Improving your credit card processing time

Improving your credit card processing time

Card processing time is an important question most educated merchants ask when setting up their merchant account, whether it's for the first time or when contemplating switching from one service provider to another. It's an important factor which business owners of all sizes should take into consideration. Of course, there are other factors as well and there is no right answer as to which is most important for any particular business owner. Other factors to be considered include: (1) customer service, (2) the merchant processor's reputation for being reliable and trustworthy, (3) the credit card rates and, (4) the type of equipment offered. For purposes of this article, the focus will remain on card processing time and it's importance to business owners.

Card processing time is typically determined by a few factors including equipment, user error (or possibly a lack of training prior to set up) and the method of accepting cards employed by the merchant or business owner. First, we'll discuss equipment. There are many ways businesses accept credit cards including through a wired terminal, through a wireless terminal, by telephone (known in industry parlance as IVR) and through an online solution. There are two different types of online solutions, a virtual terminal and a full blown e-commerce website replete with gateway and shopping cart. This will focus on the most common type of equipment, the wired terminal. There are a number of manufacturers making equipment for the Canadian market includng Verifone, KeyCorp, Hypercom and Ingenico. Each company has different models at different price points. Typically, equipment that is new, in good working order and meets the upcoming Canadian EMV chip mandate will be fast enough to satisfy even the most demanding merchant.

Research has shown that card processing time, through a wired terminal solution is fastest when the terminal is hooked up via a high speed internet connection. Many businesses throughout Canada prefer to use a telephone line or, even worse, have one telephone line to share between their terminal and either a telephone or fax machine. This will drastically reduce the card processing time. Thus, merchant processors uniformly agree that a high speed internet connection is imperative for business owners concerned about speedy transactions.

Finally, there is the large role training plays in ensuring that the business owner is able to realize a fast card processing time. Oftentimes, the merchant receives the terminal plugs it in and assumes they know enough to get started.

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