Isn’t lovely! After a blissful summer of not having too many worries, isn’t it nice to be back full force in the office and, finally, being able to predictably and comfortably set up face2face meetings (albeit a minor blip with the fuel situation). I have had a superb few months’ trading as I am out and about visiting more locations across the region, which shows that businesses are growing more confident and bouncing back.
But one key reason I am enjoying my return to business meetings is that I think conversations flow much better in person, and because of that, something interesting always crops up. One hot topic I’m having many chats about is the considerable number of new businesses in East Anglia that are popping up online and on our High Streets. This news is exciting and a relief to see, given the treacherous past 18mths retail and hospitality have experienced.
With so many new business owners out there across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire, I thought I would take an opportunity to explain what a merchant service provider is and how they support small businesses.
Let’s start with the terminology used within our industry and what it means:
The Customer — The customer, or cardholder, is the person in possession of the debit or credit card. That’s me, you, or Joe Bloggs from down the street.
The Merchant — The merchant is the organisation selling something (usually goods or services) to you. That’s Tesco, John Lewis, Carphone Warehouse.
The Acquirer — The acquirer (also called the merchant acquirer or the processor) processes card payments on behalf of the merchant. Think Barclaycard, WorldPay, Lloyds Cardnet, First Data, Global Payments, Elavon & many more.
The Issuer — The issuer is the financial body that issued your credit or debit card. For example, Santander, Capital One, the Post Office or anyone who gives you a card.
The Card Network — The card network is the organisation that coordinates payments between the acquirer and the issuer. Visa and Mastercard are the biggest and best
The method of how the merchant services operate is also effortless.
Step 1 — The customer presents their card to a merchant to pay for goods or services— chip & pin, contactless, online, over the phone.
Step 2 — The merchant captures the customer’s payment information with a card terminal called a PDQ machine (or a payment gateway if it’s an online sale) and sends it to the acquirer.
Step 3 — The acquirer asks the card network to get authorisation from the customer’s issuer.
Step 4 — The card network submits the transaction to the issuer for authorisation.
Step 5 — The issuer authorises (or declines) the transaction and sends the authorisation back to the acquirer, who can then give the customer the goods, safe in the knowledge that the transaction has been authorised.
So, in a nutshell, a merchant services provider is here to simplify your business credit card processing and provide other relatable essential services for your business, e.g.
- Supplying the relevant technology for your business to track payments, understand the data, and collect overdue invoices.
- Set you up to accept payments from your customers via credit, debit, and other electronic payments with a seamless transaction process.
- Ensure you securely manage your PCI compliance when processing and storing payment information for your business, making your customer data safe.
Plus, these products and services often integrate with the business tools you already have. For instance, your payment provider may connect to a POS system for your retail store or your QuickBooks Online for reconciliation. Merchant Service Providers can also provide customer management, inventory systems, and payment reporting.
East Anglian Business Solutions was set up to be an independent & cost-effective provider of merchant services and card payment solutions. We reduce costs whilst our agreements are transparent and straightforward with no hidden charges.
With over 25 plus years of working and running businesses in retail & hospitality, I fully understand the day to day intricacies of running your own business and fully understand the limitations and challenges that can come with payment services.
Therefore, I make sure I bring transparency and standards to the industry to provide your business with the most competitive deals suited to your needs, now and for the long term.
As an independent intermediary, 70% of our business comes from recommendations & referrals, so it is within our interest to provide you with the excellent service not generally associated with the card payments industry but also correct information to allow you to make an informed decision.
There are no costs involved as we receive a flat commission from our providers, and you can be sure our advice is completely unbiased.
Contact me today to discuss your requirements at carl@eabsolutions.co.uk
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