best salespeople in the world turn to merchant services when they want to increase their earning potential.
Cons
Just as there are many pros to selling merchant services, there are also some aspects that could prove difficult. You should watch out for these aspects and consider whether they are something that you are able to overcome and overlook.
Highly competitive industry
There is always a lot of demand for merchant services, but this fact also means that there is a lot of competition. One of the hardest aspects of selling merchant services is that you will always have competition breathing down your neck, waiting to provide your client with a better rate. This is really where your ability to create and nurture relationships will come in handy with client retention. This industry is not for those that don’t like competition and healthy capitalist tendencies.
Dependent on success to make money
When you are a merchant services representative in any industry, you know that your ability to make money is heavily dependent on the success that you have when selling your product or service. It’s no different in selling merchant services. If you want to have a good income, then you will need to become skilled at selling these products. If you don’t feel confident that you can do that, then it might not be the right choice for you.
One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.
So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.
However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with Shaw Merchant Group. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. SMG ISO agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”
SMG ISO agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.
Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem!
Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with SMG, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!
How Much Can I Make?
Shaw Merchant Group offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that SMG allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.
Here are some of the great advantages of using Shaw Merchant Group's program:
- Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
- Get up to $10K for every new account
- Get a large startup bonus
- Get residuals of up to 70%
- Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
- Get free training on the services you will be selling
Contact Shaw Merchant Group today and get started!
Merchant services is one of the most lucrative sales industries in the world, and many people are starting to realize the potential in becoming a payment processing company. However, if you are looking into getting into the industry, there are a few pieces of information that you will want to know beforehand like what reselling is all about, what are the benefits, and how you should go about choosing a merchant service provider partnership for your adventure in reselling. Shaw Merchant Group is one of the most reputable reseller programs in the industry and we’re going to show you all of the information that you will need to start on the right path when it comes to being a reseller of merchant services.
What is merchant services reselling?
The first step to getting into becoming a payment provider is understanding what exactly merchant services are and what a merchant services reseller program is. Merchant services are services that are rendered to merchants that are essential to doing business and accepting payments. There are unlimited businesses that need these services to function, but that also means that it is a competitive industry. However, success in this industry can mean a lifetime of residual and passive income, and that is why so many people choose to pursue become a payment services provider, along with the other benefits that it affords.
Merchant services reselling is an activity in which a person or company serves as the intermediary between a business and the merchant services that they need. Reseller sells the services to merchants and sources them from a merchant services provider at a lower rate, securing profit for those that resell the merchant services.
What are the benefits of being a merchant services reseller?
Being a merchant services reseller is a difficult field to succeed in, but there are many reasons to pursue being one. This field comes with a lot of benefits that attract people to becoming a payment service provider. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose to be a merchant services reseller.
No overhead
Being a merchant services reseller means that you won’t have any overhead as a businessperson. Since you are keeping nothing in stock and you won’t have to keep any equipment in-house to provide the merchant services that you offer, your risk is reduced and you are less vulnerable to business losses.
Help local businesses
One of the main benefits to being a merchant services reseller is that it is a rather fulfilling career. With the ability to provide businesses with reliable merchant services, you can feel fulfilled in your job and help your local community.
Earn a high income
People who are highly drawn to becoming a merchant service provider are often done so because of the potential and ability to earn a high income that is not limited by anything other than your success in merchant services and your ability to convince businesses to use you for their merchant services. Commissions are how you earn money with providing merchant services and the difference in price between what you're selling the services for and what you are buying them for. With that in mind, it is one of the most lucrative industries that you can be in.
If you are going to be a successful merchant service provider, then you need to work with a reliable merchant services ISO partner. Having a good ISO agent program to support you will allow you to offer premium and superior service that meets the needs of your clients and ensures that they will come back for more as needed.
Payouts
You always want to work with a merchant services ISO program that provides timely and accurate payouts. Running a merchant services business isn’t profitable without receiving a reliable stream of payments, so make sure that the company that you partner with, such as Shaw Merchant Group, offers reliable and accurate payouts.
Business tools
If you want to have the best chance of success possible in selling merchant services, then you need to work with a partner that has the business tools to make it happen. These include marketing materials, literature, and other tools to help you bring in a reliable steam of clients. Shaw Merchant Group has one of the most comprehensive suite of business tools out there to provide you with the resources that you need.
Online reputation
You should always verify the reputation and trust that your ISO partner maintains if you want to have success as a merchant service provider. As a independent agent, you are only as good as the program that you work with. Working with a program that has a good reputation among merchants is essential to having success in your own business.
If you’ve put in the leg work required to build a successful credit card processing business, then you are probably at a point where nothing feels impossible. However, to continue growing your business or jump to another venture to make even more money, you will need an injection of capital. Credit card processing client portfolios are great for building income over the long term, but don’t do much for those that want to get a fast injection of capital to build businesses. If you want to get a lump sum or a loan against your residual portfolio, you can do that. All you have to do is list your credit card processing business for sale and get a buyer or lender to borrow you money or give you money against your portfolio assets.
Though the concept is pretty straightforward, you should still learn as much as you possibly can about this process to ensure you do it safely and effectively and that you get what you deserve from your credit card processing business for sale. This guide will go over some of the most important concepts and points you will need to know if you hope to successfully sell your portfolio of residual income.
Preparation Is Key
If you hope to have success in selling your credit card processing business, then you need to be sure that you have your ducks in a row. This means doing the preparation work and familiarizing yourself with what is possible and what is not when it comes to your residuals portfolio. By going through this process, many credit card processing business owners discover things about their residuals portfolio that they previously didn’t know. This information is vital for anyone that wishes to succeed in selling thier credit card processing business. Follow these basic steps as a launching pad for the sale of your credit card processing business.
Verify Residuals Ownership
If you want to sell your residuals portfolio and credit card processing business, then the first thing that you will need to do is verify that you indeed own your residuals. Many merchant services agents and owners operate under the assumption that they do--until they see the fine print. Working with certain ISOs and other companies could prevent you from selling your residuals. So, instead of wasting your time pursuing something that might not even happen, make sure that you verify that you are authorized to own and control your residual portfolio.
Selling Your Residuals
When you are hoping to sell your credit card processing business, you will need to not only ensure that you own the residuals and portfolio you are looking to leverage into cash, but also that you have the right to sell that portfolio of residuals. This is done by simply looking at the contract that you are entered into. You will need to verify that you have the full right to control this portfolio and pass it on to someone else or use it as leverage in a cash transaction. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to enter any arrangement with full knowledge of what you are able to do with your portfolio of residuals.
Ask About Borrowing
Selling is one thing, but borrowing against your portfolio is another. You will want to make sure that you are able to borrow against your portfolio, which is similar to leveraging what is in your portfolio for a cash infusion. Some processing companies allow this and others don’t--it is specific to who you are working with. In addition to borrowing against your assets with an external lendor, you might also explore the option of borrowing directly from the payment processor. Many companies have programs that will allow you to do this easily and affordably.
Things to Know When Selling Your Residuals
If you are hoping to list your credit card processing business for sale and leverage your residual portfolio into cash, then there are some things that you will need to know ahead of time to ensure a successful transaction. These concepts will teach you more about how to have success when selling your credit card processing business or leveraging your portfolio into the cash you need to pursue your business ventures.
Qualification
One thing that you will need to be aware of before you sell your residuals portfolio is whether you qualify for a sale of your residuals. For many partnerships, you will need to have a business that generates $1000 or more per month in residuals in order to be considered for a sale of your residual portfolio or a lending option that is centered around your residuals portfolio.
Buyout Ratio
If you have determined that you are going to sell your residuals portfolio and you are eligible for such a sale, then you will need to be familiar with the buyout ratio. Basically, the buyout ratio dictates how much you will receive from the sale as it relates to what your income is from the residuals portfolio. For many portfolios, this number lies between 12 and 24 times what the monthly income is from your residuals. This is what you should generally expect to receive when you sell your residuals portfolio.
Earn Out
Earn out is similar to a buyout, only that you will continue to earn your residuals and gradually be phased out. The payout is paid over a certain amount of time. This allows you to continue earning from your portfolio while also receiving a lump sum up front. This allows for the best of both worlds and makes it easier to make the transition.
Grow Your Business And Gain Capital By Listing Your Credit Card Processing Business For Sale
If you have a successful credit card processing business and have become a payment service provider and you are looking to sell, then listing your credit card processing business for sale or entering into a lending agreement that uses your credit card processing business as leverage are two of the best ways. Now that you know more about these options, you have the power and knowledge necessary to make your cash infusion and business expansion dreams a reality.
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a credit card processing agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
Are you excited to become a credit card processing agent? Do you want to start a credit card processing company? If your answer is YES, then you have come to the right place.
In this article, I am going to teach you ways to start a successful credit card processing company. I am also going to take you through the fine details of planning, setting up, and starting a credit card processing company.
You are going to learn about what it takes to become a successful credit card processing agent, how to conduct market and niche research, how to create a great business plan, how to get funding for your venture, and also tips to run a successful credit card processing company.
It is important to note that when you become a payment service provider you will be helping corporate and businesses to process payment for their customers.
Your credit card processing services will involve offering the platform and equipment to facilitate the sending, approval, and processing of payments and transactions between customer’s bank accounts and your clients' bank accounts.
The credit card processing industry is very dynamic, and the success of becoming a merchant services agent is both easy and hard.
There are a few things that you need to know; some of these include having a clear understanding of how selling credit card processing works. You will also need to have deep knowledge of how credit cards work and what they do.
Another overly important thing that you will need to understand is your market and, most importantly, your niche market. This way, you will be able to connect with your customers on a personal level. In addition, you will also be able to create a solid relationship with banks for financial transactions and payment processing.
Market Feasibility and Niche Research
It is critical to note that any successful venture always starts with thorough research. When you want to become a credit card processing agent, you will need to do thorough market research.
Understand the type of services or products you will be offering and where your clients are and their needs.
Make sure that you look at the services offered by your competitors, their rates, and also how satisfied their customers are with the services they get.
The few steps you can take to become a merchant services reseller are to first create a survey on several businesses in your area, determine the most common services they use, and evaluate the satisfaction level of customers with their current payment providers.
Another important step that you need to take is to gather client information, such as phone numbers or email addresses. These details will help you when you start sending out pitches.
Crafting a Comprehensive Business Plan
For you to become a credit card processing agent and be successful in it, you will need to come up with a detailed business plan.
It is okay if you are not a seasoned writer, but you can hire one to do the work for you. Better still, there are several business plan templates available online that you can use.
There are several details that need to be included in your business plan; some of these details include:
- How you intend to run your venture
- The executive summary about your business
- How you intend to raise startup capital
- Products and services you will be offering
- Marketing and sales analysis
- SWOT analysis
- And more
Ideally, the business plan for a credit card processing company can serve as proof to investors and stakeholders that you are serious about with your venture as the document shows all the strategies.
A great business plan can help you win funding from various investors and banks.
How to Finance Your Credit Card Processing Business
Most business requires a startup capital; the same case applies to credit card processing companies.
To become a credit card processing agent, you need to consider where you are going to get funding to start your venture. You will also need to cater for all the operational costs until you start realizing some profits.
According to research, on average, a minimum of $51,000 is needed to start a credit card processing company.
There are options that you can use to get financing for your credit card processing company, some of these options include;
- Getting a loan from banks
- Approaching investors
- Getting funding from business partners
- Using your savings or selling assets to raise funds
- Sourcing some funds from friends and family members.
Launching Your Merchant Services Reseller Company
Once all the above are set up, you can go ahead and launch your credit card processing company. There are other finer details that you will need to consider before you do this. These include finding the appropriate location for your business, understanding the requirements which you must have beforehand, and understanding the manpower needed to run the business.
To become a merchant services reseller, you should fully implement your business plan. The best way is to strictly follow the plan without cutting corners.
Tip: Due to the competitive nature of the credit card processing business, it is critical to ensure that your business stands out.
Put more efforts to stand out among your competitions. The best way to do this is to have a business network. You can reach out to organizations and corporations to widen your reach and customer base.
Marketing Plan for Your Credit Card Processing Company
- Just like any other business, a marketing plan is a must. You can do all the above work, but if you don’t come up with an effective marketing plan, you might fail.
- Take your marketing strategies seriously. The following are some effective marketing ideas that you can use.
- Use social media platforms to spread the word about your business
- Reach out to stakeholders, clients, and managers of big corporations
- Make sure that your business is listed in local directories
- Use TVs, magazines, newspapers, and radio to advertise your business
- Start bidding for available contracts
To further increase your reach to potential clients, you can create business cards, flyers, pamphlets, or business website.
Tips To Help You Run a Successful Credit Card Processing Business
In order to succeed in starting a credit card processing company, understand that you will not only be providing requirements and services to help process payment for customers BUT also, you will be selling yourself. As a credit card processor, you will need to clearly show potential clients why they need your services. Show them the benefits they will get from your services. Never seize to reach out to potential customers. In addition, ensure that you do a follow up on those pitches. To simplify the process of becoming a credit card processing agent, North American Bancard provides all the tools you need for a successful credit card processing business.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partnership programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partnership program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services agent program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
When it comes to merchant services sales jobs, there is a lot to love. This is the reason that it is such a popular industry. Merchant services has long been one of the most lucrative and enjoyable fields, but that doesn’t mean it has its drawbacks. For most people, the risk is well worth it to enjoy the benefits that often come along with working in merchant services sales jobs. Here are some of the many benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a career in merchant services sales and use our free tools to find your next merchant services sales job.
Income
One of the greatest benefits of being in merchant services sales is that the income potential is basically unlimited. If you want the benefit of working in a field where your only income limiting factor is how hard you are willing to work, then this is the field for you. In merchant services sales, you are generally paid out on a commission basis. This means that for every sale you make, there is money involved for you. If you are looking for a field where your income can reach sky-high limits, then merchant services sales could be the ideal landing place for you.
Flexibility
Another amazing benefit of working in merchant services sales is the flexibility that this career often allows those that are in it. When you work in merchant services sales, you generally work for your own company or as a contract employee. This means that you are generally able to set your own schedule and enjoy the benefits of a great career while also getting a work-home balance that you’ve always wanted. It is the ideal solution or anyone that values flexibility highly in their work-home life.
Work Life
When you work in merchant services sales, you work for yourself. This means that not only do you have a lot of schedule flexibility, but also that your work life is more pleasant and geared towards how you actually want to spend your day. Instead of being beholden to a supervisor, set schedule, and set of rules that you don’t want to follow, you will be free to run your merchant services business as you please to provide you with a much more pleasant work life.
Rewarding
For some people, it is very important that they feel happy and fulfilled in their career with merchant services sales. In the case of this career field, it is pretty easy to achieve that sense of fulfillment. As a merchant services representative, it will be your job to work with small and medium-sized business wonders to find the solutions to the problems that are holding them back when it comes to payment processing. Through your work, you will be able to help small businesses operate more efficiently and improve their business. This bolsters the economy and helps the backbone of the economy all while providing you with a lucrative and rewarding career.
Finding Merchant Services Sales Jobs
To enjoy all the benefits of merchant services sales jobs, you first need to know exactly what to look for when partnering with a merchant services company to offer their services to your clients. This brief list of the main factors in finding a merchant services sales job with a company that will help you to succeed will give you some of the most important factors to look for in a merchant services company.
Area
Though many merchant services sales reps can work remotely from just about any location, it is still important to consider where your merchant services company is located. Much of this will depend on whether any in-office work is required and what travel is required. If you can work completely remote with the company that you have chosen, then this is not much of a concern at all. You can easily find which area your company has offices in simply by asking.
Reputation
These days, it is easier than ever to learn more about a company and the reputation that they have in the industry. Simply do some online research to determine what others have to say about the company and whether they consider the company to be a good partner to their agents.
Customer Support
One of the most important aspects in getting and keeping merchant services clients is the ability to provide them with high-quality and responsive customer support. Typically, this is the responsibility of the company that you have partnered with to offer the merchant services. Therefore, one of the first priorities that you should have when assessing merchant services companies to work for is their reputation and quality of the customer support.
Payout & Commission
Another factor that you should evaluate when choosing the next merchant services sales job for you is the payout and commission. It is important to select a merchant services sales job that has a high commission structure and is well-known for paying accurately and on-time. It’s important to make sure that they have a trusted payout structure in place so you can ensure you are paid for your efforts.
Our Merchant Services Sales Jobs
If you’re looking for the best merchant services sales jobs that fit this criteria, then you are in the right place. We provide merchant services sales jobs lists and other resources that help you to find an amazing career.
It is easy to become a credit card processor; just file some papers, set up a shop, and start charging high fees from the merchants. And if you are unlucky, you might start working for such companies as an agent and not earn to your full potential. So if you want to find the best merchant processing companies with extremely lucrative offers for both the merchant and agent, then this guide is your best resource.
We will discuss why you need to be careful when choosing the service provider. Plus, we will also provide you details about the best credit card processing company to work with so you can start a merchant processing company and see your profits soar. That being said, let’s get started:
Why Do You Need to Be Choosy About the Merchant Processing Company?
There are several issues that you can face with a credit card processor that can shut your business before it even starts. Here are a few problems agents face with many merchant credit card processors:
- Payment Delays: One of the leading problems that many agents who start a merchant services business face is that their credit card processing company holds payments for too long. Whether for security reasons or for lack of funds, the companies usually pay very late.
- Lack of Support: Many don’t have good agent support. If you need to inquire about something on an urgent basis, you will either have to wait, or you might not get connected even after several attempts.
- No System in Place: For many credit card processors, there is no robust system like a dashboard providing agents with insights to their progress, available funds, and active merchants. This puts a lid on the agent’s ability to improve by monitoring progress.
- Low Profitability: By selling merchant services, agents get commissions and bonuses; however, some merchant processors simply don’t pay very well. Agents get very low payments for the amount of work they put into bringing sales.
- No Attractions: In order to sell, you need to show some attractions to the merchants like upgraded processing software, low fees, and some starting out gifts, and so on. There are many merchant processors who don’t offer much, which can make it difficult for the agent to pitch the program to the merchants.
Now that you know what makes many credit card processing companies a bad choice, you need to become a credit card processor company’s agent that offers great benefits to both their agents and the merchants. One such company is Shaw Merchant Group.
So What’s Shaw Merchant Group?
Unlike most of the credit card processing companies that offer ‘discounts’ on the credit card fees, Shaw Merchant Group diminishes the concept of fee altogether. That’s right; they help merchants avoid fees! Their mantra is simple but highly effective; they transfer all the fees to the customers that use a credit card facility.
For instance, if someone makes a transaction of $100, and the fee is 2.9%, then instead of the merchant paying $2.9, the customer’s card will be charged for that fee. Now there will already be signage explaining this policy, so the customers already expect to be charged.
It is fair to beneficial to the merchant and fair to the customer because the merchant can now enjoy higher profits while the customer pays a small fee for using the credit card option when they could use cash payment.
If you are looking for the best credit card processing company to work with, then you cannot go wrong with Shaw Merchant Group. They have been one of the trailblazers in the industry for over a decade and are backed by well-reputed banks.
So let’s see what they have to offer to their merchants:
- Diverse Product Range: They offer a wide range of products fit for every kind of merchant. This means you will not have to turn down a potential sale just because you didn’t have the technology they were looking for. From EMV enabled terminals to POS systems and mobile card readers, they offer a range of products for all kinds of industries.
- Relations With Several Banks: One of the best parts of working with our ISO agent program is that they work with several banks such as Bancorp Bank, Pennsylvania, BMO Harris N.A, Illinois, and Wells Fargo Bank, California, etc. This allows them to work with all kinds of businesses, so you have a huge potential customer base to target.
- High-Risk Businesses: If your potential customer/merchant is in a high-risk industry like tobacco, they might’ve been rejected by other processors. However, NAB works with such businesses, so you have a whole new niche to target.
- Extremely Lucrative: Shaw Merchant Group offers a unique credit card processing solution where merchants offset the fee on to the customers, as we discussed above. So even if your potential merchant is already using a processing company, you can pitch them the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save 100% on their credit card processing fee; everybody likes higher profits!
- FREE Equipment: This is another benefit that SMG gives to the vendors, making it easier for you to pitch to all kinds of merchants. Upon signing up with SMG, the merchant can get a free credit card terminals equipped with advanced software that is already programmed to adjust transaction fee in the customer’s bill. Plus, they also offer free signage to educate the customers.
- Excellent Profitability and Bonuses: As a merchant services agent, you will get a lot more than 50–70% in residual income. First, you will get a signup bonus that can go up to $20k based on your initial performance. Plus, you get a bonus on the profits generated in the starting months. Your earnings will be multiplied by 14 and can go up to $10K.
Miscellaneous Benefits:
- A straightforward dashboard to see everything from your profits to the number of active merchants and their stats
- Receive free merchant services sales training for the services you sell
- Free ready-made lead generation website to help you attract more merchants
- Several affordable medical benefits
- Multiple payment processing platforms including First Data, Global Payments, and the new EPX
- Up to $1 million funding for merchants
Parting Words:
Now that you know why Shaw Merchant Group is the best credit card processing company to work with, we suggest that you take a step towards selling merchant accounts and successfully start a merchant services company with SMG supporting you.
Do you want to become a merchant services agent, and you are wondering where to start? You might be convinced that this is what you want to do. It is true that payment processing is a highly lucrative industry, and this makes it attractive. Becoming a successful merchant services agent is not easy because you will need some training to learn how to do this successfully.
The earning potential of a merchant services agent is incredibly high, but to get there, you will need to take steady steps towards attaining success. One of the steps is to seek merchant services sales training. Merchant services have some key pillars that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.
The following are the crucial credit card processing sales training structure that will increase your chances of becoming successful in the merchant services industry.
Learn Quality Partnership
This is one of the most critical concepts that you need to be familiar with while pursuing merchant services sales training. As a merchant services agent, you will need to partner with a merchant services provider. Your partnership needs to be solid in order to facilitate success. We can say that the merchant services provider will be the epicenter of your business.
The provider you partner with should be able to offer reliable payment processing services to your merchants without failing. They should also be able to offer the additional perks and tools that you need in the merchant services business.
Some key things that you are going to learn in the quality partnership training are the ability for the merchant services provider to offer good payment structure, offer prompt payments, good communication & support, the handsome share of profit, regular bonuses and modern and technological tools to help you succeed in your business.
A good merchant services provider you chose should be able to provide all these. You will be closer to your success and business goals if you are careful in selecting a quality ISO partnership. A good merchant provider will help you enjoy great profits as well as passive income from your merchant services business.
Pricing Structure
Another key thing to learn in merchant services training is the pricing structure. In addition to being able to make sales and getting new leads now and then, you will want to be sure of the right way to price your products and services. To have meaningful success in the merchant services business, you need to take your time and optimize your pricing.
A good pricing structure will enable you to have the appropriate profit margin. This will help you to keep on running a sustainable merchant services business. With the right pricing structure, you will be able to raise your income as you grow.
Learning about the pricing structure will help you to do things such as offering discounts, upselling, and many more. For now, the pricing structure may not seem to make a notable difference in your business, but as you start to accumulate hundreds and thousands of transactions, you will note the impact. It is, therefore, critical to fully understand the pricing structure in the merchant services sales business.
In Merchant Services, More Options Are the Best
In training to become a merchant services agent, you need to understand that a good merchant services provider should offer as many options as possible. There should not be limits to the payment processing options your merchant services provider is offering.
This is because if sometimes your customers happen to require something, you should be able to get it from your merchant services provider. On the other hand, if there are limits to options they can provide, then you might end up disappointing your customers.
As a good merchant services agent, you should lookout for a provider who allows access to a wide range of options, such as in payment processing. They should offer credit cards, debit cards, cash, ACH, and more payment processing options. If your provider gives you these options, you can offer them to your customers, and this makes them happy.
Several options mean that you will have the flexibility, and you will be able to offer solutions to your customers without running out of options. This is a win-win situation.
Customer Service
This is an important lesson to learn in merchant services sales training. The customer is the most important player in your merchant services business, and therefore they should be your highest priority all the time. As a payment processing agent, you should strive to keep your customers happy, and if you fail to do so, you will have a very hard time. It might even become very difficult to succeed in your business.
You should, therefore, brace yourself for customer service lessons in payment processing sales training. Customer services training will help you master the techniques that successful salespeople use in order to close more sales. They are always keen on the customer's needs and devise ways to fulfill these needs.
You should be able to attend to your customer’s queries in the shortest time possible. It is also critical to realize that when it comes to customer services, your merchant services provider will also play a key role. This gets us back to the previous point of choosing the right partner. If something happens that is beyond your control, you should be able to reach out to your provider for an effective and speedy solution.
Free Terminal for Your Merchants
For success in the merchant services business, the secret is to have a free terminal included. Merchant love bonuses in their payment processing packages. Note that you will be offering a POS which is designed to increase efficiency in payment processing. The terminal you provide should offer exceptional user experience for the satisfaction of your merchants.
For a strong bond between you and your merchants, you should be providing incentives. This will make them feel that they have the right agent by their side. For increased conversion rates, it is highly recommended that you offer a free POS terminal to your merchants.
You want to be a successful merchant services agent, right? The above learning concepts are the key to success in the payment processing business. Therefore you should ensure that you fully understand these in merchant services sales training.
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services ISO agent programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
If you've done any research at all, you've probably already realized that getting into credit card processing sales field can be extremely profitable. Just about every serious business needs a merchant account, so the number of prospects that you could work with are countless and the market is ever-expanding as the economy recovers.
You might also realize, though, that becoming a registered ISO or a credit card processing company yourself can be expensive, but luckily this is not your only option when you're looking to break into this field. One of the best ways to get into the credit card processing sales business is to start your career out as a sales agent. The upfront costs are minimal, and you can learn the business inside and out with a lot of room for growth. It's one of those coveted sales positions where you not only get commission at the time of the sale, but you usually receive residuals for the life of the account.
The key to success as a merchant services agent is choosing the right partner company to work with—this is an ISO whose products and services you will be offering to merchants. Since finding the best ISO agent program is so imperative to your future, take your time to consider who will be the best fit for you.
Top 5 Merchant Services Agent & ISO Programs
In order to help you get started on your quest, here are five of the best ISO agent programs out there that you can look into:
Looking for a company that has a lot of experience and support? This can be especially important when you're first starting out. You don't want to just be left in the dust whenever you have questions or if something goes wrong. They're very committed to offering the best service possible to not only their end-users, but more importantly to their sales agents. They'll provide you with the latest technology, varied offers to give to your clients, and top-notch service. They also offer extremely fast payments, and in fact will pay you every day instead of making you wait for weeks.
If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of credit card processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, Shaw Merchant Group might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, SMG will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.
As one of the best ISO agent programs, SMG has a history of a favorable commission structure, superior products, and sales support for thier ISO partners. With so much commission at stake, you will truly feel like a partner in the SMG business plan.
With Shaw Merchant Group's Registered DBA Program (See Details Below), you'll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.
Want to go with a leader in the industry? North American Bancard is a great ISO with a lot of options for the ambitious sales agent. For one, they have a proven track record of service and have been around since 1992. They offer some of the easiest-to-navigate merchant applications around, a great support team, and in-depth training so that you can sell more effectively and grow in your payment processing career. They were among the firsts in the business to offer lifetime residuals from every deal that their sales agents close. If you want a reliable company that will let you build the passive income side of your business, you should seriously consider NAB.
Naturally, you are probably going to want to research more than just a few companies, but these are truly some of the best and brightest in the industry, and it's not a bad list to start with. Before anything else, it's important to perform a self-assessment and decide what your needs and wants are when it comes to an ISO partnership. Really, this means asking yourself: What kind of ISO is going to best serve my clients? If you still have no idea, that's perfectly fine. You don't have to limit yourself to a single ISO, and in fact it's probably a good idea when you are starting out to try several different processors.
Maybe you're looking for a very reliable company that has a history of great service and close relationships with their merchants and sales agents. In that case, you won't go wrong with PayProTec. They offer great customer support, as well as extensive online resources that you can use to build your business. When you sign up as a sales agent, you get a free website, a back-end portal where you can check your stats online, and the ability to look up trouble tickets and see any problems that your merchants are having. Like HarborTouch and a few others mentioned here, they also have a free terminal program.
Interestingly enough, they're not just paying lip service when they say that they care about their sales agents—they offer health care benefits and will reimburse half of your costs! This definitely helps to relieve one of the bigger headaches of being self-employed.
4) SHIFT 4 Payments
Shift 4 Payments (AKA: HarborTouch) is one of the largest providers of POS systems and payment processing services in the US. They handle over one hundred thousand merchant accounts across the nation, and billions of dollars worth of transactions. Part of the reason they are so ubiquitous in the payment processing field is no doubt due to their superior partnership program. They have smart, forward-thinking, and extremely competitive offers that make selling merchant services a snap compared to more “traditional” programs. For example, they helped pioneer the introduction of free terminal offers. In other words, you can provide the hardware to your client for no upfront costs to them, and still receive a handsome commission and great residuals afterwards.
“Free” is not a hard sell at all, so even if you choose another company, it's probably a good idea for you to make sure that your merchant services partner has a free terminal program. It's not always going to be a good fit for every merchant, but rest assured that more and more of your clients will be expecting free equipment.
Part of working in any field is having a niche, but oftentimes you can find yourself partnered with a company that won't approve of the merchants that you want to work with. Nothing is more disappointing than having great personal connections and prospects, but needing to turn them down because they run a “high risk” business, such as a liquor store, an e-commerce business, or any sort of retail store that would be subject to a lot of charge-backs.
With eMB's program, however, you won't have to worry about any of that. They will deal with just about any sort of merchant, including high-risk applicants. In fact, they approve about 95% of the merchants who seek accounts with them. This is good news for your clients and for you—especially since high risk merchant accounts can be particularly lucrative.
Like the name implies, eMerchant Broker is a good choice if your merchant is an e-commerce business. They offer multiple gateways to make sure your client's shopping cart software will work perfectly with them. Give them a try, especially if your merchants tend to get rejected by other ISO's.
Want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which merchant services ISO agent program is right for you? Well, why don’t we solve this problem for you? This guide is specifically created to help people who are stepping their toe into the vast sea of merchant processing. By the end of it, you will have a pretty clear idea of how to find a good processor.
10 Things You Need to Consider in a Merchant Services Agent Program
We will tell you 10 factors that you need to consider when looking for a viable, credible merchant services agent program. This way, you will ensure that there are no problems later on in your career as a credit card processing agent. With that said, let’s get started:
1. Fast Funding:
One of the most important things to look for in a merchant services ISO agent program is their funding period. Clients should not have to face delays in terms of funds transfer after a transaction is made. One of the most attractive and compelling features of a good merchant services ISO program is that the merchants get their funds the same day.
This is what attracts most of the merchants as they do not want their earnings to be kept by a 3rd party for more than a day. You will also be able to sell this kind of program better because of the speedy service.
2. Several Discounts:
When you are deciding to become a credit card processor, go for the processor that offers a cash discount program. Simply put, it is a payment processing tactic where the fee of a particular credit card transaction is offset to the customers. This means that the merchant will not have to pay any transaction fee, the customers are using the facility instead of paying in cash, so it should be them who bear the cost.
The best cash discount program allows merchants to do just that! The algorithm of POS software is already trained to charge the percentage of fees levied on each transaction from the customer. Plus, some of the top merchants also provide free signage that educates customers about the fee on a credit card transaction, so there are no surprises at the end.
3. Dealing in High-Risk Industry:
There are many that become a credit card processor, but they have a very low-risk appetite. This means they will only deal in safer industries and not offer services to risky businesses like medical marijuana stores, travel agencies, and pharmacies etc. Now you might not work with these businesses when starting out, but soon, when your business grows, you will have to get clients from high-risk industries.
So if the credit card processor doesn’t deal with these industries, then you will be limited to a few fields which will put a cap on your growth potential. So instead of finding a merchant dealing with high-risk industries later on, you need to work with one from the start.
4. Assistance in Marketing:
As a credit card processing agent, you will need several marketing resources at your disposal to close sales. One of them is a team assisting you with lead capturing and turning the cold ones into warm leads. A terrific processor will have excellent merchant support that will help you convert more merchants with minimal energy, time, and resource exhaustion.
Plus, some of the excellent credit card processors also have their own landing pages designed to show to your potential customers. These landing pages can take several hundred dollars to make, but the processor will offer you for free, making your conversion process easier.
5. Flexible Plans:
One of the most necessary parts of working with a merchant services ISO program is to get paid properly and on time. You do not want to be underpaid, so make sure to work with a processor that offers a fair share of the income to you. Also, they must have lucrative bonuses if you go out of your way to close a specific number of sales in X amount of time.
You need to properly analyze the contract you will sign with them and check their payment terms, make sure to work with a company that pays on time.
6. Merchant and Income Analytics:
The best part of working with the top credit card processors in the industry is that they leverage technology to make things easier for their agents. A good processor will provide you with your own dashboard that will display various performance metrics like the number of sales you closed, your earnings, number of clients, and more.
Some even go the extra mile and provide data on merchants as well. You might be able to see the number of transactions they make and even get information on individual transactions.
7. Equipment and Software:
Many become a registered ISO for merchant service providers, but they do not work on their equipment and its advancement. The credit card processor must provide you with the necessary technology that you can offer to your clients and seal the deal. A good processor should offer these equipment and facilities:
- Point of Sale terminals to suit the needs of merchants
- Smart online payment options
- Facility of mobile payments
- Support loyalty programs and gift cards
- Fast processing with minimal errors As for the software, they must have up to date, user-friendly software in their equipment, allowing merchants to complete the transaction process smoothly.
8. Excellent Support:
Besides the marketing assistance that we discussed above, the merchant services provider should offer fast, responsive, and friendly customer services. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your customers are facing any issues that need to be solved, and you cannot get in touch with the processor’s customer support to fix them.
In this case, even if the problem is not caused by you, you will be the one facing the consequences if you cannot get a customer support agent to solve the problem. The merchant might stop using the processor, and that will result in your financial loss.
So before you decide on working with a merchant, you need to ensure that they have a dedicated customer support team that can quickly answer your questions and solve any problems as soon as possible.
9. Multiple Boarding Options:
Look for a program that provides different boarding options from big payment processing platforms like EPX, First Data and Global Payments. Being able to access these programs means complete peace of mind for both you and the merchants.
Because there will be fewer chances of facing any integration or technological problems when connecting the POS or billing software of the merchant with the platforms your program uses. This will ensure your whole sales process goes smoothly, and you don’t lose a ready-to-convert client at the last moment.
10. Must Be Credible:
Lastly, you need to do your complete due diligence in finding everything about the company you can. They should not have a shady track record, damaged reputation, or bad reviews on the internet.
You need to work with a company that has the face of its CEO attached to it, has a brick and mortar headquarter, and is licensed to operate.
Plus, keep your eyes peeled for any too good to be true bonuses or discounts; these things come with bad surprises later on.
Is There Any Program With These Qualities?
Glad you asked, I was wondering that I have written 10 points for you to look in a company so it might be challenging to find one that meets this criterion. Well, let me make things simple for you by introducting North American Bancard. They are excellent at what they do, and their core focus is to benefit their agents and merchants. Have a look at a few of their key features:
- They have Global Payments, EPX and First Data powered merchant accounts
- Their terminals work with both credit and debit cards. Plus, they support both EMV and NFC based methods of payment
- They also support mobile payments via PayAnywhere technology
- Their PayAnywhere feature also works with storefront point of sale system
- Automated cash discounting
- They have web-based terminals that provide agents with all the details of their performance and the specifics of their merchants
- Very attractive signup and profitability bonuses
Parting Words:
If you have successfully made it to the end, then it means you already know about the key things to look for to find the cream of the crop credit card processing company. We have also suggested the leading program with all the qualities discussed in this guide. So it is fair to say that you have everything you need to get started on your journey to working as a merchant services representative. You just need to take the first step and make a career doing what you really want to do.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking how to be a payment processor, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services agent program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services agent program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
It is easy to become a credit card processor; just file some papers, set up a shop, and start charging high fees from the merchants. And if you are unlucky, you might start working for such companies as an agent and not earn to your full potential. So if you want to find the best merchant processing companies with extremely lucrative offers for both the merchant and agent, then this guide is your best resource.
We will discuss why you need to be careful when choosing the service provider. Plus, we will also provide you details about the best credit card processing company to work with so you can start a merchant services company and see your profits soar. That being said, let’s get started:
Why Do You Need to Be Choosy About the Merchant Processing Company?
There are several issues that you can face with a credit card processor that can shut your business before it even starts. Here are a few problems agents face with many merchant credit card processors:
- Payment Delays: One of the leading problems that many agents who start a merchant services company face is that their credit card processing company holds payments for too long. Whether for security reasons or for lack of funds, the companies usually pay very late.
- Lack of Support: Many don’t have good agent support. If you need to inquire about something on an urgent basis, you will either have to wait, or you might not get connected even after several attempts.
- No System in Place: For many credit card processors, there is no robust system like a dashboard providing agents with insights to their progress, available funds, and active merchants. This puts a lid on the agent’s ability to improve by monitoring progress.
- Low Profitability: By selling merchant services, agents get commissions and bonuses; however, some merchant processors simply don’t pay very well. Agents get very low payments for the amount of work they put into bringing sales.
- No Attractions: In order to sell, you need to show some attractions to the merchants like upgraded processing software, low fees, and some starting out gifts, and so on. There are many merchant processors who don’t offer much, which can make it difficult for the agent to pitch the program to the merchants.
Now that you know what makes many credit card processing companies a bad choice, you need to become a credit card processor company’s agent that offers great benefits to both their agents and the merchants. One such company is Shaw Merchant Group.
So What’s Shaw Merchant Group?
Unlike most of the credit card processing companies that offer ‘discounts’ on the credit card fees, Shaw Merchant Group diminishes the concept of fee altogether. That’s right; they help merchants avoid fees! Their mantra is simple but highly effective; they transfer all the fees to the customers that use a credit card facility.
For instance, if someone makes a transaction of $100, and the fee is 2.9%, then instead of the merchant paying $2.9, the customer’s card will be charged for that fee. Now there will already be signage explaining this policy, so the customers already expect to be charged.
It is fair to beneficial to the merchant and fair to the customer because the merchant can now enjoy higher profits while the customer pays a small fee for using the credit card option when they could use cash payment.
If you are looking for the best credit card processing company to work with, then you cannot go wrong with Shaw Merchant Group. They have been one of the trailblazers in the industry for over a decade and are backed by well-reputed banks.
So let’s see what they have to offer to their merchants:
- Diverse Product Range: They offer a wide range of products fit for every kind of merchant. This means you will not have to turn down a potential sale just because you didn’t have the technology they were looking for. From EMV enabled terminals to POS systems and mobile card readers, they offer a range of products for all kinds of industries.
- Relations With Several Banks: One of the best parts of working with our ISO agent program is that they work with several banks such as Bancorp Bank, Pennsylvania, BMO Harris N.A, Illinois, and Wells Fargo Bank, California, etc. This allows them to work with all kinds of businesses, so you have a huge potential customer base to target.
- High-Risk Businesses: If your potential customer/merchant is in a high-risk industry like tobacco, they might’ve been rejected by other processors. However, NAB works with such businesses, so you have a whole new niche to target.
- Extremely Lucrative: Shaw Merchant Group offers a unique credit card processing solution where merchants offset the fee on to the customers, as we discussed above. So even if your potential merchant is already using a processing company, you can pitch them the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save 100% on their credit card processing fee; everybody likes higher profits!
- FREE Equipment: This is another benefit that SMG gives to the vendors, making it easier for you to pitch to all kinds of merchants. Upon signing up with SMG, the merchant can get a free credit card terminals equipped with advanced software that is already programmed to adjust transaction fee in the customer’s bill. Plus, they also offer free signage to educate the customers.
- Excellent Profitability and Bonuses: As a merchant services agent, you will get a lot more than 50–70% in residual income. First, you will get a signup bonus that can go up to $20k based on your initial performance. Plus, you get a bonus on the profits generated in the starting months. Your earnings will be multiplied by 14 and can go up to $10K.
Miscellaneous Benefits:
- A straightforward dashboard to see everything from your profits to the number of active merchants and their stats
- Receive free merchant services sales training for the services you sell
- Free ready-made lead generation website to help you attract more merchants
- Several affordable medical benefits
- Multiple payment processing platforms including First Data, Global Payments, and the new EPX
- Up to $1 million funding for merchants
Parting Words:
Now that you know why Shaw Merchant Group is the best credit card processing company to work with, we suggest that you take a step towards selling merchant accounts and successfully start a merchant services business with SMG supporting you.
Are you tired of losing a percentage of your sales to the credit card companies? That’s the cost of doing business, right? Where do you draw the line, though? When does it become too expensive to allow customers to pay with credit cards? You can’t just turn credit card paying customers away – that’s bad for business, so what should you do?
Try the dual pricing cash discount program. It helps ease the financial stress on merchants while rewarding cash buyers with a discount. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Understanding the Cash Discount Program
When you use the dual pricing cash discount program, you must make it known that you offer cash buyers a discount on the total cost of the items and customers paying with a credit card pay the full, listed price. This isn’t a surcharge – you aren’t penalizing credit card paying customers. Instead, you’re offering cash discounting or rewarding cash-paying customers.
Here’s an example.
You have a product listed for $20.
John comes in and buys the product for $20, paying with a credit card. John pays $20. Jan comes in and buys the product for $20, paying cash. Jan pays $19.20 because she gets a 4% discount for paying cash.
How Merchants Benefit from the Dual Pricing Cash Discount Program
It may seem strange to advertise that you offer discounts for cash buyers, but it has its benefits:
- You’ll reduce your cost. The fewer credit cards you process, the less your cost will be.
- You’ll have access to your funds faster. With more incentive to pay cash, more customers will do so, giving you instant access to your revenue.
- Fewer credit card purchases means a lower risk of chargebacks.
How the Dual Pricing Cash Discount Works
The process is simple. Just let us know you want to be a part of the Cash Discount Program. We’ll provide you with signage that states the percentage credit card customers will pay if they pay with a credit card.
You go about business as normal, processing payments as you normally do. If you have a credit card paying customer, our terminal will calculate the cost for you. There’s no extra work on your part, and you reward the cash-paying customers with a discount – it’s that easy.
The Cash Discount Program is Great for Business
You may think the cash discount program would turn off your credit card paying customers, but it won’t. A majority of customers don’t mind paying a slightly higher price, (cents on the dollar really) for the convenience of carrying credit cards versus cash.
You and the customers come out the winner in the deal. You show honesty and integrity by providing signage that lets customers know of the price difference if they use a credit card and you reward those that choose to pay cash. Eventually, more customers will catch on and have cash available when they shop at your store - after all, who doesn't love a little discount, right? Take a look below at the summery of benefits:
Lower Processing Fees
The main benefit of a cash discount program is that it results in lower or zero processing fees. While many don’t give a second thought to what the processing fees are on any given transaction, business owners certainly know that these fees do add up and can affect margin in a very real way. When merchants use Edge pricing they are, in effect passing on that processing fee to the customer. Over time, this can save merchants thousands and provide them with a higher margin on their sales.
Discounts for Customers
What customer doesn’t love a discount? Being able to provide every customer that pays in cash with a discount is not only a very marketable promotion, but it helps to make your customers happy. Customers love going to businesses that offer a cash discount because it allows them to feel as if they are getting a good deal and somewhat have control over what they pay at your establishment. When it comes to happy customers, it is very hard to put a price tag on that.
Increased Loyalty/Happiness
When your customers are continuously having positive experiences at your business and are getting to know your establishment as a place that offers a cash discount, that can only help you. This creates loyalty and happiness in your customer base and helps to establish brand and customer loyalty. This is a very valuable asset and it can help to offer consistent cash discounts to your customers.
Easy to Deploy
When you think of implementing a program like this, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and assume that you won’t be able to do it easily. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In truth, it is growing increasingly easy to deploy a cash discount program and with all of the resources that we provide to our merchants, it is easier than ever.
What’s Included in Our Cash Discount Program?
With our cash discount program POS, you will be able to process a wide variety of payments from all major credit card providers. This offers your customers even more convenience and helps to build loyalty time and time again.
Free POS Equipment
Don’t worry about the cost of upgrading to a whole new system--we have you covered. We provide free POS equipment to our merchants to once again make working with the Edge program as easy as possible. When you work with us, there will be very little to be worried about.
Fast Funding
We are known for providing fast funding to our merchants. It’s hard to operate a business when your cash flow is being restricted, and that is why we put a focus on making payments accurate, concise, and fast to provide you with a business partner that you can trust to keep your financial interests at the forefront.
Flexible Contracts
Worried about getting locked into a long contract? Don’t be. We don’t believe in limiting the options of our merchants and that is why we offer flexible contract options that don’t lock you in for years at a time. With the Edge cash discount program, you’ll have options, which are extremely valuable to have when operating a business. You can pivot at a moment’s notice, should you need to.
Easy to Understand
From a customer and merchant perspective, operating on a new POS system can be complicated and difficult. That isn’t the case with Edge. We have structured this program to make it as easy as possible to understand and use so that any business can use this program to their advantage.
FAQ
Is it legal for merchants to offer cash discounts to their customers?
According to the FTC, it is illegal to inhibit the ability of customers to pay cash. Therefore, programs like cash discounts and surcharging are legal and encouraged.
Does a processing fee drive customers away?
Studies show that this isn’t an issue that consumers are worried about. Most consumers are happy to pay an additional small fee for the convenience of using their card.
What happens if I don’t like the merchant cash discount program?
We have flexible contract options so that you don’t have to be locked into a merchant cash discount program that you don’t like. We love providing flexibility to our merchants and agents. We’re confident that you’ll love our program, though.
What’s the difference between this and surcharging?
The act of providing a discount for those that pay with cash is different than charging an additional fee for credit card users. This is confirmed by many of the major credit card associations.
Why should I choose the merchant cash discount program?
We have been in business for years and have a reputation for providing the best merchant programs.
What resources do I need to ensure that I’m running this program correctly?
We provide our merchants with all of the resources that they need to implement and operate this program, including POS systems, back-end systems, and signage to notify their customers of the change.
How Does the Payment Processing Busines Work?
It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant services company. If you want to become a payment service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.
The Credit Card Processing Industry
When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.
Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.
Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.
Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.
Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.
Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.
Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.
Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.
Facilitation and Communication
If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.
- The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
- Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
- The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
- The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
- Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
- The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
- Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.
What Is PCI Compliance?
If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:
• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.
• Quarterly network susceptibility scans
• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.
Fees and Processing
When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.
Before You Start
If you are going to start a merchant services company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.
Research the Market
In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.
Start Fresh or Franchise
You have to decide whether you will be starting a credit card processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.
Choose a Legal Structure
Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.
Start a Credit Card Processing Company
There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a credit card processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.
Comprehensive Business Plan
Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.
Insurance Types Needed
You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.
Partner With Other Companies
Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.
Lease Equipment for Processing
When you are going to start a credit card processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.
Merchant Services Sales Reps
Wondering how to become a credit card processor and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a payment processor, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to know how to become a payment processing company because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a payment processor who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processor agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
As a merchant services agent, you know that one of the largest struggles is finding a way to organize your merchants, monitor their activity, and review your own performance. With a traditional merchant services company, this could fall to you to monitor. However, there is a better solution. The North American Bancard Sales Partner Portal is one of the most innovative partner portals in the industry and it has a robust set of features that allow you to do all of these things and more with ease. With this partner portal, you’ll be empowered to handle your merchant services business and gain full control over the metrics that drive your livelihood.
Feel at home with custom branding
One of the most interesting features of the partner portal is that you are able to brand the portal with your own logo and color to make it feel more personalized and specific to your brand. This feature allows your firm to gain all the reputation and legitimacy of a large corporation just for cooperating with North American Bancard.
Easy to use dashboard
If you have ever dealt with an unnecessarily complicated dashboard that is complicated to use and navigate, then you know the strain that it can put on your workflow. With this dashboard, you’ll never be held back from productivity. This dashboard is one of the easiest to use in the industry and provides you with an easy way to navigate and find the information that is important to your business.
Visualize your progress
When you are making progress and signing on new clients, it is always helpful to visualize your progress and see how far you have come from the beginning of your journey. If you are a visual person that values having these resources, then this portal is perfect for you. It contains visual aids to show you your progress and visualize the performance of your business.
Gain access to marketing materials
Within the portal, you’ll not only find payment information and performance metrics, but also the tools that you need to improve your performance as a representative. There are marketing materials located within the portal that will help you close more sales, connect with your clients, and save time throughout your day by giving you all of the information that you need in one central location. With the help of these marketing materials, you can quickly rise through the ranks to become a highly paid account representative.
Handle support tickets
When your merchants have issues or concerns, it can often be a hassle to try and communicate with them and organize their issues while also documenting them well. That is where the partners' dashboard comes in. The dashboard contains support capability to allow you to handle and facilitate product support inquiries from within the dashboard. There is also a knowledge base within the partner portal to help solve any minor issues and give your customers the care and attention that they deserve.
What to Know about Selling Merchant Processing Services
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services sales programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Become a white label payment provider today and take your business to the next level. If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of payment processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, the SMG white label program might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, our white label program will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.
Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.
We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:
- Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
- Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
- This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
- When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under their brand name.
Selling Merchant Services Benefits
Have you ever gone out shopping in your community? Have you ever shopped online at the webstore of one of your favorite local businesses? If the answer is yes, then you’ve been on the other end of a credit card processing solution. You took your credit card or debit card, entered the checkout process, and completed your payment easily and quickly. Every business needs a reliable payments solution--it’s how they accept payments for the goods and services that they render. However, it sounds much simpler than it is. Finding a payments solution that meets the needs of their business can be challenging. You can help your local businesses solve this problem by starting a credit card processing company of your own--selling merchant services from home.
What does being a merchant account salesperson mean?
If you’re going to sell merchants services, you first want to know what exactly that means and what it is going to involve. Merchant accounts are services rendered to merchants that are essential to the business to operate such as payment processing and facilitation. As a merchant services representative, you will be the person in charge of identifying businesses that aren’t quite getting as much as they would like to out of their existing processing solution or new businesses that are looking for a reliable partner to start with. You would be speaking with these businesses, presenting them with options, and signing them to merchant services contracts.
While the literal definition is one thing, what you will be doing as a merchant services representative is expanded far beyond that. Yes, you would be selling merchant services to businesses, but the process of making that happen includes much more. As a merchant services sales professional, you will meet with businesses to have a long-form conversation whether in person or on the phone to determine what they need out of a payment processing provider and how you can meet those needs.
As a merchant services representative, you will be critical support staff to businesses all over that need reliable merchant services such as processing and POS systems. In many ways, you would be essential to one of the most important sectors in our economy--small businesses. If you are passionate about helping small businesses and coming up with creative solutions to solve the problems of business owners, then this could be a great career path for you.
Benefits of being a merchant account sales professional
There are many benefits to becoming a merchant services sales rep, and there are definitely reasons for why it is considered one of the most desirable positions to do from home. If you want to become a merchant sales representative, then you can expect to enjoy these benefits as a result.
Earn from home
Perhaps the greatest thing about being in merchant services sales is that you can earn an income from home. Many people dream about earning a living from home, but very few are able to achieve it. There are scams out there that promise this flexibility, but our program is a very legitimate opportunity to earn a full-time living from home or earn some side money as a representative. When you are able to work from home and earn an income, many opportunities for life improvement open up. All in all, working from home as a merchant services representative makes for a very desirable living.
Have flexibility in your schedule
If you value flexibility in your schedule and having more free time to enjoy with friends and family, then being a merchant services representative might be the right option for you. Because you will be earning an income on a commission basis, there is no supervisor to tell you when to work or for how long. This means that while you should be providing basic support and communication to your merchants, you can take a vacation as needed or switch around your hours as you see fit. It’s the ideal situation for anyone that wants to have maximum flexibility in their life and achieve the ideal work-home balance.
High earnings potential
The main reason that so many people find merchant services sales to be such a desirable industry is because the earnings potential is high. The amount of money that you earn in merchant services sales is entirely dependent on how you perform as a salesperson, so the sky's the limit when it comes to your earnings. In addition to regular commissions that you earn from sales, there are also frequent opportunities for performance-based bonuses that you can use to increase your income.
Help your local businesses
One of the main benefits of working as a merchant sales representative is that with the solutions that we have to offer, you’ll be able to help your local businesses. For anyone that is passionate about small and local businesses, this is a great career choice. When you work as a merchant services representative, you’ll be able to work closely with businesses in your area and around the country to find solutions to the problems that they face on an everyday basis. With the help and services that you are able to provide to your clients, you’ll help them function with more efficiency, increased profit, and better customer service. Enhancing your local economy and businesses is truly a passion worth exploring.
No sales experience required
While being a salesperson might be new and intimidating to you, you should know that becoming a merchant services sales rep requires no prior experience and can be done by anyone that has a passion for helping businesses find the solutions that they need. With our training modules and comprehensive suite of solutions, you’ll have everything you need to learn about this industry and thrive while on the job.
Are most merchant account salespeople successful?
If you are thinking of making the leap into merchant services sales, you might be wondering if most people enjoy success. While not everyone enjoys success in sales or is cut out for sales, those that work hard and are determined to help local businesses find the ideal payment solution for them have a higher chance of success than those that are just in it for the income. If you want to have success in merchant sales, you should be ready to make a strong effort and be persistent.
How to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent
If you’ve been considering how to be a payment processor with a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.
Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).
Have a Plan
The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.
The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.
What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?
Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.
The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.
Leverage Your Social Network
Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.
etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.
Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.
Pick the Right Partner
The decision of which ISO agent program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.
You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.
Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.
Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.
If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.
There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.
Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.
Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:
Actually Know What You’re Doing
When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.
The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.
When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.
Be Completely Honest
Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.
Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.
When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being a merchant services agent can be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.
The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right ISO agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.
Pros and Cons of Selling Merchant Services
All around the world, there are thousands of businesses that use vital services that are referred to as merchant services. These are services such as payment processing, which is what allows businesses to accept and process payments so that they can make a profit on their product. Without these services, businesses would be unable to function in the modern world. You might think that the fact that these services are an absolute necessity to these businesses make them an easy target for selling, but that is now always the case. There are definitely some positives as well as some negatives when selling merchant services.
This guide will show you some of each and hopefully give you some insight as to whether a career selling merchant services is right for you.
Pros
Undoubtedly, there are some very positive aspects of selling merchant services for a living. If you have had a sales job that is similar in the past, you already have known some of these benefits. Here are some of the best things about selling merchant services.
There is always a market
One of the best things about working in the merchant services industry is that there is never a lack of demand for these services. There are always new businesses sprouting up as people chase their passion for owning their own business. And existing businesses are always evaluating their options and ensuring that they are getting the best deal on the market. For that reason, you won’t ever have to worry about the industry as a whole drying up. People will always need to spend digital money and businesses will always need to find a way to accept it.
Set your schedule
For many that are in a commission-based sales job, one of the greatest benefits of it is being able to get to the point where you are working when you want to work instead of punching a time clock when you get to work. When you are a partner in a merchant services ISO agent program, you will be able to set your appointments on a schedule that works well for you.
Build passive income
Finding and signing clients to lucrative merchant processing contracts is hard work, nobody denies that. However, all of the hard work that you put into this process could end up paying out tenfold throughout the years. One of the greatest things about being a merchant services salesperson is that your accounts can earn you passive and residual income long after you have closed them to a contract. This could help you build passive income for years to come and eventually phase out the bulk of the labor that is involved in this career.
High commission rates
When you compare merchant services to other industries out there, you will find that it has a very competitive and comparatively high commission rate compared to those other industries. The high price of the contracts and the fact that they continue to pay out for years to come is what makes these sales so valuable and why some of the best salespeople in the world turn to merchant services when they want to increase their earning potential.
Cons
Just as there are many pros to selling merchant services, there are also some aspects that could prove difficult. You should watch out for these aspects and consider whether they are something that you are able to overcome and overlook.
Highly competitive industry
There is always a lot of demand for merchant services, but this fact also means that there is a lot of competition. One of the hardest aspects of selling merchant services is that you will always have competition breathing down your neck, waiting to provide your client with a better rate. This is really where your ability to create and nurture relationships will come in handy with client retention. This industry is not for those that don’t like competition and healthy capitalist tendencies.
Dependent on success to make money
When you are a merchant services representative in any industry, you know that your ability to make money is heavily dependent on the success that you have when selling your product or service. It’s no different in selling merchant services. If you want to have a good income, then you will need to become skilled at selling these products. If you don’t feel confident that you can do that, then it might not be the right choice for you.
One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.
So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.
However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with Shaw Merchant Group. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. SMG ISO agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”
SMG ISO agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.
Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem!
Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with SMG, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!
How Much Can I Make?
Shaw Merchant Group offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that SMG allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.
Here are some of the great advantages of using Shaw Merchant Group's program:
- Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
- Get up to $10K for every new account
- Get a large startup bonus
- Get residuals of up to 70%
- Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
- Get free training on the services you will be selling
Contact Shaw Merchant Group today and get started!
Merchant services is one of the most lucrative sales industries in the world, and many people are starting to realize the potential in becoming a payment processing company. However, if you are looking into getting into the industry, there are a few pieces of information that you will want to know beforehand like what reselling is all about, what are the benefits, and how you should go about choosing a merchant service provider partnership for your adventure in reselling. Shaw Merchant Group is one of the most reputable reseller programs in the industry and we’re going to show you all of the information that you will need to start on the right path when it comes to being a reseller of merchant services.
What is merchant services reselling?
The first step to getting into becoming a payment service provider is understanding what exactly merchant services are and what a merchant services reseller program is. Merchant services are services that are rendered to merchants that are essential to doing business and accepting payments. There are unlimited businesses that need these services to function, but that also means that it is a competitive industry. However, success in this industry can mean a lifetime of residual and passive income, and that is why so many people choose to pursue become a payment services provider, along with the other benefits that it affords.
Merchant services reselling is an activity in which a person or company serves as the intermediary between a business and the merchant services that they need. Reseller sells the services to merchants and sources them from a merchant services provider at a lower rate, securing profit for those that resell the merchant services.
What are the benefits of being a merchant services reseller?
Being a merchant services reseller is a difficult field to succeed in, but there are many reasons to pursue being one. This field comes with a lot of benefits that attract people to becoming a merchant service provider. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose to be a merchant services reseller.
No overhead
Being a merchant services reseller means that you won’t have any overhead as a businessperson. Since you are keeping nothing in stock and you won’t have to keep any equipment in-house to provide the merchant services that you offer, your risk is reduced and you are less vulnerable to business losses.
Help local businesses
One of the main benefits to being a merchant services reseller is that it is a rather fulfilling career. With the ability to provide businesses with reliable merchant services, you can feel fulfilled in your job and help your local community.
Earn a high income
People who are highly drawn to becoming a merchant service provider are often done so because of the potential and ability to earn a high income that is not limited by anything other than your success in merchant services and your ability to convince businesses to use you for their merchant services. Commissions are how you earn money with providing merchant services and the difference in price between what you're selling the services for and what you are buying them for. With that in mind, it is one of the most lucrative industries that you can be in.
What should you look for in a merchant services reseller program?
If you are going to be a successful merchant service provider, then you need to work with a reliable merchant services ISO partner. Having a good ISO program to support you will allow you to offer premium and superior service that meets the needs of your clients and ensures that they will come back for more as needed.
Payouts
You always want to work with a merchant services ISO program that provides timely and accurate payouts. Running a merchant services business isn’t profitable without receiving a reliable stream of payments, so make sure that the company that you partner with, such as Shaw Merchant Group, offers reliable and accurate payouts.
Business tools
If you want to have the best chance of success possible in selling merchant services, then you need to work with a partner that has the business tools to make it happen. These include marketing materials, literature, and other tools to help you bring in a reliable steam of clients. Shaw Merchant Group has one of the most comprehensive suite of business tools out there to provide you with the resources that you need.
Online reputation
You should always verify the reputation and trust that your ISO partner maintains if you want to have success as a merchant service provider. As a independent agent, you are only as good as the program that you work with. Working with a program that has a good reputation among merchants is essential to having success in your own business.
Our registered DBA program will save you thousands in fees
Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.
We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:
- Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
- Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
- This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
- When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under the their brand name.
If you’ve put in the leg work required to build a successful credit card processing business, then you are probably at a point where nothing feels impossible. However, to continue growing your business or jump to another venture to make even more money, you will need an injection of capital. Credit card processing client portfolios are great for building income over the long term, but don’t do much for those that want to get a fast injection of capital to build businesses. If you want to get a lump sum or a loan against your residual portfolio, you can do that. All you have to do is list your credit card processing business for sale and get a buyer or lender to borrow you money or give you money against your portfolio assets.
Though the concept is pretty straightforward, you should still learn as much as you possibly can about this process to ensure you do it safely and effectively and that you get what you deserve from your credit card processing business for sale. This guide will go over some of the most important concepts and points you will need to know if you hope to successfully sell your portfolio of residual income.
Preparation Is Key
If you hope to have success in selling your credit card processing business, then you need to be sure that you have your ducks in a row. This means doing the preparation work and familiarizing yourself with what is possible and what is not when it comes to your residuals portfolio. By going through this process, many credit card processing business owners discover things about their residuals portfolio that they previously didn’t know. This information is vital for anyone that wishes to succeed in selling thier credit card processing business. Follow these basic steps as a launching pad for the sale of your credit card processing business.
Verify Residuals Ownership
If you want to sell your residuals portfolio and credit card processing business, then the first thing that you will need to do is verify that you indeed own your residuals. Many merchant services agents and owners operate under the assumption that they do--until they see the fine print. Working with certain ISOs and other companies could prevent you from selling your residuals. So, instead of wasting your time pursuing something that might not even happen, make sure that you verify that you are authorized to own and control your residual portfolio.
Selling Your Residuals
When you are hoping to sell your credit card processing business, you will need to not only ensure that you own the residuals and portfolio you are looking to leverage into cash, but also that you have the right to sell that portfolio of residuals. This is done by simply looking at the contract that you are entered into. You will need to verify that you have the full right to control this portfolio and pass it on to someone else or use it as leverage in a cash transaction. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to enter any arrangement with full knowledge of what you are able to do with your portfolio of residuals.
Ask About Borrowing
Selling is one thing, but borrowing against your portfolio is another. You will want to make sure that you are able to borrow against your portfolio, which is similar to leveraging what is in your portfolio for a cash infusion. Some processing companies allow this and others don’t--it is specific to who you are working with. In addition to borrowing against your assets with an external lendor, you might also explore the option of borrowing directly from the payment processor. Many companies have programs that will allow you to do this easily and affordably.
Things to Know When Selling Your Residuals
If you are hoping to list your credit card processing business for sale and leverage your residual portfolio into cash, then there are some things that you will need to know ahead of time to ensure a successful transaction. These concepts will teach you more about how to have success when selling your credit card processing business or leveraging your portfolio into the cash you need to pursue your business ventures.
Qualification
One thing that you will need to be aware of before you sell your residuals portfolio is whether you qualify for a sale of your residuals. For many partnerships, you will need to have a business that generates $1000 or more per month in residuals in order to be considered for a sale of your residual portfolio or a lending option that is centered around your residuals portfolio.
Buyout Ratio
If you have determined that you are going to sell your residuals portfolio and you are eligible for such a sale, then you will need to be familiar with the buyout ratio. Basically, the buyout ratio dictates how much you will receive from the sale as it relates to what your income is from the residuals portfolio. For many portfolios, this number lies between 12 and 24 times what the monthly income is from your residuals. This is what you should generally expect to receive when you sell your residuals portfolio.
Earn Out
Earn out is similar to a buyout, only that you will continue to earn your residuals and gradually be phased out. The payout is paid over a certain amount of time. This allows you to continue earning from your portfolio while also receiving a lump sum up front. This allows for the best of both worlds and makes it easier to make the transition.
Grow Your Business And Gain Capital By Listing Your Credit Card Processing Business For Sale
If you have a successful credit card processing business and have become a payment service provider and you are looking to sell, then listing your credit card processing business for sale or entering into a lending agreement that uses your credit card processing business as leverage are two of the best ways. Now that you know more about these options, you have the power and knowledge necessary to make your cash infusion and business expansion dreams a reality.
Do you want to become a merchant services agent, and you are wondering where to start? You might be convinced that this is what you want to do. It is true that payment processing is a highly lucrative industry, and this makes it attractive. Becoming a successful merchant services agent is not easy because you will need some training to learn how to do this successfully.
The earning potential of a merchant services agent is incredibly high, but to get there, you will need to take steady steps towards attaining success. One of the steps is to seek merchant services sales training. Merchant services have some key pillars that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.
The following are the crucial credit card processing sales training structure that will increase your chances of becoming successful in the merchant services industry.
Learn Quality Partnership
This is one of the most critical concepts that you need to be familiar with while pursuing merchant services sales training. As a merchant services agent, you will need to partner with a merchant services provider. Your partnership needs to be solid in order to facilitate success. We can say that the merchant services provider will be the epicenter of your business.
The provider you partner with should be able to offer reliable payment processing services to your merchants without failing. They should also be able to offer the additional perks and tools that you need in the merchant services business.
Some key things that you are going to learn in the quality partnership training are the ability for the merchant services provider to offer good payment structure, offer prompt payments, good communication & support, the handsome share of profit, regular bonuses and modern and technological tools to help you succeed in your business.
A good merchant services provider you chose should be able to provide all these. You will be closer to your success and business goals if you are careful in selecting a quality ISO partnership. A good merchant provider will help you enjoy great profits as well as passive income from your merchant services business.
Pricing Structure
Another key thing to learn in merchant services training is the pricing structure. In addition to being able to make sales and getting new leads now and then, you will want to be sure of the right way to price your products and services. To have meaningful success in the merchant services business, you need to take your time and optimize your pricing.
A good pricing structure will enable you to have the appropriate profit margin. This will help you to keep on running a sustainable merchant services business. With the right pricing structure, you will be able to raise your income as you grow.
Learning about the pricing structure will help you to do things such as offering discounts, upselling, and many more. For now, the pricing structure may not seem to make a notable difference in your business, but as you start to accumulate hundreds and thousands of transactions, you will note the impact. It is, therefore, critical to fully understand the pricing structure in the merchant services sales business.
In Merchant Services, More Options Are the Best
In training to become a merchant services agent, you need to understand that a good merchant services provider should offer as many options as possible. There should not be limits to the payment processing options your merchant services provider is offering.
This is because if sometimes your customers happen to require something, you should be able to get it from your merchant services provider. On the other hand, if there are limits to options they can provide, then you might end up disappointing your customers.
As a good merchant services agent, you should lookout for a provider who allows access to a wide range of options, such as in payment processing. They should offer credit cards, debit cards, cash, ACH, and more payment processing options. If your provider gives you these options, you can offer them to your customers, and this makes them happy.
Several options mean that you will have the flexibility, and you will be able to offer solutions to your customers without running out of options. This is a win-win situation.
Customer Service
This is an important lesson to learn in merchant services sales training. The customer is the most important player in your merchant services business, and therefore they should be your highest priority all the time. As a payment processing agent, you should strive to keep your customers happy, and if you fail to do so, you will have a very hard time. It might even become very difficult to succeed in your business.
You should, therefore, brace yourself for customer service lessons in payment processing sales training. Customer services training will help you master the techniques that successful salespeople use in order to close more sales. They are always keen on the customer's needs and devise ways to fulfill these needs.
You should be able to attend to your customer’s queries in the shortest time possible. It is also critical to realize that when it comes to customer services, your merchant services provider will also play a key role. This gets us back to the previous point of choosing the right partner. If something happens that is beyond your control, you should be able to reach out to your provider for an effective and speedy solution.
Free Terminal for Your Merchants
For success in the merchant services business, the secret is to have a free terminal included. Merchant love bonuses in their payment processing packages. Note that you will be offering a POS which is designed to increase efficiency in payment processing. The terminal you provide should offer exceptional user experience for the satisfaction of your merchants.
For a strong bond between you and your merchants, you should be providing incentives. This will make them feel that they have the right agent by their side. For increased conversion rates, it is highly recommended that you offer a free POS terminal to your merchants.
You want to be a successful merchant services agent, right? The above learning concepts are the key to success in the payment processing business. Therefore you should ensure that you fully understand these in merchant services sales training.
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services ISO agent programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Are you excited to become a credit card processing agent? Do you want to start a credit card processing company? If your answer is YES, then you have come to the right place.
In this article, I am going to teach you ways to start a successful credit card processing company. I am also going to take you through the fine details of planning, setting up, and starting a credit card processing company.
You are going to learn about what it takes to become a successful credit card processing agent, how to conduct market and niche research, how to create a great business plan, how to get funding for your venture, and also tips to run a successful credit card processing company.
It is important to note that when you become a merchant service provider you will be helping corporate and businesses to process payment for their customers.
Your credit card processing services will involve offering the platform and equipment to facilitate the sending, approval, and processing of payments and transactions between customer’s bank accounts and your clients' bank accounts.
What It Takes To Become a Credit Card Processing Agent:
The credit card processing industry is very dynamic, and the success of becoming a credit card processing agent is both easy and hard.
There are a few things that you need to know; some of these include having a clear understanding of how selling credit card processing works. You will also need to have deep knowledge of how credit cards work and what they do.
Another overly important thing that you will need to understand is your market and, most importantly, your niche market. This way, you will be able to connect with your customers on a personal level. In addition, you will also be able to create a solid relationship with banks for financial transactions and payment processing.
Market Feasibility and Niche Research
It is critical to note that any successful venture always starts with thorough research. When you want to become a credit card processing agent, you will need to do thorough market research.
Understand the type of services or products you will be offering and where your clients are and their needs.
Make sure that you look at the services offered by your competitors, their rates, and also how satisfied their customers are with the services they get.
The few steps you can take to become a merchant services reseller are to first create a survey on several businesses in your area, determine the most common services they use, and evaluate the satisfaction level of customers with their current payment providers.
Another important step that you need to take is to gather client information, such as phone numbers or email addresses. These details will help you when you start sending out pitches.
Crafting a Comprehensive Business Plan
For you to become a credit card processing agent and be successful in it, you will need to come up with a detailed business plan.
It is okay if you are not a seasoned writer, but you can hire one to do the work for you. Better still, there are several business plan templates available online that you can use.
There are several details that need to be included in your business plan; some of these details include:
- How you intend to run your venture
- The executive summary about your business
- How you intend to raise startup capital
- Products and services you will be offering
- Marketing and sales analysis
- SWOT analysis
- And more
Ideally, the business plan for a credit card processing company can serve as proof to investors and stakeholders that you are serious about with your venture as the document shows all the strategies.
A great business plan can help you win funding from various investors and banks.
How to Finance Your Credit Card Processing Business
Most business requires a startup capital; the same case applies to credit card processing companies.
To become a credit card processing agent, you need to consider where you are going to get funding to start your venture. You will also need to cater for all the operational costs until you start realizing some profits.
According to research, on average, a minimum of $51,000 is needed to start a credit card processing company.
There are options that you can use to get financing for your credit card processing company, some of these options include;
- Getting a loan from banks
- Approaching investors
- Getting funding from business partners
- Using your savings or selling assets to raise funds
- Sourcing some funds from friends and family members.
Launching Your Merchant Services Reseller Company
Once all the above are set up, you can go ahead and launch your credit card processing company. There are other finer details that you will need to consider before you do this. These include finding the appropriate location for your business, understanding the requirements which you must have beforehand, and understanding the manpower needed to run the business.
To become a merchant services reseller, you should fully implement your business plan. The best way is to strictly follow the plan without cutting corners.
Tip: Due to the competitive nature of the credit card processing business, it is critical to ensure that your business stands out.
Put more efforts to stand out among your competitions. The best way to do this is to have a business network. You can reach out to organizations and corporations to widen your reach and customer base.
Marketing Plan for Your Credit Card Processing Company
- Just like any other business, a marketing plan is a must. You can do all the above work, but if you don’t come up with an effective marketing plan, you might fail.
- Take your marketing strategies seriously. The following are some effective marketing ideas that you can use.
- Use social media platforms to spread the word about your business
- Reach out to stakeholders, clients, and managers of big corporations
- Make sure that your business is listed in local directories
- Use TVs, magazines, newspapers, and radio to advertise your business
- Start bidding for available contracts
To further increase your reach to potential clients, you can create business cards, flyers, pamphlets, or business website.
Tips To Help You Run a Successful Credit Card Processing Business
In order to succeed in starting a credit card processing business, understand that you will not only be providing requirements and services to help process payment for customers BUT also, you will be selling yourself. As a credit card processor, you will need to clearly show potential clients why they need your services. Show them the benefits they will get from your services. Never seize to reach out to potential customers. In addition, ensure that you do a follow up on those pitches. To simplify the process of becoming a credit card processing agent, North American Bancard provides all the tools you need for a successful credit card processing business.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services agent program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
When it comes to merchant services sales jobs, there is a lot to love. This is the reason that it is such a popular industry. Merchant services has long been one of the most lucrative and enjoyable fields, but that doesn’t mean it has its drawbacks. For most people, the risk is well worth it to enjoy the benefits that often come along with working in merchant services sales jobs. Here are some of the many benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a career in merchant services sales and use our free tools to find your next merchant services sales job.
Income
One of the greatest benefits of being in merchant services sales is that the income potential is basically unlimited. If you want the benefit of working in a field where your only income limiting factor is how hard you are willing to work, then this is the field for you. In merchant services sales, you are generally paid out on a commission basis. This means that for every sale you make, there is money involved for you. If you are looking for a field where your income can reach sky-high limits, then merchant services sales could be the ideal landing place for you.
Flexibility
Another amazing benefit of working in merchant services sales is the flexibility that this career often allows those that are in it. When you work in merchant services sales, you generally work for your own company or as a contract employee. This means that you are generally able to set your own schedule and enjoy the benefits of a great career while also getting a work-home balance that you’ve always wanted. It is the ideal solution or anyone that values flexibility highly in their work-home life.
Work Life
When you work in merchant services sales, you work for yourself. This means that not only do you have a lot of schedule flexibility, but also that your work life is more pleasant and geared towards how you actually want to spend your day. Instead of being beholden to a supervisor, set schedule, and set of rules that you don’t want to follow, you will be free to run your merchant services business as you please to provide you with a much more pleasant work life.
Rewarding
For some people, it is very important that they feel happy and fulfilled in their career with merchant services sales. In the case of this career field, it is pretty easy to achieve that sense of fulfillment. As a merchant services representative, it will be your job to work with small and medium-sized business wonders to find the solutions to the problems that are holding them back when it comes to payment processing. Through your work, you will be able to help small businesses operate more efficiently and improve their business. This bolsters the economy and helps the backbone of the economy all while providing you with a lucrative and rewarding career.
Finding Merchant Services Sales Jobs
To enjoy all the benefits of merchant services sales jobs, you first need to know exactly what to look for when partnering with a merchant services company to offer their services to your clients. This brief list of the main factors in finding a merchant services sales job with a company that will help you to succeed will give you some of the most important factors to look for in a merchant services company.
Area
Though many merchant services sales reps can work remotely from just about any location, it is still important to consider where your merchant services company is located. Much of this will depend on whether any in-office work is required and what travel is required. If you can work completely remote with the company that you have chosen, then this is not much of a concern at all. You can easily find which area your company has offices in simply by asking.
Reputation
These days, it is easier than ever to learn more about a company and the reputation that they have in the industry. Simply do some online research to determine what others have to say about the company and whether they consider the company to be a good partner to their agents.
Customer Support
One of the most important aspects in getting and keeping merchant services clients is the ability to provide them with high-quality and responsive customer support. Typically, this is the responsibility of the company that you have partnered with to offer the merchant services. Therefore, one of the first priorities that you should have when assessing merchant services companies to work for is their reputation and quality of the customer support.
Payout & Commission
Another factor that you should evaluate when choosing the next merchant services sales job for you is the payout and commission. It is important to select a merchant services sales job that has a high commission structure and is well-known for paying accurately and on-time. It’s important to make sure that they have a trusted payout structure in place so you can ensure you are paid for your efforts.
Our Merchant Services Sales Jobs
If you’re looking for the best merchant services sales jobs that fit this criteria, then you are in the right place. We provide merchant services sales jobs lists and other resources that help you to find an amazing career.
Want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which merchant services ISO agent program is right for you? Well, why don’t we solve this problem for you? This guide is specifically created to help people who are stepping their toe into the vast sea of merchant processing. By the end of it, you will have a pretty clear idea of how to find a good processor.
10 Things You Need to Consider in a Merchant Services Agent Program
We will tell you 10 factors that you need to consider when looking for a viable, credible merchant services agent program. This way, you will ensure that there are no problems later on in your career as a credit card processing agent. With that said, let’s get started:
1. Fast Funding:
One of the most important things to look for in a merchant services ISO agent program is their funding period. Clients should not have to face delays in terms of funds transfer after a transaction is made. One of the most attractive and compelling features of a good merchant services ISO program is that the merchants get their funds the same day.
This is what attracts most of the merchants as they do not want their earnings to be kept by a 3rd party for more than a day. You will also be able to sell this kind of program better because of the speedy service.
2. Several Discounts:
When you are deciding to become a merchant services agent, go for the processor that offers a cash discount program. Simply put, it is a payment processing tactic where the fee of a particular credit card transaction is offset to the customers. This means that the merchant will not have to pay any transaction fee, the customers are using the facility instead of paying in cash, so it should be them who bear the cost.
The best cash discount program allows merchants to do just that! The algorithm of POS software is already trained to charge the percentage of fees levied on each transaction from the customer. Plus, some of the top merchants also provide free signage that educates customers about the fee on a credit card transaction, so there are no surprises at the end.
3. Dealing in High-Risk Industry:
There are many that become a credit card processor, but they have a very low-risk appetite. This means they will only deal in safer industries and not offer services to risky businesses like medical marijuana stores, travel agencies, and pharmacies etc. Now you might not work with these businesses when starting out, but soon, when your business grows, you will have to get clients from high-risk industries.
So if the credit card processor doesn’t deal with these industries, then you will be limited to a few fields which will put a cap on your growth potential. So instead of finding a merchant dealing with high-risk industries later on, you need to work with one from the start.
4. Assistance in Marketing:
As a credit card processing agent, you will need several marketing resources at your disposal to close sales. One of them is a team assisting you with lead capturing and turning the cold ones into warm leads. A terrific processor will have excellent merchant support that will help you convert more merchants with minimal energy, time, and resource exhaustion.
Plus, some of the excellent credit card processors also have their own landing pages designed to show to your potential customers. These landing pages can take several hundred dollars to make, but the processor will offer you for free, making your conversion process easier.
5. Flexible Plans:
One of the most necessary parts of working with a merchant services ISO program is to get paid properly and on time. You do not want to be underpaid, so make sure to work with a processor that offers a fair share of the income to you. Also, they must have lucrative bonuses if you go out of your way to close a specific number of sales in X amount of time.
You need to properly analyze the contract you will sign with them and check their payment terms, make sure to work with a company that pays on time.
6. Merchant and Income Analytics:
The best part of working with the top credit card processors in the industry is that they leverage technology to make things easier for their agents. A good processor will provide you with your own dashboard that will display various performance metrics like the number of sales you closed, your earnings, number of clients, and more.
Some even go the extra mile and provide data on merchants as well. You might be able to see the number of transactions they make and even get information on individual transactions.
7. Equipment and Software:
Many become a registered ISO for merchant service providers, but they do not work on their equipment and its advancement. The credit card processor must provide you with the necessary technology that you can offer to your clients and seal the deal. A good processor should offer these equipment and facilities:
- Point of Sale terminals to suit the needs of merchants
- Smart online payment options
- Facility of mobile payments
- Support loyalty programs and gift cards
- Fast processing with minimal errors As for the software, they must have up to date, user-friendly software in their equipment, allowing merchants to complete the transaction process smoothly.
8. Excellent Support:
Besides the marketing assistance that we discussed above, the merchant services provider should offer fast, responsive, and friendly customer services. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your customers are facing any issues that need to be solved, and you cannot get in touch with the processor’s customer support to fix them.
In this case, even if the problem is not caused by you, you will be the one facing the consequences if you cannot get a customer support agent to solve the problem. The merchant might stop using the processor, and that will result in your financial loss.
So before you decide on working with a merchant, you need to ensure that they have a dedicated customer support team that can quickly answer your questions and solve any problems as soon as possible.
9. Multiple Boarding Options:
Look for a program that provides different boarding options from big payment processing platforms like EPX, First Data and Global Payments. Being able to access these programs means complete peace of mind for both you and the merchants.
Because there will be fewer chances of facing any integration or technological problems when connecting the POS or billing software of the merchant with the platforms your program uses. This will ensure your whole sales process goes smoothly, and you don’t lose a ready-to-convert client at the last moment.
10. Must Be Credible:
Lastly, you need to do your complete due diligence in finding everything about the company you can. They should not have a shady track record, damaged reputation, or bad reviews on the internet.
You need to work with a company that has the face of its CEO attached to it, has a brick and mortar headquarter, and is licensed to operate.
Plus, keep your eyes peeled for any too good to be true bonuses or discounts; these things come with bad surprises later on.
Is There Any Program With These Qualities?
Glad you asked, I was wondering that I have written 10 points for you to look in a company so it might be challenging to find one that meets this criterion. Well, let me make things simple for you by introducting North American Bancard. They are excellent at what they do, and their core focus is to benefit their agents and merchants. Have a look at a few of their key features:
- They have Global Payments, EPX and First Data powered merchant accounts
- Their terminals work with both credit and debit cards. Plus, they support both EMV and NFC based methods of payment
- They also support mobile payments via PayAnywhere technology
- Their PayAnywhere feature also works with storefront point of sale system
- Automated cash discounting
- They have web-based terminals that provide agents with all the details of their performance and the specifics of their merchants
- Very attractive signup and profitability bonuses
Parting Words:
If you have successfully made it to the end, then it means you already know about the key things to look for to find the cream of the crop credit card processing company. We have also suggested the leading program with all the qualities discussed in this guide. So it is fair to say that you have everything you need to get started on your journey to working as a merchant services representative. You just need to take the first step and make a career doing what you really want to do.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partner program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
How Does the Payment Processing Busines Work?
It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant services business. If you want to become a payment service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.
The Credit Card Processing Industry
When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.
Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.
Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.
Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.
Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.
Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.
Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.
Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.
Facilitation and Communication
If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.
- The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
- Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
- The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
- The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
- Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
- The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
- Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.
What Is PCI Compliance?
If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:
• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.
• Quarterly network susceptibility scans
• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.
Fees and Processing
When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.
Before You Start
If you are going to start a merchant services company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.
Research the Market
In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.
Start Fresh or Franchise
You have to decide whether you will be starting a credit card processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.
Choose a Legal Structure
Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.
Start a Credit Card Processing Company
There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a credit card processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.
Comprehensive Business Plan
Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.
Insurance Types Needed
You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.
Partner With Other Companies
Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.
Lease Equipment for Processing
When you are going to start a credit card processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.
Merchant Services Sales Reps
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
What to Know about Selling Merchant Processing Services
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services sales programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Selling Merchant Services Benefits
Have you ever gone out shopping in your community? Have you ever shopped online at the webstore of one of your favorite local businesses? If the answer is yes, then you’ve been on the other end of a credit card processing solution. You took your credit card or debit card, entered the checkout process, and completed your payment easily and quickly. Every business needs a reliable payments solution--it’s how they accept payments for the goods and services that they render. However, it sounds much simpler than it is. Finding a payments solution that meets the needs of their business can be challenging. You can help your local businesses solve this problem by starting a credit card processing business of your own--selling merchant accounts from home.
What does being a merchant account salesperson mean?
If you’re going to sell merchants services, you first want to know what exactly that means and what it is going to involve. Merchant accounts are services rendered to merchants that are essential to the business to operate such as payment processing and facilitation. As a merchant services representative, you will be the person in charge of identifying businesses that aren’t quite getting as much as they would like to out of their existing processing solution or new businesses that are looking for a reliable partner to start with. You would be speaking with these businesses, presenting them with options, and signing them to merchant services contracts.
While the literal definition is one thing, what you will be doing as a merchant services representative is expanded far beyond that. Yes, you would be selling merchant services to businesses, but the process of making that happen includes much more. As a merchant services sales professional, you will meet with businesses to have a long-form conversation whether in person or on the phone to determine what they need out of a payment processing provider and how you can meet those needs.
As a merchant services representative, you will be critical support staff to businesses all over that need reliable merchant services such as processing and POS systems. In many ways, you would be essential to one of the most important sectors in our economy--small businesses. If you are passionate about helping small businesses and coming up with creative solutions to solve the problems of business owners, then this could be a great career path for you.
Benefits of being a merchant account sales professional
There are many benefits to becoming a merchant services sales rep, and there are definitely reasons for why it is considered one of the most desirable positions to do from home. If you want to become a merchant sales representative, then you can expect to enjoy these benefits as a result.
Earn from home
Perhaps the greatest thing about being in merchant services sales is that you can earn an income from home. Many people dream about earning a living from home, but very few are able to achieve it. There are scams out there that promise this flexibility, but our program is a very legitimate opportunity to earn a full-time living from home or earn some side money as a representative. When you are able to work from home and earn an income, many opportunities for life improvement open up. All in all, working from home as a merchant services representative makes for a very desirable living.
Have flexibility in your schedule
If you value flexibility in your schedule and having more free time to enjoy with friends and family, then being a merchant services representative might be the right option for you. Because you will be earning an income on a commission basis, there is no supervisor to tell you when to work or for how long. This means that while you should be providing basic support and communication to your merchants, you can take a vacation as needed or switch around your hours as you see fit. It’s the ideal situation for anyone that wants to have maximum flexibility in their life and achieve the ideal work-home balance.
High earnings potential
The main reason that so many people find merchant services sales to be such a desirable industry is because the earnings potential is high. The amount of money that you earn in merchant services sales is entirely dependent on how you perform as a salesperson, so the sky's the limit when it comes to your earnings. In addition to regular commissions that you earn from sales, there are also frequent opportunities for performance-based bonuses that you can use to increase your income.
Help your local businesses
One of the main benefits of working as a merchant sales representative is that with the solutions that we have to offer, you’ll be able to help your local businesses. For anyone that is passionate about small and local businesses, this is a great career choice. When you work as a merchant services representative, you’ll be able to work closely with businesses in your area and around the country to find solutions to the problems that they face on an everyday basis. With the help and services that you are able to provide to your clients, you’ll help them function with more efficiency, increased profit, and better customer service. Enhancing your local economy and businesses is truly a passion worth exploring.
No sales experience required
While being a salesperson might be new and intimidating to you, you should know that becoming a merchant services sales rep requires no prior experience and can be done by anyone that has a passion for helping businesses find the solutions that they need. With our training modules and comprehensive suite of solutions, you’ll have everything you need to learn about this industry and thrive while on the job.
Are most merchant account salespeople successful?
If you are thinking of making the leap into merchant services sales, you might be wondering if most people enjoy success. While not everyone enjoys success in sales or is cut out for sales, those that work hard and are determined to help local businesses find the ideal payment solution for them have a higher chance of success than those that are just in it for the income. If you want to have success in merchant sales, you should be ready to make a strong effort and be persistent.
How to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent
If you’ve been considering becoming a merchant services agent for a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.
Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).
Have a Plan
The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.
The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.
What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?
Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.
The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.
Leverage Your Social Network
Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.
etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.
Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.
Pick the Right Partner
The decision of which ISO agent program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.
You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.
Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.
Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.
If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.
There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.
Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.
Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:
Actually Know What You’re Doing
When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.
The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.
When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.
Be Completely Honest
Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.
Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.
When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being a merchant services agent can be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.
The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right ISO agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.
Pros and Cons of Selling Merchant Services
All around the world, there are thousands of businesses that use vital services that are referred to as merchant services. These are services such as payment processing, which is what allows businesses to accept and process payments so that they can make a profit on their product. Without these services, businesses would be unable to function in the modern world. You might think that the fact that these services are an absolute necessity to these businesses make them an easy target for selling, but that is now always the case. There are definitely some positives as well as some negatives when selling merchant services.
This guide will show you some of each and hopefully give you some insight as to whether a career selling merchant services is right for you.
Pros
Undoubtedly, there are some very positive aspects of selling merchant services for a living. If you have had a sales job that is similar in the past, you already have known some of these benefits. Here are some of the best things about selling merchant services.
There is always a market
One of the best things about working in the merchant services industry is that there is never a lack of demand for these services. There are always new businesses sprouting up as people chase their passion for owning their own business. And existing businesses are always evaluating their options and ensuring that they are getting the best deal on the market. For that reason, you won’t ever have to worry about the industry as a whole drying up. People will always need to spend digital money and businesses will always need to find a way to accept it.
Set your schedule
For many that are in a commission-based sales job, one of the greatest benefits of it is being able to get to the point where you are working when you want to work instead of punching a time clock when you get to work. When you are a partner in a merchant services ISO agent program, you will be able to set your appointments on a schedule that works well for you.
Build passive income
Finding and signing clients to lucrative merchant processing contracts is hard work, nobody denies that. However, all of the hard work that you put into this process could end up paying out tenfold throughout the years. One of the greatest things about being a merchant services salesperson is that your accounts can earn you passive and residual income long after you have closed them to a contract. This could help you build passive income for years to come and eventually phase out the bulk of the labor that is involved in this career.
High commission rates
When you compare merchant services to other industries out there, you will find that it has a very competitive and comparatively high commission rate compared to those other industries. The high price of the contracts and the fact that they continue to pay out for years to come is what makes these sales so valuable and why some of the best salespeople in the world turn to merchant services when they want to increase their earning potential.
Cons
Just as there are many pros to selling merchant services, there are also some aspects that could prove difficult. You should watch out for these aspects and consider whether they are something that you are able to overcome and overlook.
Highly competitive industry
There is always a lot of demand for merchant services, but this fact also means that there is a lot of competition. One of the hardest aspects of selling merchant services is that you will always have competition breathing down your neck, waiting to provide your client with a better rate. This is really where your ability to create and nurture relationships will come in handy with client retention. This industry is not for those that don’t like competition and healthy capitalist tendencies.
Dependent on success to make money
When you are a merchant services representative in any industry, you know that your ability to make money is heavily dependent on the success that you have when selling your product or service. It’s no different in selling merchant services. If you want to have a good income, then you will need to become skilled at selling these products. If you don’t feel confident that you can do that, then it might not be the right choice for you.
One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.
So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.
However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with Shaw Merchant Group. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. SMG ISO agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”
SMG ISO agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.
Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem!
Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with SMG, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!
How Much Can I Make?
Shaw Merchant Group offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that SMG allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.
Here are some of the great advantages of using Shaw Merchant Group's program:
- Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
- Get up to $10K for every new account
- Get a large startup bonus
- Get residuals of up to 70%
- Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
- Get free training on the services you will be selling
Contact Shaw Merchant Group today and get started!
Merchant services is one of the most lucrative sales industries in the world, and many people are starting to realize the potential in becoming a payment processing company. However, if you are looking into getting into the industry, there are a few pieces of information that you will want to know beforehand like what reselling is all about, what are the benefits, and how you should go about choosing a merchant service provider partnership for your adventure in reselling. Shaw Merchant Group is one of the most reputable reseller programs in the industry and we’re going to show you all of the information that you will need to start on the right path when it comes to being a reseller of merchant services.
What is merchant services reselling?
The first step to getting into becoming a merchant service provider is understanding what exactly merchant services are and what a merchant services reseller program is. Merchant services are services that are rendered to merchants that are essential to doing business and accepting payments. There are unlimited businesses that need these services to function, but that also means that it is a competitive industry. However, success in this industry can mean a lifetime of residual and passive income, and that is why so many people choose to pursue become a merchant services provider, along with the other benefits that it affords.
Merchant services reselling is an activity in which a person or company serves as the intermediary between a business and the merchant services that they need. Reseller sells the services to merchants and sources them from a merchant services provider at a lower rate, securing profit for those that resell the merchant services.
What are the benefits of being a merchant services reseller?
Being a merchant services reseller is a difficult field to succeed in, but there are many reasons to pursue being one. This field comes with a lot of benefits that attract people to becoming a merchant service provider. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose to be a merchant services reseller.
No overhead
Being a merchant services reseller means that you won’t have any overhead as a businessperson. Since you are keeping nothing in stock and you won’t have to keep any equipment in-house to provide the merchant services that you offer, your risk is reduced and you are less vulnerable to business losses.
Help local businesses
One of the main benefits to being a merchant services reseller is that it is a rather fulfilling career. With the ability to provide businesses with reliable merchant services, you can feel fulfilled in your job and help your local community.
Earn a high income
People who are highly drawn to becoming a merchant service provider are often done so because of the potential and ability to earn a high income that is not limited by anything other than your success in merchant services and your ability to convince businesses to use you for their merchant services. Commissions are how you earn money with providing merchant services and the difference in price between what you're selling the services for and what you are buying them for. With that in mind, it is one of the most lucrative industries that you can be in.
What should you look for in a merchant services reseller program?
If you are going to be a successful merchant service provider, then you need to work with a reliable merchant services ISO partner. Having a good ISO program to support you will allow you to offer premium and superior service that meets the needs of your clients and ensures that they will come back for more as needed.
Payouts
You always want to work with a merchant services ISO program that provides timely and accurate payouts. Running a merchant services business isn’t profitable without receiving a reliable stream of payments, so make sure that the company that you partner with, such as Shaw Merchant Group, offers reliable and accurate payouts.
Business tools
If you want to have the best chance of success possible in selling merchant services, then you need to work with a partner that has the business tools to make it happen. These include marketing materials, literature, and other tools to help you bring in a reliable steam of clients. Shaw Merchant Group has one of the most comprehensive suite of business tools out there to provide you with the resources that you need.
Online reputation
You should always verify the reputation and trust that your ISO partner maintains if you want to have success as a merchant service provider. As a independent agent, you are only as good as the program that you work with. Working with a program that has a good reputation among merchants is essential to having success in your own business.
Our registered DBA program will save you thousands in fees
Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.
We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:
- Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
- Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
- This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
- When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under the their brand name.
If you’ve put in the leg work required to build a successful credit card processing business, then you are probably at a point where nothing feels impossible. However, to continue growing your business or jump to another venture to make even more money, you will need an injection of capital. Credit card processing client portfolios are great for building income over the long term, but don’t do much for those that want to get a fast injection of capital to build businesses. If you want to get a lump sum or a loan against your residual portfolio, you can do that. All you have to do is list your credit card processing business for sale and get a buyer or lender to borrow you money or give you money against your portfolio assets.
Though the concept is pretty straightforward, you should still learn as much as you possibly can about this process to ensure you do it safely and effectively and that you get what you deserve from your credit card processing business for sale. This guide will go over some of the most important concepts and points you will need to know if you hope to successfully sell your portfolio of residual income.
Preparation Is Key
If you hope to have success in selling your credit card processing business, then you need to be sure that you have your ducks in a row. This means doing the preparation work and familiarizing yourself with what is possible and what is not when it comes to your residuals portfolio. By going through this process, many credit card processing business owners discover things about their residuals portfolio that they previously didn’t know. This information is vital for anyone that wishes to succeed in selling thier credit card processing business. Follow these basic steps as a launching pad for the sale of your credit card processing business.
Verify Residuals Ownership
If you want to sell your residuals portfolio and credit card processing business, then the first thing that you will need to do is verify that you indeed own your residuals. Many merchant services agents and owners operate under the assumption that they do--until they see the fine print. Working with certain ISOs and other companies could prevent you from selling your residuals. So, instead of wasting your time pursuing something that might not even happen, make sure that you verify that you are authorized to own and control your residual portfolio.
Selling Your Residuals
When you are hoping to sell your credit card processing business, you will need to not only ensure that you own the residuals and portfolio you are looking to leverage into cash, but also that you have the right to sell that portfolio of residuals. This is done by simply looking at the contract that you are entered into. You will need to verify that you have the full right to control this portfolio and pass it on to someone else or use it as leverage in a cash transaction. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to enter any arrangement with full knowledge of what you are able to do with your portfolio of residuals.
Ask About Borrowing
Selling is one thing, but borrowing against your portfolio is another. You will want to make sure that you are able to borrow against your portfolio, which is similar to leveraging what is in your portfolio for a cash infusion. Some processing companies allow this and others don’t--it is specific to who you are working with. In addition to borrowing against your assets with an external lendor, you might also explore the option of borrowing directly from the payment processor. Many companies have programs that will allow you to do this easily and affordably.
Things to Know When Selling Your Residuals
If you are hoping to list your credit card processing business for sale and leverage your residual portfolio into cash, then there are some things that you will need to know ahead of time to ensure a successful transaction. These concepts will teach you more about how to have success when selling your credit card processing business or leveraging your portfolio into the cash you need to pursue your business ventures.
Qualification
One thing that you will need to be aware of before you sell your residuals portfolio is whether you qualify for a sale of your residuals. For many partnerships, you will need to have a business that generates $1000 or more per month in residuals in order to be considered for a sale of your residual portfolio or a lending option that is centered around your residuals portfolio.
Buyout Ratio
If you have determined that you are going to sell your residuals portfolio and you are eligible for such a sale, then you will need to be familiar with the buyout ratio. Basically, the buyout ratio dictates how much you will receive from the sale as it relates to what your income is from the residuals portfolio. For many portfolios, this number lies between 12 and 24 times what the monthly income is from your residuals. This is what you should generally expect to receive when you sell your residuals portfolio.
Earn Out
Earn out is similar to a buyout, only that you will continue to earn your residuals and gradually be phased out. The payout is paid over a certain amount of time. This allows you to continue earning from your portfolio while also receiving a lump sum up front. This allows for the best of both worlds and makes it easier to make the transition.
Grow Your Business And Gain Capital By Listing Your Credit Card Processing Business For Sale
If you have a successful credit card processing business and have become a payment service provider and you are looking to sell, then listing your credit card processing business for sale or entering into a lending agreement that uses your credit card processing business as leverage are two of the best ways. Now that you know more about these options, you have the power and knowledge necessary to make your cash infusion and business expansion dreams a reality.
Are you excited to become a credit card processing agent? Do you want to start a credit card processing company? If your answer is YES, then you have come to the right place.
In this article, I am going to teach you ways to start a successful credit card processing company. I am also going to take you through the fine details of planning, setting up, and starting a credit card processing company.
You are going to learn about what it takes to become a successful credit card processing agent, how to conduct market and niche research, how to create a great business plan, how to get funding for your venture, and also tips to run a successful credit card processing company.
It is important to note that when you become a payment service provider you will be helping corporate and businesses to process payment for their customers.
Your credit card processing services will involve offering the platform and equipment to facilitate the sending, approval, and processing of payments and transactions between customer’s bank accounts and your clients' bank accounts.
What It Takes To Become a Credit Card Processing Agent:
The credit card processing industry is very dynamic, and the success of becoming a merchant services agent is both easy and hard.
There are a few things that you need to know; some of these include having a clear understanding of how selling credit card processing works. You will also need to have deep knowledge of how credit cards work and what they do.
Another overly important thing that you will need to understand is your market and, most importantly, your niche market. This way, you will be able to connect with your customers on a personal level. In addition, you will also be able to create a solid relationship with banks for financial transactions and payment processing.
Market Feasibility and Niche Research
It is critical to note that any successful venture always starts with thorough research. When you want to become a credit card processing agent, you will need to do thorough market research.
Understand the type of services or products you will be offering and where your clients are and their needs.
Make sure that you look at the services offered by your competitors, their rates, and also how satisfied their customers are with the services they get.
The few steps you can take to become a merchant services reseller are to first create a survey on several businesses in your area, determine the most common services they use, and evaluate the satisfaction level of customers with their current payment providers.
Another important step that you need to take is to gather client information, such as phone numbers or email addresses. These details will help you when you start sending out pitches.
Crafting a Comprehensive Business Plan
For you to become a credit card processing agent and be successful in it, you will need to come up with a detailed business plan.
It is okay if you are not a seasoned writer, but you can hire one to do the work for you. Better still, there are several business plan templates available online that you can use.
There are several details that need to be included in your business plan; some of these details include:
- How you intend to run your venture
- The executive summary about your business
- How you intend to raise startup capital
- Products and services you will be offering
- Marketing and sales analysis
- SWOT analysis
- And more
Ideally, the business plan for a credit card processing company can serve as proof to investors and stakeholders that you are serious about with your venture as the document shows all the strategies.
A great business plan can help you win funding from various investors and banks.
How to Finance Your Credit Card Processing Business
Most business requires a startup capital; the same case applies to credit card processing companies.
To become a credit card processing agent, you need to consider where you are going to get funding to start your venture. You will also need to cater for all the operational costs until you start realizing some profits.
According to research, on average, a minimum of $51,000 is needed to start a credit card processing company.
There are options that you can use to get financing for your credit card processing company, some of these options include;
- Getting a loan from banks
- Approaching investors
- Getting funding from business partners
- Using your savings or selling assets to raise funds
- Sourcing some funds from friends and family members.
Launching Your Merchant Services Reseller Company
Once all the above are set up, you can go ahead and launch your credit card processing company. There are other finer details that you will need to consider before you do this. These include finding the appropriate location for your business, understanding the requirements which you must have beforehand, and understanding the manpower needed to run the business.
To become a merchant services reseller, you should fully implement your business plan. The best way is to strictly follow the plan without cutting corners.
Tip: Due to the competitive nature of the credit card processing business, it is critical to ensure that your business stands out.
Put more efforts to stand out among your competitions. The best way to do this is to have a business network. You can reach out to organizations and corporations to widen your reach and customer base.
Marketing Plan for Your Credit Card Processing Company
- Just like any other business, a marketing plan is a must. You can do all the above work, but if you don’t come up with an effective marketing plan, you might fail.
- Take your marketing strategies seriously. The following are some effective marketing ideas that you can use.
- Use social media platforms to spread the word about your business
- Reach out to stakeholders, clients, and managers of big corporations
- Make sure that your business is listed in local directories
- Use TVs, magazines, newspapers, and radio to advertise your business
- Start bidding for available contracts
To further increase your reach to potential clients, you can create business cards, flyers, pamphlets, or business website.
Tips To Help You Run a Successful Credit Card Processing Business
In order to succeed in starting a credit card processing business, understand that you will not only be providing requirements and services to help process payment for customers BUT also, you will be selling yourself. As a credit card processor, you will need to clearly show potential clients why they need your services. Show them the benefits they will get from your services. Never seize to reach out to potential customers. In addition, ensure that you do a follow up on those pitches. To simplify the process of becoming a credit card processing agent, North American Bancard provides all the tools you need for a successful credit card processing business.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partner program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services partner program to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partner program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
When it comes to merchant services sales jobs, there is a lot to love. This is the reason that it is such a popular industry. Merchant services has long been one of the most lucrative and enjoyable fields, but that doesn’t mean it has its drawbacks. For most people, the risk is well worth it to enjoy the benefits that often come along with working in merchant services sales jobs. Here are some of the many benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a career in merchant services sales and use our free tools to find your next merchant services sales job.
Income
One of the greatest benefits of being in merchant services sales is that the income potential is basically unlimited. If you want the benefit of working in a field where your only income limiting factor is how hard you are willing to work, then this is the field for you. In merchant services sales, you are generally paid out on a commission basis. This means that for every sale you make, there is money involved for you. If you are looking for a field where your income can reach sky-high limits, then merchant services sales could be the ideal landing place for you.
Flexibility
Another amazing benefit of working in merchant services sales is the flexibility that this career often allows those that are in it. When you work in merchant services sales, you generally work for your own company or as a contract employee. This means that you are generally able to set your own schedule and enjoy the benefits of a great career while also getting a work-home balance that you’ve always wanted. It is the ideal solution or anyone that values flexibility highly in their work-home life.
Work Life
When you work in merchant services sales, you work for yourself. This means that not only do you have a lot of schedule flexibility, but also that your work life is more pleasant and geared towards how you actually want to spend your day. Instead of being beholden to a supervisor, set schedule, and set of rules that you don’t want to follow, you will be free to run your merchant services business as you please to provide you with a much more pleasant work life.
Rewarding
For some people, it is very important that they feel happy and fulfilled in their career with merchant services sales. In the case of this career field, it is pretty easy to achieve that sense of fulfillment. As a merchant services representative, it will be your job to work with small and medium-sized business wonders to find the solutions to the problems that are holding them back when it comes to payment processing. Through your work, you will be able to help small businesses operate more efficiently and improve their business. This bolsters the economy and helps the backbone of the economy all while providing you with a lucrative and rewarding career.
Finding Merchant Services Sales Jobs
To enjoy all the benefits of merchant services sales jobs, you first need to know exactly what to look for when partnering with a merchant services company to offer their services to your clients. This brief list of the main factors in finding a merchant services sales job with a company that will help you to succeed will give you some of the most important factors to look for in a merchant services company.
Area
Though many merchant services sales reps can work remotely from just about any location, it is still important to consider where your merchant services company is located. Much of this will depend on whether any in-office work is required and what travel is required. If you can work completely remote with the company that you have chosen, then this is not much of a concern at all. You can easily find which area your company has offices in simply by asking.
Reputation
These days, it is easier than ever to learn more about a company and the reputation that they have in the industry. Simply do some online research to determine what others have to say about the company and whether they consider the company to be a good partner to their agents.
Customer Support
One of the most important aspects in getting and keeping merchant services clients is the ability to provide them with high-quality and responsive customer support. Typically, this is the responsibility of the company that you have partnered with to offer the merchant services. Therefore, one of the first priorities that you should have when assessing merchant services companies to work for is their reputation and quality of the customer support.
Payout & Commission
Another factor that you should evaluate when choosing the next merchant services sales job for you is the payout and commission. It is important to select a merchant services sales job that has a high commission structure and is well-known for paying accurately and on-time. It’s important to make sure that they have a trusted payout structure in place so you can ensure you are paid for your efforts.
Our Merchant Services Sales Jobs
If you’re looking for the best merchant services sales jobs that fit this criteria, then you are in the right place. We provide merchant services sales jobs lists and other resources that help you to find an amazing career.
It is easy to become a credit card processor; just file some papers, set up a shop, and start charging high fees from the merchants. And if you are unlucky, you might start working for such companies as an agent and not earn to your full potential. So if you want to find the best merchant processing companies with extremely lucrative offers for both the merchant and agent, then this guide is your best resource.
We will discuss why you need to be careful when choosing the service provider. Plus, we will also provide you details about the best credit card processing company to work with so you can start a credit card processing business and see your profits soar. That being said, let’s get started:
Why Do You Need to Be Choosy About the Merchant Processing Company?
There are several issues that you can face with a credit card processor that can shut your business before it even starts. Here are a few problems agents face with many merchant credit card processors:
- Payment Delays: One of the leading problems that many agents who start a merchant processing company face is that their credit card processing company holds payments for too long. Whether for security reasons or for lack of funds, the companies usually pay very late.
- Lack of Support: Many don’t have good agent support. If you need to inquire about something on an urgent basis, you will either have to wait, or you might not get connected even after several attempts.
- No System in Place: For many credit card processors, there is no robust system like a dashboard providing agents with insights to their progress, available funds, and active merchants. This puts a lid on the agent’s ability to improve by monitoring progress.
- Low Profitability: By selling merchant services, agents get commissions and bonuses; however, some merchant processors simply don’t pay very well. Agents get very low payments for the amount of work they put into bringing sales.
- No Attractions: In order to sell, you need to show some attractions to the merchants like upgraded processing software, low fees, and some starting out gifts, and so on. There are many merchant processors who don’t offer much, which can make it difficult for the agent to pitch the program to the merchants.
Now that you know what makes many credit card processing companies a bad choice, you need to become a credit card processor company’s agent that offers great benefits to both their agents and the merchants. One such company is Shaw Merchant Group.
So What’s Shaw Merchant Group?
Unlike most of the credit card processing companies that offer ‘discounts’ on the credit card fees, Shaw Merchant Group diminishes the concept of fee altogether. That’s right; they help merchants avoid fees! Their mantra is simple but highly effective; they transfer all the fees to the customers that use a credit card facility.
For instance, if someone makes a transaction of $100, and the fee is 2.9%, then instead of the merchant paying $2.9, the customer’s card will be charged for that fee. Now there will already be signage explaining this policy, so the customers already expect to be charged.
It is fair to beneficial to the merchant and fair to the customer because the merchant can now enjoy higher profits while the customer pays a small fee for using the credit card option when they could use cash payment.
If you are looking for the best credit card processing company to work with, then you cannot go wrong with Shaw Merchant Group. They have been one of the trailblazers in the industry for over a decade and are backed by well-reputed banks.
So let’s see what they have to offer to their merchants:
- Diverse Product Range: They offer a wide range of products fit for every kind of merchant. This means you will not have to turn down a potential sale just because you didn’t have the technology they were looking for. From EMV enabled terminals to POS systems and mobile card readers, they offer a range of products for all kinds of industries.
- Relations With Several Banks: One of the best parts of working with our ISO agent program is that they work with several banks such as Bancorp Bank, Pennsylvania, BMO Harris N.A, Illinois, and Wells Fargo Bank, California, etc. This allows them to work with all kinds of businesses, so you have a huge potential customer base to target.
- High-Risk Businesses: If your potential customer/merchant is in a high-risk industry like tobacco, they might’ve been rejected by other processors. However, NAB works with such businesses, so you have a whole new niche to target.
- Extremely Lucrative: Shaw Merchant Group offers a unique credit card processing solution where merchants offset the fee on to the customers, as we discussed above. So even if your potential merchant is already using a processing company, you can pitch them the one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save 100% on their credit card processing fee; everybody likes higher profits!
- FREE Equipment: This is another benefit that SMG gives to the vendors, making it easier for you to pitch to all kinds of merchants. Upon signing up with SMG, the merchant can get a free credit card terminals equipped with advanced software that is already programmed to adjust transaction fee in the customer’s bill. Plus, they also offer free signage to educate the customers.
- Excellent Profitability and Bonuses: As a merchant services agent, you will get a lot more than 50–70% in residual income. First, you will get a signup bonus that can go up to $20k based on your initial performance. Plus, you get a bonus on the profits generated in the starting months. Your earnings will be multiplied by 14 and can go up to $10K.
Miscellaneous Benefits:
- A straightforward dashboard to see everything from your profits to the number of active merchants and their stats
- Receive free merchant services sales training for the services you sell
- Free ready-made lead generation website to help you attract more merchants
- Several affordable medical benefits
- Multiple payment processing platforms including First Data, Global Payments, and the new EPX
- Up to $1 million funding for merchants
Parting Words:
Now that you know why Shaw Merchant Group is the best credit card processing company to work with, we suggest that you take a step towards selling merchant accounts and successfully start a merchant services business with SMG supporting you.
Do you want to become a merchant services agent, and you are wondering where to start? You might be convinced that this is what you want to do. It is true that payment processing is a highly lucrative industry, and this makes it attractive. Becoming a successful merchant services agent is not easy because you will need some training to learn how to do this successfully.
The earning potential of a merchant services agent is incredibly high, but to get there, you will need to take steady steps towards attaining success. One of the steps is to seek merchant services sales training. Merchant services have some key pillars that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.
The following are the crucial credit card processing sales training structure that will increase your chances of becoming successful in the merchant services industry.
Learn Quality Partnership
This is one of the most critical concepts that you need to be familiar with while pursuing merchant services sales training. As a merchant services agent, you will need to partner with a merchant services provider. Your partnership needs to be solid in order to facilitate success. We can say that the merchant services provider will be the epicenter of your business.
The provider you partner with should be able to offer reliable payment processing services to your merchants without failing. They should also be able to offer the additional perks and tools that you need in the merchant services business.
Some key things that you are going to learn in the quality partnership training are the ability for the merchant services provider to offer good payment structure, offer prompt payments, good communication & support, the handsome share of profit, regular bonuses and modern and technological tools to help you succeed in your business.
A good merchant services provider you chose should be able to provide all these. You will be closer to your success and business goals if you are careful in selecting a quality ISO partnership. A good merchant provider will help you enjoy great profits as well as passive income from your merchant services business.
Pricing Structure
Another key thing to learn in merchant services training is the pricing structure. In addition to being able to make sales and getting new leads now and then, you will want to be sure of the right way to price your products and services. To have meaningful success in the merchant services business, you need to take your time and optimize your pricing.
A good pricing structure will enable you to have the appropriate profit margin. This will help you to keep on running a sustainable merchant services business. With the right pricing structure, you will be able to raise your income as you grow.
Learning about the pricing structure will help you to do things such as offering discounts, upselling, and many more. For now, the pricing structure may not seem to make a notable difference in your business, but as you start to accumulate hundreds and thousands of transactions, you will note the impact. It is, therefore, critical to fully understand the pricing structure in the merchant services sales business.
In Merchant Services, More Options Are the Best
In training to become a merchant services agent, you need to understand that a good merchant services provider should offer as many options as possible. There should not be limits to the payment processing options your merchant services provider is offering.
This is because if sometimes your customers happen to require something, you should be able to get it from your merchant services provider. On the other hand, if there are limits to options they can provide, then you might end up disappointing your customers.
As a good merchant services agent, you should lookout for a provider who allows access to a wide range of options, such as in payment processing. They should offer credit cards, debit cards, cash, ACH, and more payment processing options. If your provider gives you these options, you can offer them to your customers, and this makes them happy.
Several options mean that you will have the flexibility, and you will be able to offer solutions to your customers without running out of options. This is a win-win situation.
Customer Service
This is an important lesson to learn in merchant services sales training. The customer is the most important player in your merchant services business, and therefore they should be your highest priority all the time. As a payment processing agent, you should strive to keep your customers happy, and if you fail to do so, you will have a very hard time. It might even become very difficult to succeed in your business.
You should, therefore, brace yourself for customer service lessons in payment processing sales training. Customer services training will help you master the techniques that successful salespeople use in order to close more sales. They are always keen on the customer's needs and devise ways to fulfill these needs.
You should be able to attend to your customer’s queries in the shortest time possible. It is also critical to realize that when it comes to customer services, your merchant services provider will also play a key role. This gets us back to the previous point of choosing the right partner. If something happens that is beyond your control, you should be able to reach out to your provider for an effective and speedy solution.
Free Terminal for Your Merchants
For success in the merchant services business, the secret is to have a free terminal included. Merchant love bonuses in their payment processing packages. Note that you will be offering a POS which is designed to increase efficiency in payment processing. The terminal you provide should offer exceptional user experience for the satisfaction of your merchants.
For a strong bond between you and your merchants, you should be providing incentives. This will make them feel that they have the right agent by their side. For increased conversion rates, it is highly recommended that you offer a free POS terminal to your merchants.
You want to be a successful merchant services agent, right? The above learning concepts are the key to success in the payment processing business. Therefore you should ensure that you fully understand these in merchant services sales training.
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services ISO agent programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label ISO program with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.
We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome solution which we call Registered DBA. Basically we register your DBA under our registration so there is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no initial registration fees or annual dues. Here are some details on the “Registered DBA” program:
- Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back
- Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
- This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations from you other than the standard agent agreement
- When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand. If you use any other processor (Global/First Data) you will sell under the their brand name.
Become a white label payment provider today and take your business to the next level. If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of payment processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, the SMG white label program might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, our white label program will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.
Our white label ISO program has a history of competitive commissions, favorable commission structure, superior products, and sales support for our ISO partners.
For anyone with a sales background or a passion for the payments industry, SMG is the ideal white label ISO program. There are dozens of reasons to become a white label payment processor with Shaw Merchant Group, but don’t just take our word for it. Here are some of the top reasons that we were given when we asked our white label participants why they chose us and why they continue to work with our highly lucrative program.
Sales Partner Portal
With our industry leading partner portal, you’ll have access to online enrollment, training sessions, marketing materials, and you’ll always be ahead of the game with the latest news and promotions.
Alerts
Stay up-to-date on merchant issues and their resolutions via automated emails and text messages that include a detailed ticket number describing what the merchant’s concern was and how it was resolved.
Registered DBA Program (White Label)
With our program, you’ll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.
Free Equipment for Your Merchants
Selling businesses on a new processing plan is much easier when you are able to effortlessly jump over the hurdle of the cost of the equipment. With this program, you can offer your clients free POS terminal equipment that they will need for their processing provider change. This lowers the barrier to switching and creates a higher conversion rate for you.
Lifetime Passive Income
You will recieve 50–70% of residual income based on the pay structure you select. You will share income on every available revenue stream. With SMG, you get a True Interchange Revenue Split. Unlike other merchant white label partner programs, there is no basis points off the top for BIN sponsorship or for what they call hidden losses. Our sales partners earn more residual income with our 50/50 partner program than you would with our competition who claim to offer a higher percentage because thier interchange cost (buy rate) is higher.
$20K Performance Bonus
We offer a performance-based fast start bonus that is payable for anyone that onboards more than the standard threshold of clients in the first 4 months. This program is designed to reward those experienced sales members that join our team and quickly learn how to sell this product. The bonus can reach up to $20,000, making it one of the most lucrative and competitive in the industry.
Profitability Based Bonuses
We will look at how much profit is generated on the account after they have been processing for one month and you earn 14 times of the total profit. Example: If we retain $100 in residuals in that month, the bonus would be 14 x $100 or $1,400. You would have already been paid $600, so we would pay you an additional $800 on that account. This bonus is capped at a max of $10,000 per merchant per location. With our dual pricing program it is easier than ever to earn huge bonuses with a 14x profitability bonus. This dual pricing model enables you to maximize your bonus at $10,000 on almost every merchant processing over $90k..
Dual Pricing Program
When you are selling merchant services, one of the best assets of any partner program is more rewards and incentive programs that save your client money. The Edge dual pricing program is one of the hottest new commodities in credit card processing, as it is designed to save the client thousands of dollars in credit card processing cost, instead passing on the fee to the consumer in a way that isn’t damaging to their own conversion rate and revenue. We offer this program to our clients and make it easy to understand and present for our sales partners.
Medical Benefits
With some sales jobs, you don’t even have the option for medical coverage. With the SMG white label payment processing ISO program, you’ll have the resources that you need to provide healthcare coverage to you and your family at an affordable rate. We take care of our own, and when you are in our program you will have access to these benefits.
Are you looking to get involved in the merchant services industry, but you're not sure how to start? A good approach might be to sign up for our merchant services agent program, and we will pay you based on quality leads that you bring to us. You can get as involved in the process as you would like, and depending on your contribution, you can receive lucrative commissions and even residuals. These residuals can continue to pay for the life of the merchant's account, as well.
For some salespeople, referring their existing clients and making a small commission per sign-up may be enough, while for others, the prospect of monthly residuals and working closely with merchants to maintain accounts may be more attractive. It depends on your goals, as well as whether you want to become deeply involved with the merchant services industry as a whole. Needless to say, on all levels, there is nearly unlimited income potential because the field of merchant services is vast and constantly growing. No matter what your circumstance, chances are that many business owners around you are in need of a merchant account, and we are willing to reward you handsomely for the opportunity to serve the leads that you bring to us.
Here is the breakdown of our merchant services referral program and its different levels:
Very Little Involvement
If you're interested in a relationship that is more akin to affiliate marketing, where you find the leads, refer them to us, and then move on, then we have a program that can accommodate that. Whether you're a long-time affiliate marketer who is looking for a new niche, or you simply work with many merchants and would like a way to make some money from your contacts, this is an easy way to earn commissions without too much commitment. At this level, you do not need to contact merchants any further after you have made the referral.
Simply refer a merchant to us, and you will get $50 for every successful sign-up. The various techniques that you use to promote our services depends on you. If you run a website related to merchant services or that is targeted largely towards merchants and their needs, you could easily mention us and make commissions by referring your visitors. Similarly, if you run a newsletter or an online community, you can promote us to your audience and send them to our website using a custom link.
If in-person contact is more your style, you might try out passing around business cards with your custom link included. If you run a business-to-business enterprise yourself, you may find many opportunities to offer our services to your clients, allowing you to maximize your revenue.
Some Involvement
If you want the chance to earn some residuals, then this might be a good choice. Like the program above, you can earn $50 dollars upfront for every sign-up, but if you have 10 active accounts from merchants that you have referred, then you will be eligible to receive a portion of the revenue that they generate every month. As you can imagine, these residuals can certainly add up as you begin to accumulate more and more accounts.
Just as with the less involved referral program or credit card processing agent program, you may find leads from any number of sources, including leveraging an existing audience of yours or simply visiting local merchants and telling them about what we have to offer.
When you reach the point where you are receiving residuals, you may become much more interested in maintaining your relationship with the merchants to ensure that they stay on board. After all, the lower the account attrition, the better your chances of receiving continuous residuals. If that is the case, you might actually consider getting more involved, and perhaps even targeting local merchants specifically so that you can begin walking them through the process of signing up for our services.
High Involvement
Do you want to help the merchant set up his account step by step? Do you want to make sure that clients get what they need in order to keep the high quality accounts that you have worked to acquire? At this level, your commissions depend on how involved you want to get with the program, but it can be hundreds of dollars upfront per account, plus residuals. The more work you want to put into our clients, the more you will make in terms of commissions.
As you can see, we can accommodate all kinds of salespersons with varying levels of interest in our program. No matter what kind of approach you want to take, you are bound to make money with our high quality merchant services agent programs. We provide tools as well that will help you make the most of your partnership with us, including:
- A back end that allows you to create custom links with your affiliate code which will let us track referrals that come from you. This makes it easier to credit you with the commission that you are due. You can paste this link anywhere that your audience will be able to see it, whether it is on your website or in your email newsletters.
- Creative banner ads and other templates that can link back to just about any page on our site. Advertise specific products and services that we offer so that you can target the merchants who need them and increase your conversion rate. There's also no need to build your own graphics from scratch, since you can simply use ours.
- Free marketing tools. We offer email templates that you can send to your marketing list, landing pages that you can use to convert traffic, and other custom marketing materials.
So whether you are a mechant sales agent, a marketer, or merely someone who is in constant contact with merchants and would like to build another revenue stream, we have a solution for you. Send us your leads and we will reward you.
How to Become a Payment Facilitator vs Payment Processor
Are you looking for some practical guidance on how to become a payment processor facilitator? Well, we’d tell you this first – it requires commitment, skills, and the ability to take a good amount of financial risk. If you’re someone willing to take the leap of faith, then this guide is just for you.
Remember, those that successfully navigate through the challenges, primarily financial, when on route to becoming payment facilitators enjoy great rewards.
In this detailed post, we will give you a bird’s-eye view of what you need to be a successful payment facilitator. Also, we will tell you some differences between payment facilitator vs payment processor. That said, let’s dive right in:
Payment Facilitator vs Payment Processor:
Before we dive into the ‘who and what’ of the payment facilitation, let’s talk about payment facilitator vs payment processor. This will ensure everybody reading this is on the same page. So, the main difference between both of these is how the merchant accounts are structured and organized.
- With the payment facilitator or PayFac model, every user gets a sub-merchant ID. Each ID is directly registered under the master merchant account of the payment facilitator. This allows faster onboarding and greater control over your user’s experience. While this is a great way to eliminate the middlemen (ISOs), you will be responsible for directly dealing with an army of sub-merchants.
- With the payment processor model, you need to rely on the Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs). They sell your payment solutions to the merchants. So instead of directly boarding the merchants via the PayFac model, you will have to add a layer of ISOs working under you, which means a few extra steps to take, ranging from hiring the ISOs to getting merchants onboard via them.
Now you know the basics of payment facilitator vs payment processor, we can move towards the topics you are the most interested in:
Who Can Become a Payment Facilitator?
Professional payment facilitators can remove most of the hurdles that arise when setting up customers for payment acceptance while also offering a closely integrated experience to users.
So if you’re a Point-of-sale systems provider, a merchant acquirer, or ISO, having a product/service you want to combine with the payment facilitation model, you are well-equipped to be a facilitator.
This is especially beneficial for ISOs working in a low-risk niche where they get recurring billing like property management. They can easily take the financial risk of becoming a payment facilitator.
How to Become a Payment Facilitator – Do You Have What it Takes?
Now that you know who can become a payment facilitator let’s talk about what it takes to be one. Remember, it’s not just an expensive area to step into; it also requires a wealth of knowledge and special skills to go through the process and build your payment facilitation business.
Therefore, unless you are an ISO, as mentioned above, you will be trying to learn the ropes of a very complex business model without the advantage of prior knowledge.
To help you understand things further, we have given a bird’s-eye view of things involved in the process:
- You’ll have to register with four major card brands and make an annual fee payment
- You will have to find and negotiate a processing agreement with a payment processor that’ll sponsor you in becoming a payment facilitator
- You will have to develop policies for risk management and find capable people for managing it
- You will have to set up a platform that’ll be used to run your business and manage all areas of payment processing, such as finding reports, transaction monitoring, etc. OR, you can connect with a company having a payment facilitation platform already
- You will have to bring sub-merchants on board and start processing
Furthermore, it’s not a finite process that you need to go through once to become a payment processor facilitator. You will have to keep investing your time and money on an ongoing basis.
Keep in mind, when you’re operating as a payment facilitator, all the payments your sub-merchants process are your responsibility.
As for the cost, your initial investment would likely be in the six figures, and in the long run, you’ll have to spend even more than that.
Seems Challenging? Here’s a Simple Solution - Partner Up With a Payment Facilitator:
If you’re still reading this post, then it means you are looking for something that doesn’t come with so many roadblocks and requirements. Something that’s flexible and can help you become a payment processor facilitator without shelling out big bucks. Well, the great news is that there is a solution – partner up with a payment facilitator like Shaw Merchant Group.
With us as your reliable partner, you won’t have to go through the scary and overwhelming process mentioned above. You will not have to be responsible and accountable for hundreds of sub merchants. Also, you will get most of the benefits of a payment facilitator without having to be one from scratch.
Just partner with Shaw Merchant Group and use our registered payment facilitation platform. You can use it to establish your own unique offering in the market— no need to break your bank and set up everything from the scratch. We’ll help you set everything up at minimal costs while ensuring you enjoy most of the benefits of being a payment facilitator.
The gist is, with us on your side, you’ll be able to focus on your main business while also reaping the juicy benefits of operating as a payment facilitator.
Parting Words:
You can learn more about how to become a payment processor facilitator using Shaw Mrchant Groups's platform and save a lot of money and enjoy a range of benefits. Feel free to get in touch with us today – let’s make you a payment facilitator so you can enjoy more freedom and greater profits
If you are looking to find out whether you actually own the residual portfolio that you are building, one of the best ways to do so is to ask the processor that you are working with to purchase some of the future residual. This is known as a buyout and it’s a very common step for agents to take when they are in need of quick cash from the sale of an asset like a residual portfolio. If you want to be able to take advantage of these buyouts, you need to be very familiar with what a buyout is and how it can be completed from your side. This guide to the process of selling merchant account residual portfolios can give you the knowledge that you need to conduct a transaction like this and get access to the funds you need
Background residual knowledge
If you are going to sell your merchant portfolio, one of the most important things that you will need to know is the background of residuals and how they work in order to determine the price that you might get bought out at. Most agents already know how residuals work--you sell merchant services and in return, you get a share of the income. For many merchant processing contracts, the merchant’s share of the income is about 50%, leaving the merchant with the other 50%. However, it isn't always the ideal situation for the agent to wait for their income on a monthly basis and some prefer to cash out their earnings up front. A buyout between the agent and the merchant processing company gives them the opportunity to do this and pursue whichever avenue they might want with their lump sum of cash.
How much can you get for your residuals?
If you are considering selling your share of a residual contract, then you also probably want to know what your earnings potential is from selling your share in these often steady and lucrative agreements. Generally speaking, a processor will pay 15 months worth of residual payments on your part in exchange for your 50% of the residual share in the merchant processing account. This means that the lump sum that you would be getting is 15 times the size of the monthly residual that you would otherwise be gathering from holding the contract. There are benefits and drawbacks to this.
Benefits of selling your residual share
There are a few possible benefits to selling a share that you have in a residual contract that continues to feed you money. The first is that you need quick access to cash. If you do, then this is one of the best ways to do it. A buyout comes with no obligation to pay back or pay interest--it is your money that you earned and you get to keep it.
Another benefit of selling your residual share is that you might get something in exchange for nothing, so long as you are planning on leaving the merchant processing industry. If so, then it’s a win for everybody. You will get to be paid 15 months for a merchant processing residual that you would otherwise not be getting due to you leaving the business. In exchange, you will hand over the asset that you do have to the merchant processing account where they will continue to collect residuals on the account.
The final benefit is that the payout of a merchant services residual contract buyout is actually pretty competitive, compared to what you might otherwise get with a fast lending service or another service that doesn’t have your best interests in mind. The payout of a buyout is guaranteed and you get a good rate. So, if you are in need of an injection of capital for a venture, debt, or any other purpose, selling your share of a residual contract might be the right choice for you.
Drawbacks of selling your residual share
Just as there are benefits to selling your share in a residual contract, there are also downsides. One thing that you should be aware of if you are considering selling your share of a residual agreement is that you will not ever be able to get this contract back and earn the residuals for yourself. Once you have been bought out, the movement is permanent. The merchant processing company will not give you a chance to get back into it once your financial situation becomes less muddy and you want to get back in the game. That’s not to say that you can’t close new clients, but you won’t be able to work with the clients that you sold to the merchant processing company.
In addition, selling your merchant account portfolio van be a bad financial decision. Though it’s tough to assess this because everyone is in a unique situation, the theory is that residual income is basically a guaranteed passive income stream, after the setup is complete. So, how much does a few hundred extra dollars a month mean to you? Without the share of the residual income, you are left with a lump sum, which isn’t so bad. However, it does leave a gap in future wealth generations and could make it harder for you to survive financially in the long-term.
When to use a buyout
As a young agent, there are probably multiple situations in which you feel a buyout of an asset might be the right decision for you. However, buyouts from residuals should only be used in some situations. One such situation is if the agent needs a sudden influx of cash to replenish savings or consolidate a debt.
Another reason is if a merchant services agent or ISO has a large upcoming business expense that they want to make sure they have the freedom to invest if they so choose. With this flexibility, merchant services agents and ISOs are well-positioned to emerge stronger than ever from any situation that they find themselves in.
It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant processsing company. If you want to become a merchant service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.
The Credit Card Processing Industry
When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.
Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.
Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.
Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.
Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.
Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.
Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.
Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.
Facilitation and Communication
If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.
- The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
- Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
- The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
- The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
- Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
- The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
- Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.
What Is PCI Compliance?
If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:
• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.
• Quarterly network susceptibility scans
• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.
Fees and Processing
When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.
Before You Start
If you are going to start a merchant processing company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.
Research the Market
In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.
Start Fresh or Franchise
You have to decide whether you will be starting a payment processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.
Choose a Legal Structure
Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.
Start a Credit Card Processing Company
There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a payment processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.
Comprehensive Business Plan
Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.
Insurance Types Needed
You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.
Partner With Other Companies
Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.
Lease Equipment for Processing
When you are going to start a payment processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.
Merchant services is one of the hottest industries in the country. Merchant services can surely be lucrative, but one of the first things that you will need to learn about merchant services is that there are a variety of services that fall under the umbrella of being in merchant services. One of those is payment processing. If you want to achieve a higher income, more streams of revenue, and a better relationship with your merchant clients, then one of the questions that you may be considering is: how to become a payment processor?
A payment processor is one of the most essential roles in the payments process. However, becoming a payment processor is somewhat difficult if you don’t know the proper steps and the benefits of becoming a payment processor. If you’re ready to become a payment processor, but don’t know where to start, then this guide will give you valuable insight that will show you how to enjoy the benefits of becoming a payment processor while also being aware of the potential drawbacks.
Benefits of Becoming a Payment Processor
One of the reasons that so many merchant services providers flock towards becoming a payment processor is that it does come with a number of benefits that make it absolutely the right choice for some. In order to make the decision for yourself whether you want to become a credit card processor you need to get to know the benefits of being a payment processing company a bit more. Here are some of the most well-known benefits of becoming a payment processor for merchants and businesses.
Revenue Streams
Most people that want to branch out to being a payment processor and create a more robust product offering are doing so because they want to diversify and expand their income streams. When you are a payment processor, you will be making money from payment processing in a variety of ways. This can help to reduce the risk involved in being in business and make it more feasible to have success in merchant services. While there is undoubtedly more responsibility and some more work involved to get things going, you can certainly experience improved and more stable income as a result of becoming a payment service provider.
More Control
One of the best aspects of running your business as a payment processor is that when you are a payment processing company, you have more control over the entire process. This means from the underwriting to the actual payment processing, your business will be involved. While some see more work in this arrangement, others see an increased opportunity to optimize and improve the process in a way that most directly benefits your business model. You’ll be able to evaluate risk and other factors in the way that you see fit and place importance on the factors that you think are important. While this does increase liability and put more of the burden on your business, it also could allow you to explore opportunities that you might not have been able to before and have real influence on the industry.
Streamlined Support
As a merchant services reseller, there are some benefits such as being able to outsource customer support. However, there comes a point where each professional must decide whether this is a benefit or a liability. Outsourced customer support or the act of passing on your customer to another company for tech support can feel bloated and inefficient. When you are a payment service provider, you will have more freedom to handle customer support on your own. This can mean that your customer support is a better experience overall. It will mean faster service times, more direct communication, and increased trust between you and your customer. This all leads to greater customer loyalty and overall a better business outlook.
Steps to Becoming a Payments Processor
Though the concept of becoming a payment processor is somewhat easy to understand, the process does take time and effort if you want to have success. Here are the most important steps that you need to take if you want to become a payment processing company.
Registration/Paperwork
Perhaps the most important step is a good foundation. For a payment processing company, this often means registering with the proper authorities and making sure that you have all necessary paperwork in order. Be sure to do this before anything else, as it could leave you open to liability down the road.
Hire Staff/Facilities
The next thing you will have to do is build the infrastructure of your team and company. For payment processors, this means hiring staff and renting facilities that will house your business and carry out business functions for you.
Build Workflow
Now that you have all the permanent aspects in place for your business, it’s time to build the wireframe of your processes and workflow so that your business and employees understand how the business works.
Market Services
When you have everything set up, you can begin to get clients and market your services to anyone that can benefit from them. You will also build selling and commission programs to attract agents. This creates a funnel of clients and sets up your business for success into the future.
Merchant services is quickly becoming one of the hottest industries to be in. There are a variety of factors that are attracting people in masses to this industry including flexible work schedule, increased earnings, and an exciting, fast-paced career in business. However, not every corner of this industry is a cookie-cutter example of the perfect life. There are certainly benefits to be had by working in merchant services, but there are also things that you should know beforehand if you want to really get the most out of your experience. With these facts in hand, you can be sure that your career in merchant services more closely follows what you actually want to be doing and how you envision your perfect work life.
Different types of merchant services careers
The first thing to understand if you are thinking of a career in merchant services is that there are several different areas within the broad umbrella of merchant services that you can do. Merchant services such as processing are offered by more than one company and is a highly competitive industry. This means that not only agent positions are available, but also various other support positions that surround sales. If you want to become a merchant services agent, there are a couple different ways that you can go.
The first way to become a merchant services agent is to apply for a position at a large corporation or bank in a standard sales role. In this role you would be expected to meet sales goals, have a manager to answer to, and otherwise be restricted by the rigidity of how they do business. The other option is to become a merchant services agent that is independent and works with a merchant services partner program to earn a commission of each sale. Each of these positions have their benefits, and we will review them here.
The first type of merchant services sales position that we mentioned was with a larger company that has a manager to answer to. In a position like this, a merchant services sales professional would have a very small territory that doesn’t generally expand much beyond where they are based out of. As a result, commission opportunities are rather limited. Someone that works in this position would have very limited upside potential and room for error if they want to earn a good living with selling merchant services. In addition, they would be limited by the corporate structure of the company that they are working for. In this situation, it is hard to find passion in the job because you feel more like an account manager than a real sales professional with control over their destiny.
That brings us to the other type of merchant services sales position. This sales position is much more independent and operates on a commission structure out of their home or wherever they would like their office to be. Because they are not beholden to corporate offices or territories, their sales scope is much larger and they can serve almost anybody that they please. They can travel to visit their merchants, forming a tighter and more lucrative bond. Their earnings potential is unlimited because their merchant selection is also unlimited. They are happier in their job, make more money, have more flexibility, and are not tied to the desk. Someone in this position is usually much more pleased with their career in merchant services and generally makes more money, as well.
If you are choosing a career in merchant services, knowing about the two different paths that you can take is absolutely essential. When people talk about the benefits of being in merchant services and what a great career it can be, they are generally referring to those that choose to work independently with a merchant services partner program and earn commissions on their own schedule instead of being restricted by a desk in a corporate office. You should think carefully about which of these situations is better for you before you select a career pathway in merchant services so that you can plan accordingly and ensure that you put yourself in a good situation to succeed.
Earnings difference between types of merchant services careers
One of the most stark differences between those that work for large corporations to sell merchant services and those that choose a more independent path is the earnings potential. For those stuck in a corporate job, the earnings potential is far more restricted and the path to a high income is basically impossible. The reason is that these individuals are mainly restricted by their contracts which award them very little for a sale and instead keep more of the profits for the company. In this structure, sales professionals are hardly incentivized to sell and are rarely rewarded for their hard work.
In contrast, those that decide to work for themselves have a much different experience. Yes, you risk more upfront because nothing is guaranteed in this line of work, but the long-term payoff can be so much better. When you work independently or under a ISO agent program, the earnings potential is unlimited and restricted only by how hard and how much you work. If you want to achieve a high income, you can put in the work to attain it. You are rewarded for how hard you work and you have flexibility in what you do.
Is a career in merchant services right for you?
With this information in mind, the decision you must make is whether merchant services are right for you. WIth the right career path, a job in merchant services sales can be one of the most liberating careers out there. However, if you choose to restrict yourself in a corporate merchant services job, you might quickly find that this type of merchant services sales doesn’t make for a very fulfilling career. You should carefully consider these two possible pathways before you jump into merchant services sales and decide which one is going to be right for you.
Want to become a merchant services agent but don’t know which merchant services ISO agent program is right for you? Well, why don’t we solve this problem for you? This guide is specifically created to help people who are stepping their toe into the vast sea of merchant processing. By the end of it, you will have a pretty clear idea of how to find a good processor.
10 Things You Need to Consider in a Merchant Services Agent Program
We will tell you 10 factors that you need to consider when looking for a viable, credible merchant services agent program. This way, you will ensure that there are no problems later on in your career as a credit card processing agent. With that said, let’s get started:
1. Fast Funding:
One of the most important things to look for in a merchant services ISO agent program is their funding period. Clients should not have to face delays in terms of funds transfer after a transaction is made. One of the most attractive and compelling features of a good merchant services ISO program is that the merchants get their funds the same day.
This is what attracts most of the merchants as they do not want their earnings to be kept by a 3rd party for more than a day. You will also be able to sell this kind of program better because of the speedy service.
2. Several Discounts:
When you are deciding to become a merchant services agent, go for the processor that offers a cash discount program. Simply put, it is a payment processing tactic where the fee of a particular credit card transaction is offset to the customers. This means that the merchant will not have to pay any transaction fee, the customers are using the facility instead of paying in cash, so it should be them who bear the cost.
The best cash discount program allows merchants to do just that! The algorithm of POS software is already trained to charge the percentage of fees levied on each transaction from the customer. Plus, some of the top merchants also provide free signage that educates customers about the fee on a credit card transaction, so there are no surprises at the end.
3. Dealing in High-Risk Industry:
There are many that become a credit card processor, but they have a very low-risk appetite. This means they will only deal in safer industries and not offer services to risky businesses like medical marijuana stores, travel agencies, and pharmacies etc. Now you might not work with these businesses when starting out, but soon, when your business grows, you will have to get clients from high-risk industries.
So if the credit card processor doesn’t deal with these industries, then you will be limited to a few fields which will put a cap on your growth potential. So instead of finding a merchant dealing with high-risk industries later on, you need to work with one from the start.
4. Assistance in Marketing:
As a credit card processing agent, you will need several marketing resources at your disposal to close sales. One of them is a team assisting you with lead capturing and turning the cold ones into warm leads. A terrific processor will have excellent merchant support that will help you convert more merchants with minimal energy, time, and resource exhaustion.
Plus, some of the excellent credit card processors also have their own landing pages designed to show to your potential customers. These landing pages can take several hundred dollars to make, but the processor will offer you for free, making your conversion process easier.
5. Flexible Plans:
One of the most necessary parts of working with a merchant services ISO program is to get paid properly and on time. You do not want to be underpaid, so make sure to work with a processor that offers a fair share of the income to you. Also, they must have lucrative bonuses if you go out of your way to close a specific number of sales in X amount of time.
You need to properly analyze the contract you will sign with them and check their payment terms, make sure to work with a company that pays on time.
6. Merchant and Income Analytics:
The best part of working with the top credit card processors in the industry is that they leverage technology to make things easier for their agents. A good processor will provide you with your own dashboard that will display various performance metrics like the number of sales you closed, your earnings, number of clients, and more.
Some even go the extra mile and provide data on merchants as well. You might be able to see the number of transactions they make and even get information on individual transactions.
7. Equipment and Software:
Many become a registered ISO for merchant service providers, but they do not work on their equipment and its advancement. The credit card processor must provide you with the necessary technology that you can offer to your clients and seal the deal. A good processor should offer these equipment and facilities:
- Point of Sale terminals to suit the needs of merchants
- Smart online payment options
- Facility of mobile payments
- Support loyalty programs and gift cards
- Fast processing with minimal errors As for the software, they must have up to date, user-friendly software in their equipment, allowing merchants to complete the transaction process smoothly.
8. Excellent Support:
Besides the marketing assistance that we discussed above, the merchant services provider should offer fast, responsive, and friendly customer services. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your customers are facing any issues that need to be solved, and you cannot get in touch with the processor’s customer support to fix them.
In this case, even if the problem is not caused by you, you will be the one facing the consequences if you cannot get a customer support agent to solve the problem. The merchant might stop using the processor, and that will result in your financial loss.
So before you decide on working with a merchant, you need to ensure that they have a dedicated customer support team that can quickly answer your questions and solve any problems as soon as possible.
9. Multiple Boarding Options:
Look for a program that provides different boarding options from big payment processing platforms like EPX, First Data and Global Payments. Being able to access these programs means complete peace of mind for both you and the merchants.
Because there will be fewer chances of facing any integration or technological problems when connecting the POS or billing software of the merchant with the platforms your program uses. This will ensure your whole sales process goes smoothly, and you don’t lose a ready-to-convert client at the last moment.
10. Must Be Credible:
Lastly, you need to do your complete due diligence in finding everything about the company you can. They should not have a shady track record, damaged reputation, or bad reviews on the internet.
You need to work with a company that has the face of its CEO attached to it, has a brick and mortar headquarter, and is licensed to operate.
Plus, keep your eyes peeled for any too good to be true bonuses or discounts; these things come with bad surprises later on.
Is There Any Program With These Qualities?
Glad you asked, I was wondering that I have written 10 points for you to look in a company so it might be challenging to find one that meets this criterion. Well, let me make things simple for you by introducting North American Bancard. They are excellent at what they do, and their core focus is to benefit their agents and merchants. Have a look at a few of their key features:
- They have Global Payments, EPX and First Data powered merchant accounts
- Their terminals work with both credit and debit cards. Plus, they support both EMV and NFC based methods of payment
- They also support mobile payments via PayAnywhere technology
- Their PayAnywhere feature also works with storefront point of sale system
- Automated cash discounting
- They have web-based terminals that provide agents with all the details of their performance and the specifics of their merchants
- Very attractive signup and profitability bonuses
Parting Words:
If you have successfully made it to the end, then it means you already know about the key things to look for to find the cream of the crop credit card processing company. We have also suggested the leading program with all the qualities discussed in this guide. So it is fair to say that you have everything you need to get started on your journey to working as a merchant services representative. You just need to take the first step and make a career doing what you really want to do.
If you want to be successful as a merchant services agent or ISO, then you need to have access to a high-quality ISO agent program. ISO agent programs are a concentration of a variety of merchant services that you can offer to your merchants in exchange for a commission from the partner program. Having a good ISO partner program for selling merchant services is essential to having success and being able to attract a high number of merchants to your services. With our insight into merchant services partner programs, you’ll know essential facts about working with partner programs and what you need to do to find one that puts you in the best position for success.
What should you look for in a merchant services partner program?
If you’re looking to be a merchant services agent, then one of the most important steps in the process is finding the right merchant services partner to work with. The merchant services partner program that you work with will have a large part in determining your level of success in the merchant services industry. If you want to get the most out of your merchant services agent experience, then these are the factors that you should be looking for when evaluating potential partner programs to work with. With these things in mind, you’ll find a partner that suits your needs and puts you in the best position to succeed.
Payout dependability
If you don’t get paid accurately and on-time, then you can’t hope to have a healthy business model. Part of the relationship between you and your merchant services partner program that you choose is getting reliable and accurate payouts from your merchant services provider. Without this, you can have cash flow and margin issues. So, when you start to look at potential partners for your merchant services endeavors, you should take into account the reputation that your merchant services provider has when it comes to payout dependability. Ideally, you want to work with a partner program that will pay you fairly, accurately, and on-time.
Support staff
When you are considering what merchant services partnership to choose for your business, you should take more than financials into account. One of the most important things that you should look at is what kind of support your merchant services partner program has to offer. With merchant services being a highly technical field of expertise, your merchants will often need support and help using their solution. When that happens, you want to be sure that your ISO agent program has the support staff in place to help your merchant and make them happy. Without proper support, you might find your merchants being left dissatisfied with both the solution and you. This is a great way to lose clients and business.
Product suite
The merchant services solution that your merchants will select will be largely impacted by what products you have to offer, and that is why the product suite and selection that your ISO partner program has available should play a large part in your decision of which partner to work with. You can’t offer services that you don’t have access to, and that is why you should aim to have access to as many as possible. Do this by exploring the products that your merchant services partner program has available and ensuring they align with your needs and that you will be able offer your merchants the products and services that you wish.
Reputation
One of the best ways to tell if you should be working with any particular merchant services agent program is to find out what kind of a reputation they have with both merchants and agents. Whether a program is good or bad, there are bound to be individuals and businesses that have had experiences with them in business. If you can find those experiences, you can have the knowledge available to you to let you know whether you should be working with that merchant services partner program in the long-term.
Industry specialization
When choosing a merchant services agent program, one of the most important considerations is whether they have a specialty or specialize in any certain industry. If you are in a very specific industry, you’ll want to make sure that your merchant services partnership program specializes in your area of business or at the very least, offers services that fit your needs. For general merchant services agents, you’ll want to seek out a partner program that has a wide range of solutions to fit any need.
How Does the Payment Processing Busines Work?
It is estimated that around 100 billion transactions happen every year through credit card. That means the credit card processing company can make huge bucks every month from residuals. But working in the credit card industry is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of moving parts involve when you start a merchant processing company. If you want to become a payment service provider, you need to do many things to join the credit card industry. Let’s have a look together about the merchant service business opportunities.
The Credit Card Processing Industry
When you pursue your career as a merchant services agent, you build a relationship with the banks, payment gateway devices, merchants, and credit card machine developers. When the clients process their credit card transactions, you can charge the fee, which will be your residuals. Let’s see what the main elements in credit card processing are.
Consumer: The one who makes the purchase and has a credit card.
Merchant: The merchant is the business owner who sells services or products.
Payment gateway: It is a technology that connects the payment process company to merchants.
Credit card processor: When you are work in the credit card industry, you are a credit card processor. You will work as a communicator between the card network, merchant, and bank of the consumer to make sure that the transactions comply with the Data Security Standards of the Payment Card Industry.
Card network: This is the credit card brand that the consumers use e.g., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and others.
Issuing bank: The issuing bank is the bank of the cardholder. It checks to ensure that the consumer’s account has funds and releases them for settlement.
Merchant bank: This is the merchant’s bank, where he will have the account through which funds will move to the transactions the Credit Card Processing Reseller agent process.
Facilitation and Communication
If you have decided to start your career in the credit card industry, you will be a facilitator among the merchant and card network and card holder’s bank. The authorization, settlement, and funding are involved in this process.
- The merchant process the credit card payment of consumer though a payment gateway
- Then the merchant sends the request to the credit card payment processor for the payment authorization.
- The credit card payment processor then submits the transactions to the credit card network like Visa, American Express, finally reaching the issuing bank.
- The issuing bank declines or approves the credit card transaction and sends this status to the merchant through the payment processor and credit card network.
- Then, the payment processor receives the authorized transaction batches from the merchant.
- The payment processor passes these details to the issuing bank through the card network.
- Some charges are deducted from the account of the consumer by the issuing bank, and these funds are transferred to the merchant’s account minus the interchanging fees.
What Is PCI Compliance?
If you want to be the part of the merchant services agent program, you must understand PCI compliance. The PCI compliance is the set of practices you should follow to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). As a ISO agent, you should be offering:
• The equipment and software for PCI-compliant processing such as point-of-sale systems, payment gateways, terminals, and more.
• Quarterly network susceptibility scans
• Help in filling the self-assessment questionnaire.
Fees and Processing
When you offer PCI DSS equipment and software, you can make huge bucks by charging a fee for each transaction's processing. You can purchase wholesale buy rates and sell them to the merchants at a slightly higher rater to make your money.
Before You Start
If you are going to start a merchant processing company, find the niche that makes you stand out. There are many payment processing companies like North American Bancard, but you can’t compete with them initially. All you need to develop the customer base in order to establish a long relationship with the local business owners. For instance, if you are working in the food services, you can cultivate a strong relationship with the restaurateurs.
Research the Market
In order to make a great start in the credit card industry, research the local market, and see what sectors are booming. If your skills and experience can match these promising sectors, find the services these sectors are using. You can conduct the free survey to find out either the merchant is satisfied with the existing services on the ten-point scale. You can send them the survey results on their email address. It is a good way to get insight into the local market and the merchants' contact information in your area.
Start Fresh or Franchise
You have to decide whether you will be starting a credit card processing company from purchasing into a franchise or from scratch. When you start fresh, that means you need to complete paperwork, pay startup costs, insurance fees, build relationships with the clients and banks, and much more. While you buy into a franchise, you need to have worked about paperwork, retaining customers, and decisions. Choose the way that is right for you and your career.
Choose a Legal Structure
Choose the legal structure that is suitable for your business strategy, which includes the partnership, sole proprietorship, and more. For legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who has experience in credit card processing startups.
Start a Credit Card Processing Company
There are some steps and legal documents that you will require to start a credit card processing company. It includes business license, Insurance policy, the Contract document, nondisclosure agreement, certificate of incorporation, business plan, and operating agreement. After deciding your niche, and legal structure, register your business with your secretary of state. Moreover, don’t forget to establish the tax identification number with the Internal Revenue Service. All these things are required to start your merchant services business with your credit card history.
Comprehensive Business Plan
Now, define the comprehensive business plan that includes market analysis, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and competitor analysis. You can get a sample of a comprehensive business plan from the website of the credit card processing company.
Insurance Types Needed
You need Liability insurance, Equipment insurance, Health insurance, General insurance, Business owner policy group insurance and Errors and omissions insurance for starting your merchant service business.
Partner With Other Companies
Now, contact the banks that serve the local merchants and show them your business plan. Try to build a relationship with the small businesses in your area. It’s time to partner with the card network banks to handle the interbank payment processing.
Lease Equipment for Processing
When you are going to start a credit card processing company, contact the companies for equipment leasing. Small businesses often need POS terminals, ATMs, and credit card terminals. You can make money by offering them a choice of buying the processing equipment of leasing them from you.
Merchant Services Sales Reps
Wondering how to become a merchant services agent and just crush it in the sales game? Well, it is both easy and challenging. It’s easy for those who know what they need to do to become a successful sales agent and difficult for those who are clueless.
So to help you have a pretty good idea of things, we have come up with this guide. It will help you up your merchant services game with just a few practical approaches. So with that said, let’s start:
5 Core Elements to Work on to Become a Successful Merchant Services Agent:
1. Decide Your Approach:
One of the most important parts of not just the ISO agent program, but any business, is that you have the groundwork laid out. When you become a merchant services agent, you will have to make a complete business plan and decide your approach before stepping out into the field. There are various aspects that you need to consider, and some of the main ones are:
- What will be your target market? (Individual street-side stores or the ones in malls)
- What will be your target industry? (High-risk industries like CBD or low risk like parking garages)
- How will you make money? (Sell plans only or other things like terminals as well?)
- How will you approach a customer? (Your pitch – most important)
- How will you market your business? (Cold calling, internet marketing, word of mouth, anything else?)
Everyone wants to become a credit card processing agent because of the freedom this job grants; no more bosses micromanaging you! However, this also means that you are mostly on your own in the field. You need to come up with a strategy, decide your approach, take action, and keep refining the strategy based on results.
2. Spread the Word:
Sales business benefits a lot from social networking. The more contacts you have, the more clients you can expect from every direction. People in today’s world don’t blindly trust any business, which is why they ask their friends and family for referrals and usually end up trying out the referred business.
According to BigCommerce; 92% of people believe in suggestions coming from friends/family more than advertising. This shows how powerful referrals can be, which is why you need them! You will work on two types of referrals besides the general business contacts.
- Commission Based: These will be the people you will pay a percentage of your commission for bringing you leads. They can be your relatives, friends, family members or someone you go to the gym with. The gist is, you will tell them to look out for any merchant in need of credit card processing facility, refer them to you, you will educate them, close the deal and share some of your commission with the referrer.
- Merchant Based: These will be directly the merchants. You can visit different merchants in your vicinity, introduce yourself, ask them if they need any help with their credit card processor, and just help them without charging anything. You are actually selling without selling! When they see you are there for them when they need you, they will put trust in you, and sooner or later, either they will switch to your credit card processor or tell their ‘merchant-friends’ about you. Either way, it’s a win-win for you! Making yourself known in the community and increasing your exposure will reward you with sales and opportunities you wouldn’t have thought about.
3. Choose the Right Credit Card Processor:
Choosing the ISO agent partnership is the most careful thing to do. It can either make your merchant sales career or break it. Most of the ISO agent programs will promise to bring the moon for you if you bring sales, but not everyone will really live up to their promises. So to help you find the right program, we have outlined some tips below:
- See if they are offering their customers free add-ons like POS terminal, and signage. These things make it easy for you to sell.
- Do they have fair pricing? The processing fee and their monthly service fee should not be too high that discourage the merchants from taking the plan.
- Do they offer a cash discount program? Here, the merchants can offset any processing fee directly to their customers and not pay anything.
- Are they using the latest equipment and software? How smooth is their POS interface?
- How good is their customer support for both merchants and agents? You want a processor that won’t leave you hanging when you need help.
- Will they work in high-risk industries like CBD, Pharmacy, and Tobacco, etc.? You might not work in these industries now, but when your business grows, you will have to.
Check your contract with them, check your fee schedule, and see how much you will be paid in commission; it should be fair. Also, they should have various bonuses available for achieving good sales.
• You should not be bound to make X number of sales to continue receiving residual income from your previous client; they should be yours no matter what your sales numbers are.
• You should not be bound to only work with them until the contract ends, working with other processors simultaneously should be an option.
You also want to ensure that the ISO agent program you are working with offers amply training resources so you can better equip yourself with knowledge about the product.
Tip: Try exploring our ISO agent program; we fit this criteria and have been in the game for several years. You might find your a perfect match without having to comb through the market.
4. Be a Sponge and Absorb Knowledge:
Be it merchant services sales or any other business; knowledge is power, which is why you need to be the sponge. Absorb as much knowledge as you can about your business, the market, the customers, and, more importantly, the product.
Start by devouring the educational and training material provided by your ISO agent provider. Side note; Shaw Mrchant Group offers a wealth of resources for gaining knowledge and proper sales training.
Once you are done by company training material, take courses on platforms like Lynda, Udemy and Coursera, etc. Not only you need to learn about your market, product, and target audience, but you also need to know about the tactics of selling effectively.
5. Honesty is the Best Policy:
They say honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom, and I say you need to read this whole book. To become a merchant services agent who gets results and is loved by his customers, you need both honesty and wisdom.
You need to have wisdom allowing you to help your potential clients without asking anything in return as they will bring you good business once they trust you. You need to be an absolute truthful person so that merchants can rely on you for their credit card processing needs.
Once they do, they won’t go anywhere, and you’ll be getting continuous residual income. So being wise and honest will only add wings to your business, keep practicing both.
Practical Tips for Selling the Merchant Accounts:
- Learn to Identify Prospects: Rule 101 in a sales agent’s notebook; drop the bad prospects, and focus on good ones. Let’s say you visit 10 prospects, 8 of them are not interested in talking to you, and some may even talk harshly, drop them. Focus on the remaining two who discussed their business with you or at least showed some respect.
- Talk Less Listen More: You need to use your ears more than your tongue. Listen to the pain points of your potential clients, and only talk when you have a solution or a question. Let them feel that they can rant in front of you, and you will listen and solve their issues. Just let them talk themselves into sales!
- Don’t Be Pushy: Do not make your prospects feel like they are being pushed or pressured into making a purchase from you; you might soon get banned from their store. Instead, just have patience, and keep visiting them from time to time. Don’t let them forget you, and once an opportunity comes up, you will be the first one in their minds.
- Be Creative: You cannot sell by selling, this is not the 70’s, and everyone knows the old tactics of selling, so you need to be creative. Let me give you an example of creativity; there was this merchant that had a POS which didn’t support the processing program that the agent was selling. The agent gave him a free POS terminal as his company; (SMG allows it), sold the old one on eBay, and gave full money back to the merchant. You can imagine if the merchant converted or not!
Over to You:
To become a credit card processing agent, you will have to do a lot than just wearing a shoulder bag and using gel in your hair. You need to have a plan, a network of referrals, the right type of processor, a wealth of knowledge, and an honest approach. Only with these core elements, you can make it to the top.
What to Know about Selling Merchant Processing Services
If you want to enter into the massive merchant services sales industry, then we would like you to stop right there. Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you should know. You need to have a clear idea of this industry and whether a credit card processing sales job is even your cup of tea or not.
We will help you know some simple yet important facts about selling credit card processing in this guide and will also provide you with useful tips to jumpstart your career as a merchant services agent. So with that said, let’s get started:
Why is it Important to Know?
Before we move towards knowing some important facts about the merchant services sales programs, the question that might come to your mind is, why bother knowing these things? Well, to be honest, there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to getting merchant services sales jobs, it’s not as easy as approaching the merchant, pitching the service and closing the deal.
Things can be both easy and difficult, which is why you need to set your expectations straight. So instead of jumping into a river without gauging its depth, it is better that you know how deep it runs. Therefore, we will tell you both the good and the bad of the merchant services sales industry.
These advantages and drawbacks will help you understand what to expect from it and whether it is the right field of work for you or not. So follow along and learn some of the most important things about selling credit card processing.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
There are plenty of benefits in the merchant services careers, which is why many opt for this route. If you are persistent and work very hard, you will enjoy a high income and many benefits that come with it. Here are a few advantages of working in the credit card processing sales industry:
Excellent Earning Potential:
The basic need for everyone is the money, the sole motivating factor that makes you want to work for hours without looking at the clock. Well, the good thing is that this job is based on commissions. So you will be paid for the amount of work you put in and not like corporate jobs where you give 12 hours daily for a fixed pay.
However, if you ask an accomplished merchant services agent, he will tell you that the money doesn’t come easy and is certainly not handed to you on a silver platter. To make a killing in the industry, you need to work very hard, build a network, and be persistent.
There are also several bonuses offered by credit card processors for achieving X amount of sales that add to your overall earnings. So once your business takes off, you can then enjoy a vacation on the beaches of Bali while sipping your fresh piña colada.
Flexible Schedule:
The best thing about working in the merchant services sales industry is that you are your own boss. There is no one looking at you with a microscope waiting for you to make a mistake. You can work on your own terms and in your timings as long as you are getting sales because sales pay the bills in this game.
You can approach any business you want, wherever you want and whenever you want to make your pitch. There will be no one calling you and asking you why you haven’t reached the office yet; your dining table is your office.
Tons of Surprises:
If you are someone who cannot deal with a monotonous routine and the same kind of office-based work, then this is the job for you. You will start your day not knowing what’s in store for you because you get to meet lots of new people in this line of work.
Different merchants will need different tactics and pitches for the deal to close. So you will have to adapt to the situation, work any problems that may arise, and learn something new every day. If you are someone who loves this kind of work, then you will definitely have higher job satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Accounts:
Remember, nothing, and I repeat nothing is always rainbows and sunshine. Not even rainbows and sunshine are always there on the sky. So you cannot expect the merchant services sales job to be a walk in the park. There will be some drawbacks, just like there are with all types of jobs. If you are someone who is ready to face challenges and come up with new ways to achieve their goals, then you might not be affected by these downsides very much. That being said, let’s see what they are:
Repeated Rejections:
Yes, this will happen. Every sales job comes with complimentary rejections, which an agent has to accept. Selling merchant services is no different. You will likely face two types of merchants when it comes to rejections. The first ones are those who already have a credit card processing provider, and they are satisfied with it.
The second ones will be those who just don’t want this facility or those who don’t have time to talk to you. You can persuade these people to an extent, and some might convert. I know getting rejected is tough, but you will have to take it like a man and move one to another merchant, there are plenty of them out there.
Soaring Competition:
Yes, there are thousands of merchant services agents out there just like you. But don’t let the high competitive environment bring you down. If you have the key ingredients of becoming a successful credit card processing service agent then nothing will stop you from getting ahead of the competition.
Plus, you have to be a bit creative in selecting the location to target, maybe a new mall, or a complex? You will have to figure things out as you go and not leave any stones unturned in getting ahead of the competition.
Things You Can Do To Have a Strong Start as Merchant Services Agent:
Now that you know the good and bad sides of the merchant services sales industry, it is time we give you a few pointers on kick-starting your career.
- Establish Goals: Being a sales agent means you need to manage yourself because there is no one at your back, making plans for you. You need to set targets like closing X amount of deals in Y number of days. And then work with all your strength and capabilities towards achieving the targets. Once you do, reward yourself with something you like.
- Strong Networking: Being a new agent means no one really knows you. So you need to get yourself out there and have more exposure. Visit potential merchants, have a chat with them, help them out with anything related to credit card processing for free, and slowly and gradually build trust. Once they know you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will either get your service or refer their fellow merchants to you.
- Understand What You Offer: Speaking of knowledge, you should first increase it to be able to help and educate merchants. Credit card processing is a vast sea, and you need to cover its every aspect. Learn about the services, equipment, and value you are offering so you can better communicate with the potential merchants and pitch them more effectively.
- Follow Up: No matter how the dealing with a potential merchant went, always follow up. After contacting a merchant for the first time, don’t let them forget who you are or what you offer. This doesn’t mean you start visiting their home, but rather, say Hi every now and then. If, after some time, you feel your efforts are going somewhere, keep pursuing otherwise move on to a different merchant.
- Offer Excellent Support: One of the main things that you will sell is support and not the service itself. When things are a bit technical, like credit card processing, people purchase the person selling them and not just the product/service. This means that they will buy trusting your word, and you will have to be there for them whenever you are required. This will not only retain your current merchants but also build your credibility in the industry.
Parting Words:
Many jump into the credit card processing sales industry hoping to build successful merchant services careers; however, only a handful of them manage to do so. Do you know why? Because the ones that fail expect a lot at the initial level. And the ones that win just keep their heads down until they can live with their heads high. There is a difference in IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. You just need to be persistent, work hard, and have patience; you will make a successful career a possibility one day.
Selling Merchant Services Benefits
Have you ever gone out shopping in your community? Have you ever shopped online at the webstore of one of your favorite local businesses? If the answer is yes, then you’ve been on the other end of a credit card processing solution. You took your credit card or debit card, entered the checkout process, and completed your payment easily and quickly. Every business needs a reliable payments solution--it’s how they accept payments for the goods and services that they render. However, it sounds much simpler than it is. Finding a payments solution that meets the needs of their business can be challenging. You can help your local businesses solve this problem by starting a credit card processing business of your own--selling merchant accounts from home.
What does being a merchant account salesperson mean?
If you’re going to sell merchants services, you first want to know what exactly that means and what it is going to involve. Merchant accounts are services rendered to merchants that are essential to the business to operate such as payment processing and facilitation. As a merchant services representative, you will be the person in charge of identifying businesses that aren’t quite getting as much as they would like to out of their existing processing solution or new businesses that are looking for a reliable partner to start with. You would be speaking with these businesses, presenting them with options, and signing them to merchant services contracts.
While the literal definition is one thing, what you will be doing as a merchant services representative is expanded far beyond that. Yes, you would be selling merchant services to businesses, but the process of making that happen includes much more. As a merchant services sales professional, you will meet with businesses to have a long-form conversation whether in person or on the phone to determine what they need out of a payment processing provider and how you can meet those needs.
As a merchant services representative, you will be critical support staff to businesses all over that need reliable merchant services such as processing and POS systems. In many ways, you would be essential to one of the most important sectors in our economy--small businesses. If you are passionate about helping small businesses and coming up with creative solutions to solve the problems of business owners, then this could be a great career path for you.
Benefits of being a merchant account sales professional
There are many benefits to becoming a merchant services sales rep, and there are definitely reasons for why it is considered one of the most desirable positions to do from home. If you want to become a merchant sales representative, then you can expect to enjoy these benefits as a result.
Earn from home
Perhaps the greatest thing about being in merchant services sales is that you can earn an income from home. Many people dream about earning a living from home, but very few are able to achieve it. There are scams out there that promise this flexibility, but our program is a very legitimate opportunity to earn a full-time living from home or earn some side money as a representative. When you are able to work from home and earn an income, many opportunities for life improvement open up. All in all, working from home as a merchant services representative makes for a very desirable living.
Have flexibility in your schedule
If you value flexibility in your schedule and having more free time to enjoy with friends and family, then being a merchant services representative might be the right option for you. Because you will be earning an income on a commission basis, there is no supervisor to tell you when to work or for how long. This means that while you should be providing basic support and communication to your merchants, you can take a vacation as needed or switch around your hours as you see fit. It’s the ideal situation for anyone that wants to have maximum flexibility in their life and achieve the ideal work-home balance.
High earnings potential
The main reason that so many people find merchant services sales to be such a desirable industry is because the earnings potential is high. The amount of money that you earn in merchant services sales is entirely dependent on how you perform as a salesperson, so the sky's the limit when it comes to your earnings. In addition to regular commissions that you earn from sales, there are also frequent opportunities for performance-based bonuses that you can use to increase your income.
Help your local businesses
One of the main benefits of working as a merchant sales representative is that with the solutions that we have to offer, you’ll be able to help your local businesses. For anyone that is passionate about small and local businesses, this is a great career choice. When you work as a merchant services representative, you’ll be able to work closely with businesses in your area and around the country to find solutions to the problems that they face on an everyday basis. With the help and services that you are able to provide to your clients, you’ll help them function with more efficiency, increased profit, and better customer service. Enhancing your local economy and businesses is truly a passion worth exploring.
No sales experience required
While being a salesperson might be new and intimidating to you, you should know that becoming a merchant services sales rep requires no prior experience and can be done by anyone that has a passion for helping businesses find the solutions that they need. With our training modules and comprehensive suite of solutions, you’ll have everything you need to learn about this industry and thrive while on the job.
Are most merchant account salespeople successful?
If you are thinking of making the leap into merchant services sales, you might be wondering if most people enjoy success. While not everyone enjoys success in sales or is cut out for sales, those that work hard and are determined to help local businesses find the ideal payment solution for them have a higher chance of success than those that are just in it for the income. If you want to have success in merchant sales, you should be ready to make a strong effort and be persistent.
How to Become a Credit Card Processing Agent
If you’ve been considering becoming a merchant services agent for a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.
Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).
Have a Plan
The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.
The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.
What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?
Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.
The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.
Leverage Your Social Network
Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.
etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.
Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.
Pick the Right Partner
The decision of which ISO agent program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.
You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.
Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.
Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.
If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.
There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.
Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.
Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:
Actually Know What You’re Doing
When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.
The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.
When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.
Be Completely Honest
Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.
Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.
When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being a merchant services agent can be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.
The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right ISO agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.
Pros and Cons of Selling Merchant Services
All around the world, there are thousands of businesses that use vital services that are referred to as merchant services. These are services such as payment processing, which is what allows businesses to accept and process payments so that they can make a profit on their product. Without these services, businesses would be unable to function in the modern world. You might think that the fact that these services are an absolute necessity to these businesses make them an easy target for selling, but that is now always the case. There are definitely some positives as well as some negatives when selling merchant services.
This guide will show you some of each and hopefully give you some insight as to whether a career selling merchant services is right for you.
Pros
Undoubtedly, there are some very positive aspects of selling merchant services for a living. If you have had a sales job that is similar in the past, you already have known some of these benefits. Here are some of the best things about selling merchant services.
There is always a market
One of the best things about working in the merchant services industry is that there is never a lack of demand for these services. There are always new businesses sprouting up as people chase their passion for owning their own business. And existing businesses are always evaluating their options and ensuring that they are getting the best deal on the market. For that reason, you won’t ever have to worry about the industry as a whole drying up. People will always need to spend digital money and businesses will always need to find a way to accept it.
Set your schedule
For many that are in a commission-based sales job, one of the greatest benefits of it is being able to get to the point where you are working when you want to work instead of punching a time clock when you get to work. When you are a partner in a merchant services ISO agent program, you will be able to set your appointments on a schedule that works well for you.
Build passive income
Finding and signing clients to lucrative merchant processing contracts is hard work, nobody denies that. However, all of the hard work that you put into this process could end up paying out tenfold throughout the years. One of the greatest things about being a merchant services salesperson is that your accounts can earn you passive and residual income long after you have closed them to a contract. This could help you build passive income for years to come and eventually phase out the bulk of the labor that is involved in this career.
High commission rates
When you compare merchant services to other industries out there, you will find that it has a very competitive and comparatively high commission rate compared to those other industries. The high price of the contracts and the fact that they continue to pay out for years to come is what makes these sales so valuable and why some of the best salespeople in the world turn to merchant services when they want to increase their earning potential.
Cons
Just as there are many pros to selling merchant services, there are also some aspects that could prove difficult. You should watch out for these aspects and consider whether they are something that you are able to overcome and overlook.
Highly competitive industry
There is always a lot of demand for merchant services, but this fact also means that there is a lot of competition. One of the hardest aspects of selling merchant services is that you will always have competition breathing down your neck, waiting to provide your client with a better rate. This is really where your ability to create and nurture relationships will come in handy with client retention. This industry is not for those that don’t like competition and healthy capitalist tendencies.
Dependent on success to make money
When you are a merchant services representative in any industry, you know that your ability to make money is heavily dependent on the success that you have when selling your product or service. It’s no different in selling merchant services. If you want to have a good income, then you will need to become skilled at selling these products. If you don’t feel confident that you can do that, then it might not be the right choice for you.
One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.
So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.
However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with Shaw Merchant Group. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. SMG ISO agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”
SMG ISO agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.
Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem!
Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with SMG, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!
How Much Can I Make?
Shaw Merchant Group offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that SMG allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.
Here are some of the great advantages of using Shaw Merchant Group's program:
- Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
- Get up to $10K for every new account
- Get a large startup bonus
- Get residuals of up to 70%
- Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
- Get free training on the services you will be selling
Contact Shaw Merchant Group today and get started!
Merchant services is one of the most lucrative sales industries in the world, and many people are starting to realize the potential in becoming a payment processing company. However, if you are looking into getting into the industry, there are a few pieces of information that you will want to know beforehand like what reselling is all about, what are the benefits, and how you should go about choosing a merchant service provider partnership for your adventure in reselling. Shaw Merchant Group is one of the most reputable reseller programs in the industry and we’re going to show you all of the information that you will need to start on the right path when it comes to being a reseller of merchant services.
What is merchant services reselling?
The first step to getting into becoming a merchant service provider is understanding what exactly merchant services are and what a merchant services reseller program is. Merchant services are services that are rendered to merchants that are essential to doing business and accepting payments. There are unlimited businesses that need these services to function, but that also means that it is a competitive industry. However, success in this industry can mean a lifetime of residual and passive income, and that is why so many people choose to pursue become a merchant services provider, along with the other benefits that it affords.
Merchant services reselling is an activity in which a person or company serves as the intermediary between a business and the merchant services that they need. Reseller sells the services to merchants and sources them from a merchant services provider at a lower rate, securing profit for those that resell the merchant services.
What are the benefits of being a merchant services reseller?
Being a merchant services reseller is a difficult field to succeed in, but there are many reasons to pursue being one. This field comes with a lot of benefits that attract people to becoming a merchant service provider. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose to be a merchant services reseller.
No overhead
Being a merchant services reseller means that you won’t have any overhead as a businessperson. Since you are keeping nothing in stock and you won’t have to keep any equipment in-house to provide the merchant services that you offer, your risk is reduced and you are less vulnerable to business losses.
Help local businesses
One of the main benefits to being a merchant services reseller is that it is a rather fulfilling career. With the ability to provide businesses with reliable merchant services, you can feel fulfilled in your job and help your local community.
Earn a high income
People who are highly drawn to becoming a merchant service provider are often done so because of the potential and ability to earn a high income that is not limited by anything other than your success in merchant services and your ability to convince businesses to use you for their merchant services. Commissions are how you earn money with providing merchant services and the difference in price between what you're selling the services for and what you are buying them for. With that in mind, it is one of the most lucrative industries that you can be in.
What should you look for in a merchant services reseller program?
If you are going to be a successful merchant service provider, then you need to work with a reliable merchant services ISO partner. Having a good ISO program to support you will allow you to offer premium and superior service that meets the needs of your clients and ensures that they will come back for more as needed.
Payouts
You always want to work with a merchant services ISO program that provides timely and accurate payouts. Running a merchant services business isn’t profitable without receiving a reliable stream of payments, so make sure that the company that you partner with, such as Shaw Merchant Group, offers reliable and accurate payouts.
Business tools
If you want to have the best chance of success possible in selling merchant services, then you need to work with a partner that has the business tools to make it happen. These include marketing materials, literature, and other tools to help you bring in a reliable steam of clients. Shaw Merchant Group has one of the most comprehensive suite of business tools out there to provide you with the resources that you need.
Online reputation
You should always verify the reputation and trust that your ISO partner maintains if you want to have success as a merchant service provider. As a independent agent, you are only as good as the program that you work with. Working with a program that has a good reputation among merchants is essential to having success in your own business.
One of the most important pieces of equipment for any merchant is their point-of-sale system. As the location through which every transaction that the business takes in goes through, it is important that every merchant have access to a point-of-sale system that is robust, scalable, and has all the functionality that is needed. However, convincing a merchant that they need a POS isn’t the hard part--this is a known fact. Convincing a merchant that your POS is the right choice, however, can be very difficult. To help you get well on your way to selling point of sale systems as a merchant services agent and helping merchants realize the power of a good POS, we present to you 6 actionable tips that you can take into consideration and implement to help sell POS systems.
Why is finding the right POS system important for businesses?
If you have been working with merchants for long, then you already know how important POS systems are to businesses. With this knowledge, it is easy to understand why so much importance is placed on the process of selecting a POS system and utilizing it to its full potential. Each business is unique and while all businesses have the same basic need to facilitate payments, the best way to do so will vary by the business.
For merchants, finding the right POS system is absolutely essential because it will ultimately help to determine what a merchant can achieve with its POS system and whether they will have any limitations. In an ideal situation, the POS system that a merchant selects will not have any negative impact on their business and instead will serve as a reliable addition to their suite of technology that they use in their business on a daily basis.
Be an expert
If you are looking to convince a merchant that they need your POS system, then one of the first things that you will need to do is establish yourself as an expert and a person of authority when it comes to POS systems. This can be done in a variety of ways, but what a merchant really wants is to feel comfortable that you know what you are talking about and you know everything that there is to know about the POS system that you are offering.
If you are hoping to make a great impression on your prospective merchant, then make sure you familiarize yourself with your POS system as much as possible so that you can easily answer any questions that they have about your POS systems and their functionality. With the ability to answer any question that comes your way regarding your POS system, the merchant is far more likely to trust you and find you in a favorable light, which could lead to a purchase.
Nurture a relationship
The next very important part of the process if you want to have success with selling merchant services and selling POS systems is nurturing the relationship between the merchant and the agent. There are a variety of ways that this can be done, as well. You must remember that each merchant is unique and is going to require varying levels of customer service and support.
One of the first ways that you can nurture a relationship with a merchant is to get to know them and their business personally. Not only will this make them feel valued and heard, but it will also give you much more knowledge of their areas of need so that you can address them most completely, earn trust, and ensure that your POS system fits the needs and requirements of the merchant you are working with.
With these things in mind, your merchant should be kept happy and satisfied.
Address areas of need
If you truly want to satisfy your merchants and make sure that they are taken care of and are more willing to purchase from you again, then you need to make sure that you are meeting their needs. You should start each relationship with a full audit of what your merchant needs and make a plan for how you can address it.
With this fuel at your disposal, you can approach negotiations from a position of power and understanding to increase your chance of closing the sale and making your merchant confident that you can handle their needs effectively.
Stress versatility
There are a few properties that merchants look for automatically in a POS system. One of the most important of these is versatility. Many merchants deal with a wide variety of transactions, promotions, discounts, coupons, and other functionalities. With a POS system that provides all of these things, their business will be enabled to operate at its fullest potential. If you need to communicate all the benefits of your POS system, be sure to touch on all the versatility that it has to offer and how it can help the merchant achieve a wide range of goals.
Include services
If you want to entice your merchant to sign on with your POS, then there are a few things that you should be able to throw in without breaking the bank. For example, you could throw in maintenance and upgrades for free as an extra benefit to the POS system. This is just one example of a classic sales technique.
If you have a merchant that is on the fence about investing in a new POS system, be sure to make it known that there could be additional benefits to be had by signing on with your POS system.
Always follow through
In sales, you never want to promise or lead someone to believe something that might not come true. That is because as a merchant services representative, you want to be seen as someone that follows through on the promises and assurances that you make. Without your reputation for upholding the truth and following through on the promises that you make, you will find that it’s hard to keep a merchant signed on with your POS system.
Always be upfront about the capabilities of the POS system that you are selling as well as the potential limitations that it has. With this honesty in mind and a respect for the merchant, you are bound to have more success than if you were to try and hide the limitations of your POS system.
North American Bancard Agent Program is your premire merchant services sale partner to support you as a merchant services sale rep. Contact us today to get more detailes an start your merchant services business with us today!
About Shaw Merchant Group
For years, Shaw Merchant Group has been the preferred partner of those that want more out of their payments processing experience. Shaw Merchant Group is a merchant services company that offers a unique and comprehensive suite of solutions to help business partners around the globe. With our distinguished suite of products and services, attentive customer service prioritization, and a world-class sales staff, Shaw Merchant Group is truly the ideal partner of merchants everywhere and in every industry.
Our Products and Solutions
To provide our merchants with the very best when it comes to merchant services, we feature a wide range of products and solutions that enable us to serve merchants from any industry.
Processing
Processing is the backbone of any business, and without a reliable partner to provide processing for your business, no transactions can happen. We are happy to provide processing services to our merchants all around the world and make it easier for any business ranging from small to large to accept payments and facilitate day-to-day transactions.
Ecommerce
Though in-person payments are not yet a thing of the past, ecommerce capabilities are growing by the day. While ecommerce grows in market share, you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits of working with a reliable partner to facilitate ecommerce payments. We collaborate with multiple platforms to deliver a full-service ecommerce payments package for our clients.
Back-End Solutions
Every business depends on back-end solutions to enable the front-end operations to work. We offer a comprehensive suite of back-end solutions that allow you to focus on what is really important--growing your business. Leave the back-end solutions to us to achieve high-quality, robust solutions that work for your business.
Mobile Payments
Mobile payments are becoming more relevant and necessary with each day. To facilitate these new kinds of payments, you need a partner that you can trust and one that has years of experience adapting to change. Shaw Merchant Group has been that partner for so many clients and we are ready to be that partner for you, as well.
Customized Solutions
Need something that you haven’t seen listed yet? We offer a suite of customized solutions that are sure to help you succeed in your goals. We work with companies on a daily basis to create solutions that are specifically designed for their needs and we’re ready to do it for our business too.
Why Choose Us?
Shaw Merchant Group has been the preferred partner of hundreds of clients for many years. Here is why they continue to come back to us time and again for their merchant services needs.
Experience
When it comes to experience, we are unmatched in the industry. We have years of experience facilitating credit card payments for our clients and guiding them through the complicated world of merchant services. If you are looking for a partner that can not only serve in a business sense, but also be a knowledge center for your business to guide you through the services you need, then we are the right choice for you.
Product Suite
In our years of experience we have also, several times, expanded our products and services offerings to make it easier for your business to get the services that it needs to thrive and succeed. We offer an expansive product suite that is scalable and customizable to address any need that your business might have when it comes to merchant services. Explore our products and services today to learn more about how we can help you.
Customer Service
At Shaw Merchant Group, we will always prioritize customer service. It is one of the most important pillars of our business and the main reason that so many of our clients come back to see us time and again. When you work with Shaw Merchant Group, you’ll be gaining the benefit of a teammate on your side to help address any issue that might arise.
Affordability
With some of the most affordable and competitive rates in the industry, we are the right partner for any business on a budget. We'll help you simultaneously expand your business and reduce your processing costs to give you a distinct edge over your competition. Work with us to discover the benefits of affordable, fast, and reliable processing and what they can do for your business.
ISO vs Sales Agent
In this industry, you will often hear the words “merchant services agents,” “Member Service Providers,” and “Independent Sales Organizations” used in a similar context, as if all three of these things are the same. The truth is that these terms actually refer to distinct roles in the credit card processing business. If this seems confusing to you, don't worry; all of these terms will be explained in this article, as well as their relationships to the credit card associations. We will also go over how you might go about becoming a merchant services ISO or an MSP.
After we've sorted all of that out, we'll go over what the advantages and disadvantages are of working in the industry as each of these roles. Getting an idea ahead of time of what each of these entails will hopefully save you from making a lot of mistakes early on in your business ventures.
What Every Term Means - First of all, let's get everything perfectly clear by defining the terms that we've mentioned so far:
ISO (Independent Sales Organization) – This is basically the ISO credit card processor, the company that serves as the middle man between the credit card companies and the merchant. It will often provide terminals to the merchants, as well as tech support, training, and customer service. Another common term for this is “merchant service company.”
MSP (Member Service Provider) – ISO is a term often used by Visa, and so MSP is basically MasterCard's version of this. They both mean roughly the same thing. However, to make things a little more obscure, MasterCard also uses the term ISO, but it means something different. Basically, in their case, an ISO offers services that are not processing and transaction services, like customer service and lead generation. For our purposes, though, don't worry too much about these subtle distinctions. They are basically the same thing. For the sake of simplicity, let's just assume that we're including MSPs when we use the term “ISO” from now on.
Sales Agent – This role is completely different from the above mentioned roles. A merchant services agent is a third party that sells the services of merchant services ISOs and MSPs. Since merchant services companies often like to concentrate on processing credit cards and offering POS solutions, they will contract sales agents to find merchants to work with. A sales agent doesn't have to pay the high association fees like an merchant services ISO does, but he can't do business in his own name and have a merchant services ISO program with an ISO or MSP company.
What is the Relationship Between an ISO / MSP / Sales Agent and the Processing Banks? - You probably realize that merchant services ISOs are not banks, and that these organizations need banks to ultimately perform the transactions. Every merchant services ISO will need a sponsoring bank, one who is a member of Visa and MasterCard's respective associations. In practice, these banks will usually not take on small merchant service companies, and actually most merchant services ISOs use larger ISOs as intermediaries between them and the banks....... Read More
TOP RATED: Best Merchant Services ISO Agent Sales Partner Programs
If you've done any research at all, you've probably already realized that getting into credit card processing sales field can be extremely profitable. Just about every serious business needs a merchant account, so the number of prospects that you could work with are countless and the market is ever-expanding as the economy recovers.
You might also realize, though, that starting an ISO or a credit card processing company yourself can be expensive, but luckily this is not your only option when you're looking to break into this field. One of the best ways to get into the credit card processing sales industry is to start your merchant service career out as a sales agent. The upfront costs are minimal, and you can learn the business inside and out with a lot of room for growth. It's one of those coveted sales positions where you not only get commission at the time of the sale, but you usually receive residuals for the life of the account.
The key to success as a merchant services agent is choosing the right partner company to work with—this is an ISO whose products and services you will be offering to merchants. Since finding the right sales agent program is so imperative to your future, take your time to consider who will be the best fit for you.
