|
 |
True Cost of Checks |
|
When the Merchant is using a competitive check service |
If you have tried and failed at selling check services to a business that currently uses a competitive check service, you are not alone. Some times the decision maker compares his current rate to yours and looks no further. But as you know, the discount rate you quote and the effective rate the Merchant actually pays are not the same thing in the credit card world and they are not the same thing in the check world as well.
Below are questions to ask to discover additional possible costs to include when determining the merchant’s true effective rate.
For a Merchant using a Competitive Electronic Check Conversion Service:
1. OTHER FEES
- Transaction fees?
- Chargeback fees?
- Terminal support fees?
- Fees for rebuilding a batch?
- Statement fees?
- Other monthly service fees or annual membership fees?
- DECLINES
- What percentages of your check transactions are declined at the point of sale?
- If your declines are more than 2% of the checks, how many sales and customers is that costing you?
- What percent of your declined checks are large dollar checks that cost you big sales?
- How many new customers are these declines chasing away from your business?
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE
- How long does it take to reach a person calling their 800 service numbers?
- What is the average hold time for customer service calls you make to your current service?
- Is one person able to solve your problem instead of transferring you to multiple people?
- What has been your experience with terminal down time?
- How quickly are you able to get terminal issues resolved?
- What has been your experience with terminal printer issues?
- What is your monthly cost for terminal supplies like printer cartridges and paper?
Additional Questions for Merchants using a paper check guarantee service:
- What information does your current service provider require on the check?
- How long does it take each month to submit returned checks to your current service provider?
- How many of those checks are returned unpaid by your current service? ( i.e. charge-backs )
- How much money do these charge-backs represent?
- How do you collect these charge-backs?
- Who handles that process?
- What is the impact on your cash flow and bank balance for checks returned to you and debited on your account for the face value and the bank’s extra service fee?
- How long does it take to get a check authorized with your current service and equipment?
|
|