Small businesses make up 85% of all businesses in Canada. They are the foundation of our economy. It’s so important that small businesses get reliable facts for payment processing so they can focus on their customers. This is a guide to give some quick tips for small business payment processing.
What is a small business in payment processing?
A small business in this context is a business with revenue ranging from $60,000 per year to $3 million per year. It is split up this way because businesses below $60,000 tend to have special limitations that need to be considered. Businesses above $3 million tend to need higher levels of feature customization.
Payment processing for small businesses with less than $60,000 per year in revenue
Businesses with revenue below $60,000 per year have an easier recommendation. You should go to Square or Stripe. They are simple to set up on your own, they have no monthly fees, and you can easily switch anytime.
Even though Square and Stripe have a higher percentage such as 2.9% and $0.25 per transaction, it does not make up significant fees at that revenue level. Once revenue starts to grow, especially in the $200,000 and more range, having a more customizable pricing plan can save a lot.
Payment processor for small businesses with more than $60,000 per year in revenue
This is where more consideration is needed. First, you will want to ensure you have the right software and hardware. This means supporting online payments, in-person credit card terminals, email invoicing, POS system, or whatever payment products your business needs.
TCM believes that the big problem in payment processing is not the software or hardware. There are many great payment products in the market that are very reliable and easy to use. The real problems are 1) pricing and 2) customer service. We’ve heard this over and over again from our customers and that’s why TCM exists.
Pricing for small business payment processing
Once you move into the territory of $60,000 per year in payment processing, investigate your fees deeper. You will be able to reduce your cost from an effective rate of approximately 3% with Stripe or Square and move to a payment processor with a 2.4% effective rate and sometimes much lower. At $500,000 per year in payment processing, a merchant can save over $3,000 per year. That’s a meaningful cash flow increase.
The payment processing pricing models become more flexible for merchants with higher amounts of revenue. Merchants that use interchange-plus pricing or membership fee pricing are able to save significant amounts with the added benefit of more transparency.
Customer service for small business payment processing
Customer service is quite frequently overlooked by businesses. They sign up without thinking about the ease of getting help sometime later down the road. If you ever have a delay in funding, a software problem, or if you just need general support, it becomes very difficult if you don’t have a full merchant account.
This is the area that TCM shows a difference. You always have someone to get in touch with and you’ll always have a concierge to guide you to a solution.
