Questions To Ask When Choosing An E-commerce Payment Processor

One of the most critical things an online business has to figure out is how they want their customers to pay for the products they offer. When your online business is just starting out, the search for a payment processor should be a new and exhilarating process but it can quickly turn into a difficult decision. Many don’t know where to start their search or what questions they need to ask. Fortunately, we have narrowed down 8 important questions you should ask before deciding what payment solution is right for you.

1. When will I be able to start accepting payments?
   Some E-commerce solutions may approve your account after a weeks long review. It is important to find how long the setup process will take so you can start accepting payments as soon as possible. With BMT Micro, the review is almost instant and you can start selling in a day or less! Signing up is as easy as 1-2-3: register, upload your products, and start selling!
2. What types of payments can I accept?
   People like to have options and control over which payment they use. If you limit them to one option they are forced to use, it can reduce your chance of selling and increase your cart abandonment rate. The last thing you want is for your customer to get all the way to checkout and decide not to proceed due to the lack of payment options available. This can be hard for individual developers, as setting these up usually involves a long and complicated process of compliance with banks. Therefore, using a company like BMT Micro who offers many methods of payments including ten different credit card types, PayPal, Amazon Payments, BitPay, Money Orders/Cashier Checks (US Funds only), Visa/MC Debit Card (UK Debit Cards), paysafecard, or wire transfer in Euros is beneficial. We can handle all of your payment processing over our secure sites and offer your customers many different payment methods to help increase sales and reduce cart abandonment.
3. Do you offer International payments?
   There are many things to consider when thinking about how to transact business with companies in countries beyond your own. You can either have pricing in each respective countries currency and convert the currency to your own or you can set up an account and accept the countries currency. The second option can get complicated, so you want to make sure when you learn about the culture, you learn about their banking system. It is typically easiest to use a reliable company such as BMT Micro to handle the International transactions for you. This goes hand in hand with different laws and government regulations abroad. International laws can vary, some may be very lenient with international consumerism, but others may be very strict. When selling internationally you need to be able to adjust quickly for varying exchange rates and adhere to international taxes, tariffs and fees. Payment processing companies, such as BMT Micro, can handle all of this for you.
4. What level of support do you offer and does it cost extra?
   Customer satisfaction is key. This is true for any business, no matter where you are or what kind of services or products it is that you are offering. You want your customers to be satisfied and to come back to you with their repeat business and possible recommendations of your business to other customers just like them. Customers come with high expectations of seeing their needs met. They bring their questions and concerns to the customer service department and they want an answer; they need help. If they do not receive help or if their questions are ignored, chances are they will take their business elsewhere. Chances are they will not recommend you to other potential customers looking for the same type of product or service that you are selling. It is important to find out what support is available for your customers and if it cost extra. BMT Micro has a highly trained customer service department that is constantly working to improve our and customer experience. They are always available to answer any questions or concerns that you may have. Our customer service team handles all questions related to the payment and ordering process; however for technical support (for instance how to play a specific game), customers are referred to the developer of the software or product.
5. How quickly will I receive funds from my sales?
   Some payment processors hold onto your funds or a certain percent of your funds for a set amount of days. Some processors may also only pay out funds on set days. You will need to find out this information beforehand when deciding on a payment solution for your business. With BMT Micro, payments are made on the 1st of each month for the previous month’s transactions. There is a 30 day hold on your first payment only. The 30 day hold is calculated from the date of your first sale, not from your signup date. If your first sale is within the last 5 days of the month, payment will be paid on the normal payment date after a full month of sales has been reviewed.
6. What kind of fraud protection and security do you offer?
   It is essential for E-commerce companies to protect their site, and more importantly, their customers sensitive information. Using a payment processor like BMT Micro can also save you the time and the expense necessary to keep fraud to a minimum and your customers information safe. BMT Micro adheres to all Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards so you can concentrate on your products and customers, knowing their information is safe and secure. We maintain PCI compliance, and are scanned quarterly for both PCI compliance and network security. BMT Micro’s state-of-the-art fraud detection system automatically screens orders and puts questionable orders through a manual approval process. All BMT Micro servers are fully secured and host all shopping carts using the highest encryption standard available, Extended Validation SSL. EV SSL certificates provide 256 bit encryption and enable the most visible security indicator – the green address bar – in high-security browsers. This assures customers that the shopping cart is secure and our identity has been authenticated to the industry’s highest standard. There is no need to worry about the expense of a secure certificate with BMT Micro!
7. What will it cost me to use your service and are there any hidden fees?
   Before making a commitment to any E-commerce payment processor, you need to be aware of their fees structure. Some processors offer a fee per transaction and others offer a fixed number of transactions per month for a flat monthly fee. You may think you have found a payment processor that meets your needs and offers you the lowest rate you have seen throughout your search. The only issue is some payment processors may offer you a low rate but charge you additional fees depending on several factors like what type of credit card your customer uses. You also need to be aware that some payment processors will get you with special hidden fees that they won’t highlight like cancellation fees. With BMT Micro, there are absolutely no setup fees or hidden charges for our service. BMT Micro charges a % of the commission for each sale so if you never sell anything you do not owe anything.
8. Do you offer automatic recurring billing or subscription management?
   When selling a product or service, using subscriptions or recurring payments is a great way to plan for the future and to build a strong customer base. Having a better idea of what your revenue stream will look like next month will allow you to plan for enhancements, new projects, advertising, etc. BMT Micro has all the tools you need to run a successful subscription program. Customers can sign up for your subscription using credit card or PayPal and BMT Micro will take care of rebilling customers when necessary so you can concentrate on providing the best subscription services possible.

These are only a few important questions you should ask when searching for a payment solution. BMT Micro handles orders for a multitude of developers worldwide. We are proud to partner with you all and to be your choice of payment processor. BMT Micro strives and will continue to strive for an excellence in service and are always working towards timely and adept transaction procedures for all our developers and customers, all the while making sure that online security measures remain a priority. BMT provides more than just the items discussed and you can learn more about what we offer at www.bmtmicro.com! There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a payment processor and we have mentioned a lot of the additional services you receive when you sign up with BMT Micro. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.