Four things your business should look for in a Merchant Services provider
By Elle Werley
Merchant Services Director, Old National Bank
If you travel frequently, you’ve almost certainly found yourself struggling with a weak, unreliable wireless connection. Suddenly, simple yet highly important activities – like texting and emailing your colleagues and accessing key websites – become herculean tasks.
Much like wireless networks, Merchant Services solutions are not always as simple, reliable, or consistent as we need them to be. When they don’t function effectively, they tend to diminish the client experience and create unnecessary stress. You simply don’t have time for that. You need – and deserve – Merchant Services solutions you can count on.
Four key things to look for in your Merchant Services provider
- Service you can rely on. There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in an endless loop of automated client service messaging with no access to an actual human to assist you. When it comes to Merchant Services, you deserve a knowledgeable and available partner you can call directly. You also want the person on the other end of the line to be passionate about your success and invested in exceeding your expectations.
- Readiness to walk you through PCI compliance issues. PCI compliance is a set of security standards that merchants must meet to process and store cardholder data. When you consider that U.S. credit card fraud losses are expected to eclipse $12.5 billion by 2025*, and that nearly 50% of consumers say it’s the merchant’s responsibility to protect them from fraud*, it’s easy to see why PCI compliance is more important than ever. If your Merchant Services provider isn’t taking the lead in helping you understand and meet PCI data security standards, you probably need to think about making a change.
- A stable, competitive pricing structure. Unfortunately, “rate creep” is a significant issue in the Merchant Services industry. This is why it’s so important to choose a partner that has the structure, scale and stability to keep prices consistent and affordable while also not hitting you with early termination fees or hidden costs.
- Reliable and flexible products and services. Finally, it pays to choose a Merchant Services provider with proven, reliable products and services that deliver all the power and flexibility you need to grow your business. Just as importantly, you deserve a partner who is ready and willing to provide you with customized solutions and personalized training resources. Once again, it all comes back to choosing a Merchant Services partner you can truly bank on.
Old National’s Merchant Services solutions check all the boxes
Perhaps your current Merchant Services provider is meeting your needs in all four areas listed above. If not, I’m pleased to report that Old National’s Merchant Services team, both sales consultants and in-house support specialists, proudly check all these boxes. Our bank-employed team is experienced, passionate and HIGHLY service oriented, and we offer our clients the reliability of Elavon's powerful network along with personalized training on products and services, and very competitive pricing.
If you want to learn more, we invite you to call us at 800-844-1720, option 3, or send us an email at merchantsales@oldnational.com. You can also visit us here at oldnational.com.
*Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2023
