Credit Card Processing Services

We are all aware of PayPal, Square, and Stripe for credit card processing. As a marketing agency, we see these all the time. These credit card processing services are excellent for those starting and earning less than $10k/month in transactions. Once your business has moved beyond that threshold, you will pay more processing fees than you should. By moving to a better credit card processor, you will be able to increase your profits.

We work with multiple processors on our client's behalf. When you move from higher per-transaction costs, there are equally cons. The pros far outweigh the cons. If your marketing agency is doing its job correctly for your business, they would already be doing those items to protect your business's reputation online. We will cover the cons and the pros, remove all the technobabble we hear all the time, and what they mean in terms you can understand.

Key Benefits to a Credit Card Processor

Same Day Payments: Receive your payments at the end of the day and have them deposited most days the next business day.
Savings: Save money on processing fees.
Reporting: Detailed reporting of all transactions.
PCI Compliance: Each vendor we engage ensures adherence to the latest industry standards, safeguarding both your business and customer data.

Get a Free Second Look at Your Processing Fees

Are you paying too much for credit card processing? Many businesses don't realize hidden fees or inflated rates are cutting into their profits. At Fawkes Digital Marketing, we offer a Free Second Look at your current merchant services statement.

No obligation - just honest feedback.
Identify hidden or unnecessary fees.
See how much you could save with our volume discounts.
Get expert recommendations tailored to your business.

Don't leave money on the table. Let us review your current fees and show you how our partnership with Priority Payments can deliver best-in-class service, security, and savings.

Cons to Credit Card Processors

PCI Compliance - The biggest one we see anyone not doing your annual PCI compliance. With an actual credit card processor, you will need to do one.

If you have a full-service marketing agency, like Fawkes Digital Marketing, you will have PCI compliance testing done monthly. Your full-service marketing agency should be doing PCI compliance testing annually, whether you are with PayPal, Square, Stripe, or an actual credit card processing company. At Fawkes Digital Marketing, we perform a monthly PCI compliance test for every care plan customer and keep them in compliance.

Your full-service marketing agency should help you do this as they should have their "skin in the game" protecting your digital assets online, including your PCI compliance. As the business owner, you are responsible for this. With your web designer equally involved, they will be more aware of the technology to help protect you and your customers.

The PCI compliance audit will typically take 1-2 hours to complete. The PCI compliance verification often takes less than an hour to complete. The first assessment will take longer than the questions you might not immediately have an answer. Your marketing agency with you the first time as they should be aware of every question asked.

Point of Sale systems: Point of Sale systems, or POS systems, most businesses run. These systems monitor your products and inventory. These are frequently supplied to the company free of charge or for a minimal fee. The low cost for a business owner is they will often lock you into their credit card processing, where they get a cut in sales. When it is a closed system, you will not be able to switch credit card processors and save money.

CBD: Not every provider will collaborate with you if you sell CBD products. Thankfully, the providers have solutions so that you can sell CBD products and save money. Using Square, Stripe, or PayPal to sell certain items may violate their terms of service. If these platforms become aware of such activity, they may act by flagging the account involved. Even if it is legal in the state, you are in.

Pros to Using Credit Card Processors

We will start where everyone wants. Lower Fees will typically be associated with using a dedicated processor. Do not think this will be an instant "win fall" where you make a fortune. The numbers will be small. Where you will typically save are:

Lower or no monthly fees
More protection for your business. You have a better capability of winning chargebacks from.
Credit card processors will not hold your money for any reason their system says to. Your money is your money.
Percentage decrease. Often this is not a considerable amount. The amount can be as small as 0.01%. We often see a more significant increase, but there are many factors. The most crucial factor for the rate decrease will be whether a person swipes their card (e.g., in-person) or if you key in the information (this can include eCommerce sites where the customer keys are in their credit card information on your website).
For example, we used to use QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and a local bank as our credit card processor. Starting in 2021, we re-looked at the numbers and realized we were losing thousands a year to credit card processor charges. Switching to a real credit card processor added $1,625 per year to our bottom line, enabling us to raise team pay without changing the annual budget.
Your accountant will love you more for sure. The reporting will be more detailed, making your accountant/bookkeeper's life easier. Reports are easier to read, customizable, and often work directly with your accounting software like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and other major accounting platforms.
Ability to securely store a customer's credit card for recharging.

Note: There are ways to make PayPal, Square, and Stripe work with your accounting software.

What are the types of fees that you will see with credit card processors?

Processors evaluate multiple factors before determining a custom rate. They will assess your industry, credit history, business history, and sales, either actual or projected.

Payment processors may charge the following flat fees:

Monthly fee
Batch fee
Interchange fee
Annual fee
Terminal fee
Online reporting fee
Statement fee
Network access fee
Payment gateway fee

A critical point to note about flat fees is that you should review them before you sign a contract with a processor. If you fail to do so, you might end up with a substantial financial hit when your merchant statement comes in.

Processing fees are charged for each transaction and constitute most processor payments.

Situational Fees

Monthly minimum fees A credit card processor will, at times, charge you a fee when a specific action takes place. Examples of such event-related payments include:

Cancellation fees
International fees (which are non-negotiable)
Monthly minimum fees
Chargeback fees (which are also non-negotiable)
Set-up fees
Liquidated damages fees
NSF fees (non-negotiable as well)

To get the most out of a processor, you can seek discounts on negotiable situational fees while limiting the number of events that happen per month to trigger them.

Things to Consider When Comparing Merchant Services

Selecting the right credit card processor can be a tricky affair if you do not know how to benchmark the vendors. Consider the main drawbacks of each processor before deciding.

The Risk Level

Credit card processors classify merchants they serve according to their risk level. Certain processors can manage both high-risk and low-risk segments efficiently, while maintaining minimal overlap between them.

When determining a merchant's risk profile, a processor tends to look at:

How well management runs the business
The prevailing rates of customer fraud
The frequency of customer chargebacks
A merchant's regulatory risk

Retail businesses that conduct most customer transactions in person are less likely to encounter fraud. It will be hard for a malicious actor to use stolen credit cards, for example, if they must pay at the till in person.

Which Credit Card Processors to Choose

The figures for each processor differ based on the card type, the method of entry (in-person swipe or manual input), and the transaction amount. The numbers below are averages we have seen to help you make a proper decision.

On Average, our customers average more than $10,000 in monthly credit card sales. Typical savings range from 0.25% to more than 1% of total processed volume.

Fawkes

Monthly Amounts: $2,500+
Monthly Charge: $0 to $20
Percentage Rates: 2.75% to 3.5%
Pass Fees: Yes
Reports: Yes
Custom Reports: Yes
Export Data: Yes
Compliance: Annual
Best Protection: Yes
Support: Local / National
CDB Options Available: Yes
SaaS Software Compatible: Yes
eCommerce Ready: Yes
Cash Discount: Yes
Money Holds: No
Deposit: 1 Business Day

PayPal

Monthly Amounts: $0 to $10k
Monthly Charge: $0 to $50
Percentage Rates: 2.9% to 3.9%
Pass Fees: No
Reports: Yes
Custom Reports: Limited
Export Data: Third-Party
Compliance: Not Required
Best Protection: No
Support: National
CDB Options Available: No
SaaS Software Compatible: No
eCommerce Ready: Yes
Cash Discount: No
Money Holds: Yes
Deposit: 1-30 Business Days

Square

Stripe

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Credit Card Merchants

Payment processing involves specialized industry terms. At Fawkes Digital Marketing, we have consolidated the most familiar words and acronyms you will encounter as a merchant into this FAQ. This guide aims to provide you with the assurance and knowledge necessary for effective communication with processors, banks, or support teams.

Credit Card Basics

A unique number assigned to each cardholder. The first digit identifies the card network (e.g., 4 = Visa, 5 = Mastercard, 3 = American Express).

The individual authorized to use the credit card.

The financial institution that provides credit cards to the customer (e.g., Chase, Wells Fargo).

Companies like Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express that manage the rules and systems for processing card transactions.

A card with a microchip that stores encrypted data, reducing fraud compared to magnetic-stripe-only cards.

Payments made by tapping a card or smartphone (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Wallet).

Merchant Accounts & Processing

The bank or financial institution that provides merchant accounts and processes transactions on your behalf.

A special type of bank account that allows your business to accept credit and debit card payments.

A unique number that identifies your business in the payment processing system.

Independent Sales Organization (ISO) or Member Service Provider (MSP). Third-party companies that help merchants set up processing solutions.

The secure system that transmits payment data between your website, point-of-sale (POS) system, and processor.

An online dashboard where merchants can manually key in customer card details for processing.

The hardware or software used to accept payments (e.g., Clover, Square terminal).

Fees & Costs

Fees set by card networks and paid to issuing banks for each transaction. Non-negotiable.

Fees charged by card brands (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) to acquiring banks.

The fee a payment processor adds on top of interchange and assessments. This is the part you can negotiate.

The total percentage of each transaction charged to a merchant (includes interchange + assessments + markup).

A monthly or annual fee processors charge to ensure merchants follow Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

A fixed fee charged to the merchant when a customer disputes a transaction.

A monthly fee charged for using an online payment gateway.

A small fee charged each time you "settle" or close out a day's transactions.

Some processors require a set monthly processing volume; if not met, merchants must pay the difference.

A portion of funds held back by the processor as protection against chargebacks.

Rates & Credit Terms

The yearly interest charged when a cardholder carries a balance.

A temporary low-interest rate offered on new accounts.

A higher interest rate applied if a cardholder violates terms (e.g., delinquent payment).

Interest and fees applied when transferring balances from one card to another.

A fee charged for purchases in a currency other than USD or outside the U.S.

Transactions & Security

The process of checking whether a cardholder has enough funds or credit for a transaction.

The process of finalizing and moving funds from the issuing bank to the merchant's acquiring bank.

Transactions where the card is not physically present (e.g., online, phone orders). Higher fraud risk and typically higher fees.

A fraud prevention tool that checks if the billing address provided matches the one on file with the issuing bank.

The 3- or 4-digit security code on the card used to confirm the card is in the buyer's possession.

Replaces sensitive card data with a secure, random token to prevent exposure of actual card numbers.

Encryption converts payment data into an unreadable format during transmission, preventing unauthorized access.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — security requirements all merchants must follow when handling card data.

Disputes & Adjustments

A forced refund initiated by the issuing bank when a customer disputes a charge.

The merchant's response when fighting a chargeback.

A cardholder complaint that may escalate into a chargeback.

A correction for duplicate transactions or other errors.

When a cardholder's bank requests more information about a charge before initiating a dispute.

Other Key Terms

The trade name your business operates under.

A 4-digit code assigned by card networks to classify your business type.

The percentage of available credit a cardholder is using.

The interval following a purchase during which interest is not applied, provided the total balance is paid within this timeframe.

Secured cards require a deposit as collateral; unsecured cards do not.

Apps like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal that securely store card details for fast payments.

Credit Card Merchant Services

Affordable
Credit Card Processing