How to Get Zero-Cost Credit Card Processing

How to Get Zero-Cost Credit Card Processing

Merchants and owners of small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) are always thinking of ways to improve their bottom lines, right? Increasing revenue by cutting costs is one way of doing this.Sounds simple, right? It’s often not. As we all know, many things are easier said than done, especially in the world of smaller businesses.But what if there was a hassle-free way to increase your profit margin? And what if this method of increasing profits was risk-free, 100% legal, and simple to boot?All you have to do is adopt zero-cost credit card processing. It doesn’t matter if you operate a food truck, a boutique store, or a mom-and-pop beauty parlor. You can enjoy no-cost payment processing just by changing the way you accept payments.And your customers will thank you for offering them a choice.Let’s take a closer look at how you can start increasing your revenue by using a zero-cost credit card processing program.

What Is Zero-Cost Credit Card Processing?

Zero-cost credit card processing alleviates the pain of paying credit card processing fees, which include interchange fees.As a merchant or SMB, you likely already know that credit card processing can be a significant cost of doing business. When you accept credit card payments, transaction fees are usually assessed at up to 3.5%.With most credit card processors, this means that if your customer pays you $100, you will get just $96.50 of that money, since $3.50 goes toward processing fees. Since you will have to pay these fees on every credit card purchase, they can really add up.But if you use a credit card processor that implements a surcharge program, you can enjoy zero-cost credit card processing, meaning if your customer pays you $100, you will receive $100.

What Do Credit Card Processing Fees Cover?

The interchange fee makes up the majority of the credit card processing fee. It goes to the financial institution that provided the card to the customer — or the issuing bank. Examples of issuing banks are:

  • Wells Fargo
  • Citi
  • Chase
  • Bank of America

Other parts of the overall credit card processing fee are the assessment fee, the payment processor markup fee, and any incidental fees.

How to Use a Surcharge Program for Zero-Fee Credit Card Processing

Zero cost credit card processing: person handing a credit card to another owner

Processing fees are non-negotiable. Whenever a merchant is accepting credit cards — by swiping, tapping, or dipping — the processing fees always have to be paid.But by whom?Typically, the merchant or small business owner will absorb this as an inevitable cost of doing business. But another option is to enroll in a surcharge program like the one offered by Nadapayments. This will enable you to pass on the cost of credit card processing to your customers when they want to pay with credit cards.Surcharge programs give your customers a choice. They enable people that want to use credit cards to use them, but they also encourage the use of alternate payment methods, such as debit cards or cash.

Advantages of Surcharge Programs

There are a lot of advantages to implementing a surcharge program:

  • Eliminates credit card processing fees
  • Allows you to earn 100% of credit card transactions
  • Improves your ability to predict cash flow
  • Works with all major card brands: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express
  • Works with in-person point-of-sale transactions, online payments, and mobile transactions
  • Is 100% legal in most states

Rules for Surcharge Programs

Before you start surcharging, make sure you understand the rules. Perhaps you’ve shied away from surcharging in the past because the requirements seemed complicated. But a credit card processor like Nadapayments, which is built for surcharge programs, will make it easy.Here are the surcharge program rules to be aware of:

  • You have to notify the major card brands: American Express doesn’t need you to do this, but Visa, Mastercard, and Discover need to be notified that you’re levying a surcharge on your customers that use their cards. Nadapayments will take care of the registration for you.
  • Surcharges cannot be greater than 4%: In other words, the surcharge fee is about recovering processing costs and saving money, not about making more profit. With Nadapayments, your surcharge would be 3.5%, keeping you in compliance with this rule.
  • Your customers must be aware of the surcharge: You need to make sure your customers are notified of the surcharge program as well as the credit vs. cash pricing. Nadapayments will provide you with clear and appropriate signage to use at the entrance to your store and at the point-of-sale — even on your online checkout page.
  • The fee and the purchase must be processed together: An additional detail of this rule is that the receipt must show the surcharge as a separate line item. This lets your customers understand each individual charge. Nadapayments will automatically add the surcharge and include it on the receipt when a credit card is used to make a purchase.
  • Surcharges can’t be added to debit card or cash transactions: These programs work only with credit card purchases. Debit card processing fees are covered by the merchant, and they’re typically much lower than the rates for credit card transactions. When you use Nadapayments, you will only have to pay 1% + $0.25 for debit card transactions.

How Is a Surcharge Program Different From a Cash Discount Program?

If you’ve been looking for a free credit card processing solution, you may have come across information about cash discount programs. These are not the same as surcharge programs. The main difference between the two programs is that surcharge programs pass on the cost of credit card processing to the customer, while cash discount programs offer small discounts to customers for not using a credit card.For example, cash discount programs are frequently seen at gas stations, where one price-per-gallon is used for credit card customers and a cheaper price-per-gallon is offered to cash customers.

Use Nadapayments to Implement Your Surcharge Program

Smiling cafe owner using a tablet

Nadapayments is the best merchant services provider for any business looking to save money with a surcharge program.Nadapayments can provide you with everything you need to implement your surcharge program, including:

  • An EMV-enabled credit card machine for only $35 per month
  • A virtual terminal for online or over-the-phone transactions
  • A mobile app to process payments on-the-go
  • Signage to notify your customers

The Nadapayments software, included free with the terminal, will automatically apply a 3.5% surcharge to all credit card transactions — no matter how the payment is accepted.Finally, in addition to saving money on credit card fees, here are some of the other advantages to using Nadapayments as your merchant service provider:

  • Full PCI compliance
  • 24/7/365 customer support
  • No long-term contracts
  • No setup costs
  • Works with credit card installment plans
  • Cancel anytime

Embrace the Savings of Zero-Cost Credit Card Processing

With most credit card processors, you can expect to hand over about 3.5% of every credit card transaction, thanks to credit card processing fees. But if you use a surcharge program, you can avoid these fees, and keep 100% of the transaction.There are rules you’ll need to follow before you start surcharging, but if you use a merchant services provider that’s built for surcharge programs, like Nadapayments, the heavy lifting will be done for you.Get in touch with Nadapayments today, and start getting zero-cost credit card processing!

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Aleksey Nugid
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