What probably initiated this incessant growth in the use of plastic money, were the charge cards that Western Union gave out to their best customers, way back in 1914. Who knew then that plastic money would be used to the value of 3 Trillion and more, in times to come? Well, online commerce has progressed with leaps and bounds over the years. It has been nothing short of a boom or an explosion in the credit card industry, with credit cards becoming as ubiquitous as they are.

Businesses probably can’t open their doors to customers if they don’t accept cards. However, the world of merchant services can be confusing, especially for small businesses who have never accepted credit cards before. Especially, if you are a business with low sales volume, credit cards processing may prove expensive; And there’s no way you can turn away customers who choose to pay with their cards. That’s when you must negotiate with your merchant account provider.

If you know that you are not going to make more than a few thousand dollars of electronic payments for your business each month, you can lower the set-up and monthly fees from the merchant providers you’re by negotiating with them.

Firstly, be conservative when you provide an estimate of your monthly sales. This is because your potential credit card processor or merchant account provider would probably ask you to put a certain amount of that money in a fixed account to cover for any possible frauds. If your business accrues large credit card payments with a large sales volume, you may shift your focus at lessening the per-transaction costs is a higher priority.

A particularly good area to focus on is the merchant providers’ discount rate. Be more aggressive in estimating your average sales ticket as that would determine your discount rate.

Educate yourself. Learn what average ticket sizes you need to qualify for even lower electronic payment discount rates from merchant providers. Avoid the following Bait and switch tactics: Do not undertake long-term leases with early termination fees – that will give you the freedom to switch your merchant services provider if you’re not happy and satisfied with the services. Also beware of the tactic in which service providers lure merchants with low introductory rates that bump up after a few months. While all merchant providers will reserve the right to raise prices (MasterCard and Visa often change the rates they charge the providers), do not sign up with one that might go for an increase.

A credit card merchant account is a must! You can wiggle out of that one. What you can do is negotiate with providers for a deal that suits you best.