by: Shane Penrod

Would you like to upgrade your company’s operations by taking
advantage of free credit card processing for business owners? There
has never been a better time to locate banks offering this service
and make the best possible deal for your interests. Financial
institutions are eager to work with you in opening a merchant
account, and they sometimes offer attractive incentives to get
entrepreneurs’ business. If you like the idea of free credit card
processing, start shopping at your community banks and credit unions
to see what type of deals they can offer.

Free credit card processing for business owners is an attractive
perk, since some companies impose fees of perhaps 15 to 25 cents per
transaction or a monthly percentage fee overall of between 1% and
2%. Being able to get free credit card processing for business
owners could save you a significant sum of money each month, and
over time, those savings could increase even more. Your customers
will love the ease with which they can make online credit card
payments, and you will appreciate the time-saving benefits of
handling credit payments electronically rather than by employees who
require regular paychecks.

It is a good idea to sit down with your financial institution and
discuss the precise terms of the free credit card processing for
business owners deal. Will you have to pay an application fee? Will
annual membership fees come due each year? Are there other embedded
costs that you should know about up front? Even if your credit card
processing is free, other start-up expenses could add up to cost
even more than the transactions would. You will want to make the
best possible deal before signing an application or contract to be
sure you don’t get trapped into paying unexpected high costs later.

Keep in mind that free credit card processing for business owners
may not be the best perk to ask for when applying for a merchant
account. In addition to start-up fees that could be imposed and
perhaps increased in lieu of the free credit card processing option,
you also may have to pay expenses like a statement fee, a minimum
fee, a discount fee, and a license fee. These could add up initially
to more than you will pay for transaction fees. Even if the free
credit card processing option appears to save you money at first, is
this a limited time offer? When reinstated later, will transaction
fees be difficult to add to the company budget since you did not
start the process with them?

You might want to get a second opinion on weighing the benefits
offered with various merchant account deals. You could even ask the
customers via an informal survey about the type of credit processing
they are most interested in and then see how promotional offers for
opening a merchant account may impact customer interests. Of course,
you can always check out the benefits of paying no transactions
costs, and if permissible, switch to another system later if costs
increase more than expected with free creditcard processing for
business owners.

About the author:
Shane Penrod is the founder of Merchant-Acount-Quotes.com
Specializing in allowing merchants the ability to shop and compare
multiple quotes from national merchant account providers. For free
quotes on merchant account rates and fees, please go to
http://www.merchant-account-quotes.com