Options. When it comes to payment collection, that’s what you need, whether you’re an independent healthcare provider or a retail store. Yet many small businesses don’t know what to look for in merchant service providers.

Did you know studies show that nearly half of small businesses don’t know what their credit card processing fee is?  It’s a surprising reality, but one that presents an opportunity. If you know what matters when it comes to merchant services, your small business automatically gains an advantage. 

Here are 5 merchant service features every small business should have.

1. Flexibility

Many merchant service providers take an all-or-nothing approach: You either sign on for all of their services or you don’t. But what if you already have a website portal you like? Or an onsite payment system that works for you? You shouldn’t have to overhaul your whole operation to fit someone else’s structure.

Look for a payment collection provider that: 

• Offers an a la carte menu
• Focuses on solving your specific problem (online bill pay, invoicing, onsite payment), and 
• Then allows you to add on additional services as needed once you’re comfortable with the platform.

Trusted providers like PayGround will give you options. If all you need is onsite payment services, they can do that. Or, if you don’t even have a website but need to receive online payments, PayGround can host everything. 

2. Custom Branding

For small businesses, partnering with a merchant service provider for payment collection and processing is standard. But without the right branding, customers may be concerned about security, which can lead to late or missing payments.

Look for a payment collection provider that:

• Gives you a custom payment page with a unique URL
• Allows you to personalize forms to fit your business needs, and
• Generates branded paper invoices or emails that direct customers to your landing page.

Collaborative partners like PayGround will help you create a seamless experience that makes people feel safe.

3. Detailed Dashboard

When it comes to payment collection and processing, tracking and visibility are crucial, especially for small businesses. 

Look for a merchant service provider that: 

• Offers a comprehensive dashboard with high-level analytics
• Allows you to see who’s paying, how they’re paying and how fast they’re paying, and
• Includes transaction-level detail for each day.

Experienced merchant service companies like PayGround will also offer features such as account creation for industries like healthcare. Patients can create their own account so you can track them through your dashboard at all times, and they can see their comprehensive history. 

4. Remote & Touchless Payment Processing

Contactless payment collection is more important than ever, as is the ability to accept payments remotely. 

Look for a payment collection provider that: 

• Doesn’t require a physical terminal to run payments
• Allows you to process payments offsite, securely and over the phone, and
• Has experience processing virtual credit cards.

At PayGround, we’ve seen a recent increase in healthcare providers and injury attorneys getting paid by insurance companies with virtual credit cards, for example. We process those at a lower rate and separate those from their regular payments. 

5. Low, Fixed Rate & No Long-Term Contracts

In the search for a merchant service provider, low rates and reasonable contracts are the hardest to find. They’re also arguably the most important. You don’t want to be stuck in a years-long contract with a service that doesn’t work for you, or be saddled with dozens of fees that change bill to bill. 

Look for a payment collection provider that: 

• Gives you a clear explanation of all of their fees
• Guarantees not to change those fees without warning, and
• Doesn’t require you to sign a long-term contract.

At PayGround, we charge only 2 fees for credit card transactions:

1. A credit card rate fee, which is all-inclusive without any additional, hidden or miscellaneous fees, and a 
2. Transaction fee

And we never ask anyone to sign a long-term contract.

Try 12 months free

As we announced back in April, PayGround wants to help small businesses not only stay afloat but thrive. So we’re offering our premier tier of service, PayGround Pro, free for 12 months — a savings of $29 per month (we still charge our transaction fees). We hope it will solve a major problem many small businesses are facing today: collecting payments from anywhere. Contact us to learn more and get started.