SharedTEAMS Saves on Fees

SharedTeams is a membership-based Shared Marketing Department that provides small businesses with on-demand access to a full-scale marketing team using a SaaS platform.

The Problem

“Most of our membership fees are billed through credit card transactions. We were paying a very high transaction fee to our previous contractor because our industry and our higher-than-average transaction amount (around $800 per transaction on average) were flagged as higher-risk.

Additionally, there was an incident where the previous contractor conveyed that we were being placed on a lower rate, which did not occur. We were forced to take legal action to recover the funds that we were erroneously charged.

Therefore, we were looking to enter into a relationship with a merchant services provider that was transparent and upfront about their fees.”   – David Lanagan, Founder

The Case for Transparency: When Interchange Fees come out of Your Bottomline

When SharedTeams contacted us, the first thing they told our account executive Ryan Stevens about their provider at the time was that the pricing they were getting was different from what they had signed up for. 

Ryan, who excels at making business owners comfortable when partnering with National Processing, asked the client more questions and learned that they repeatedly couldn’t get ahold of their rep, nor anyone else on their provider’s side, to address the issue. 

Consequently, Ryan identified two main areas the client needed help in:

• Finding an optimal processing solution: a customized solution that wasn’t going to cut into their profit margins (as they were previously paying a high fee for membership charge credit transactions);
• Trust building: a supportive and transparent relationship where fees and costs are not only fixed but discussed upfront (due to their previous contractor’s lack of transparency plus an erroneous charge that even led to legal action).

Ryan knew from experience that even when the business owner talks about pricing concerns first, like in the case of SharedTeams, price is never the real issue: clients want to work with those who have their back. In contrast to the churn and burn cycle typical in our industry, our focus at National Processing is on building long-lasting relationships. 

As we often work with small- and medium-sized service-oriented businesses in the online world—businesses just like SharedTeams—we know how much they rely on a satisfactory customer experience to make a lasting impression. Payment processing is an integral part of a positive customer experience and, these days, most customers prefer paying with credit and debit cards, which makes effective online business payment processing one of the key components of long-term business success. 

Yet, processing credit cards is not only complex, but it can come with a myriad of hidden costs. Worst of all, as our client learned the hard way, not all processing service providers are as straightforward and ethical as others. 

The reason companies should consider interchange rates when accepting credit cards is that these fees ultimately come out of their bottom line. Each time they accept a credit card, they pay two kinds of fees: a processing fee and a per-transaction fee, some of which go to the credit card company and some of which go to the payment processor.

As Ryan looked into SharedTeams’s needs to determine the most optimal solution, he explained to the client that different payment processing companies charge these fees in different ways and that fees can also vary by acceptance method.

In essence, interchange fees are formed around recouping costs and hedging against risk. In most cases, interchange fees are set as a percentage of the sale (anywhere from 0.05% to 4%), plus a flat fee component that sometimes reaches as much as .30 per transaction. For example, a swiped card, contactless payment, or inserted card payment all have lower fees because there is less risk for fraud. 

Some merchant processors charge a flat fee—three percent, for example—regardless of transaction volume, which works best for companies with small transaction volumes. But those who transact a high volume each month with a flat-rate provider end up overpaying in fees because the rates are much lower with the Interchange Plus model.

At National Processing, our fees consist of two parts. The first part of the fee is based on Interchange Plus fees, which are dictated by the credit card companies (and change often). The second part of our fee is a minimal monthly fee and transaction fee according to business type. 

As we value transparency, all our pricing is on our website—we also want our clients to know that our pricing wouldn’t increase over time. So instead of countless, unpredictable variations, where most companies in the industry are in a race to the bottom, our clients pay a constant, flat margin on top of the base interchange rate.

We understand that, when you’re looking for a payment processing company, not only must your customer trust that his or her account information will be handled properly, your company’s reputation is on the line—and with yours, ours is as well.

Results

• SharedTeams’s effective rate with National Processing is 3.46% versus 5.23%, the rate with their previous contractor.
• Since switching to National Processing, the client has saved thousands of dollars per month in processing fees.
• In contrast to other processing companies that may take several business days for the money to reach the client’s account, the client receives their money shortly after batching out. 

Summary

“We’re very happy with National Processing. The quick funding has allowed us to carry less cash on hand and has helped us move quicker with projects that require funds. This has had a measurable positive impact on our operations.

We appreciate the transparency of pricing and the ease of communication with the sales rep. Transparency and customer service were the most appealing service features. The customer service has been excellent. Also, the flat fee structure was appealing since our previous merchant services provider was not able to provide us with direct answers regarding rates. The transition to National Processing has saved us thousands of dollars per month in processing fees.”   – David Lanagan, Founder