How to Grow Your Business with Merchant Services

When it comes to merchant services and your business’s ability to process credit, debit and online transactions, it’s all about ensuring your business gets paid faster so you can sell more.

However, finding the merchant services provider and payment processor that’s right for you can seem daunting.

In this article, we’ll explore the basics of what you need to know about merchant services, including what they are, how they differ from payment processors and how partnering with a merchant services provider can help you grow your business.

However, it’s important to note that every merchant services provider is different.

While the general information provided below will help you gain a better understanding of what to look for, we highly recommend that you reach out to your merchant services provider of choice if you have any questions about their specific offerings.

What are merchant services?

Merchant services is an umbrella term for the different payment-related software and equipment your business needs to accept credit, debit and online forms of payment.

While offerings can vary by provider, they are generally bundled with a variety of other services to help improve a business’s operations, such as access to a point of sale (POS) system, data analytics solutions and security hardening for online transactions.

Merchant service providers ensure prompt payment processing, faster settlement times, better inventory management and a variety of other benefits that can significantly improve your business’s cash flow and operations.

Businesses can gain access to merchant services by opening both a merchant account and a business checking account at their bank of choice.

Once everything’s set up, your payment processor will manage all credit, debit and online transactions made at your business and deposit the funds into your business’s checking account.

To help you keep things straight, here are a few key definitions that may be helpful:

• Merchant services provider—A company that offers solutions related to accepting and processing payments for your business. Put simply, they provide the technology for businesses to accept and process various types of payments, among other services that can help you manage your cash flow.
• Merchant services account—A servicing account established with your merchant provider of choice to settle payments processed and route funds collected to your business’s checking account.
• Point of sale (POS) system—A combination of physical hardware used to collect payment information in person (such as a register or a tablet-styled touch screen), software to collect online or virtual payments and additional tools to assist in managing your business’s operations, inventory and analytics.

What does a merchant services provider actually do?

On the surface, a credit card transaction is simple. A customer has a certain amount of credit with a credit card provider and is using that line of credit to purchase a good or service from a business.

Once they make their purchase, the provider that issued the credit card will pay the business on the consumer’s behalf, and then keep a record of that debt owed between the issuing bank and the borrower.

While this may seem simple, there are several complicated steps between the customer swiping their card and the money landing in the business’s account.

This often involves several financial institutions (such as your bank, the customer’s bank and the payment processor) sending communications back and forth and multiple security checks to ensure everything’s working correctly behind the scenes.

The primary benefit of working with a merchant services provider is that, from your perspective, it will simplify the entire process down to its bare essentials: a credit card goes into the terminal (usually provided by your merchant services provider), and the money lands in your business’s checking account in a few short days.

The convenience of this system for both customers and financial institutions, combined with decades of precedence and regulation surrounding these transactions, means that working with a merchant services provider or an integrated payment processing solution is often the only way for a business to accept credit, debit and online payments.

How can merchant services help my business?

The primary solution offered by merchant services providers is the ability to accept and process credit, debit and online transactions.

However, opening a merchant services account also gives you access to additional products and solutions you may need to help your business grow.

A few of the benefits of working with a merchant services provider include:

• Improve your business’s cash flow—Businesses live and die by their cash flow. Merchant services offer powerful solutions for both getting paid faster and selling more through an integrated financial system custom-tailored to your business’s unique needs.
• Set up ecommerce and explore online payment options—Quickly launch an online store, manage your inventory, reach new customers and/or add payment functionality to an existing website with deep integrations and payment portal solutions offered by your merchant services provider.
• Drive customer loyalty with gift cards and rewards—Merchant service providers can often give you the ability to streamline your buying experience, issue gift cards or start a rewards program to create stronger relationships and better connect with your customers.
• Uncover hidden stories behind your sales data—Generate new business, compare your results to industry benchmarks and analyze your business’s performance through integrations with data analysis programs that can enhance your sales data.
• Improve your business’s data security—Offload the responsibility of managing customer information by delegating your payment data security needs to a partner with a deep knowledge of the regulatory frameworks and cybersecurity best practices to keep your data safe and secure.

Work with a merchant services provider who can help grow your business

All businesses should partner with a merchant services provider and/or payment processor to ensure they can provide a diverse set of payment options to their customers.

From the ability to accept credit card payments to improving your cashflow, managing your inventory and creating a scalable, seamless customer experience, finding the right merchant services provider is an excellent way to quickly access the funds needed to keep your business moving.

Associated Merchant Services offered by Associated Bank provides a suite of solutions necessary for staying nimble and competitive in the marketplace.

From POS systems and advanced security options to contactless payment options, gift card and reward system solutions and data analytics, Associated Merchant Services has all the software and equipment you need to grow your business.

Learn more about how we’re helping businesses make the most of their payment solutions by visiting our Associated Merchant Services site, or reach out to us online to learn more about the unique and custom solutions we have available for improving your business’s cash flow and operations.