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After more than 10 years in merchant services, I look at the payments industry very differently than I did when I started.

At first, merchant services can seem to be primarily about processing transactions: accepting credit cards, choosing a payment processor and finding the best possible rate.

But after working with businesses for more than a decade, I’ve learned that the payment system can have an impact far beyond the transaction itself.

The real question isn’t simply:

“What rate can I get you?”

It’s:

“What does your business actually need its payment system to do?”

A Recent Example

This became particularly clear to me recently when a business owner needed help.

The timing wasn’t particularly convenient for me, but they were under pressure, so I made the trip to understand what was going on.

What started as a conversation about payment processing quickly became a much bigger discussion about the way the business was operating.

The business wanted to achieve two things:

• Lower its overall costs
• Gain better control and visibility over its finances

That meant looking beyond the processing rate and considering whether the business’s current POS and payment technology were actually helping it operate efficiently.

Your Payment System Is About More Than Accepting Cards

When a business chooses a POS system or payment solution, it’s easy to focus on the processing rate or the upfront cost.

Those things matter.

But there are other questions that can be just as important.

Can the system clearly show what the business sold?

Can it separate food sales from beverage sales?

Can it clearly show the sales tax that was collected?

Can the business see what it actually paid in card processing fees?

Can those figures be reconciled with deposits and accounting records?

And when the accountant needs the information, can the business provide it easily?

These aren’t simply payment-processing questions.

They’re business-management questions.

The Hidden Cost of Keeping Things Simple

A basic credit card terminal can be inexpensive and perfectly suitable for some businesses.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a simpler system when it meets the needs of the business.

But there’s an important trade-off that business owners sometimes overlook:

Simple technology doesn’t necessarily eliminate the work. It can move the work somewhere else.

If the POS system isn’t organising your sales information or integrating with your accounting system, someone still needs to do that work.

Someone needs to track different types of sales.

Someone needs to reconcile sales tax.

Someone needs to verify processing fees.

Someone needs to maintain the records.

And when an accountant, auditor or business owner needs those numbers, someone needs to be able to produce them.

The technology may be cheaper, but the administrative work hasn’t necessarily disappeared.

Looking Beyond the Processing Rate

This is one of the biggest changes in how I approach merchant services today.

I’m not only asking a business:

“How much are you paying to process a transaction?”

I’m asking:

“Is your current payment system helping your business operate effectively?”

Sometimes the answer is a more sophisticated POS system.

Sometimes the best option is to keep things simple and put better procedures around the existing system.

And sometimes changing systems can both reduce costs and improve reporting.

There isn’t one answer that works for every business.

The right solution depends on how the business operates, what it sells, how it manages its finances and what information the owner needs.

The Payment System Is Part of the Bigger Picture

After more than a decade in merchant services, I believe that’s what a payments professional should actually be helping a business figure out.

The goal isn’t simply to find a lower processing rate.

It’s to understand the business and determine whether its payment technology is supporting the way that business actually operates.

Because the transaction itself is only one small piece of the picture.

The bigger question is what happens before, during and after that transaction, and whether the systems behind it are giving the business owner the information and control they need.

Merchant Doctor™ | Business Eye Network

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