Placing Free Credit Card Terminals VS Leasing Credit Card Terminals

Saturday, June 20 2020

When you are selling merchant accounts or looking for a merchant services agent program to work with, one of the major things that you will have to consider is whether you want to offer your customers free terminals or whether you want to offer them a leasing deal. As with so many other factors in this business, it really depends on the specific customer. You must spend some time examining their needs before you can decide which option to sell them. You will find that different merchants have different goals, as well as different amounts of capital that they can provide upfront.

You might also notice that, more and more, merchants will expect that at least their basic, entry-level terminals will be free to use. Lots of newer, innovative merchant service companies have taken to lending free equipment to their customers, as well as supporting the hardware and software for free, so you will want to take this into consideration as well.

Let's go over what these two options really are in a bit more detail:

Free Terminals - “Free” isn't exactly accurate here, since the merchant doesn't really keep the equipment. Basically, they are allowed by the service provider to borrow the POS terminal at no charge until they end their contract, and then the equipment is returned. You can think of this as being similar to how many broadband Internet companies loan routers or modems to their customers, which are then returned when the customer terminates their service.

This is an easy option for many businesses, especially those that are just opening their doors, because it requires essentially no upfront cost. There are sometimes monthly fees tacked onto this option, such as the cost to insure the machine, but for the most part, the merchant pays a lot less than they would have if they opted to buy their own equipment. Since POS terminals can be expensive, this is not a bad option for you to suggest to very lean startups.

Always make sure that a merchant services partner program that you are signing up with has some kind of free terminal plan, since a lot of merchants will want this. “Free” is also not a very hard sell, so you might find that it will be easier to close deals with a loaned terminal. Your job is first and foremost to sell your clients on the merchant account, and you will want to do everything in your power to make it easier for them to use it—that means making it easy for them to get the terminal that they need.

Leasing Terminals - With the popularity of free terminals, this has sort of fallen out of favor as of late, but it still has a certain amount of relevancy. Some merchants want to have their own equipment, and this could be for a number of reasons. Most commonly, a merchant may simply want to be able to switch service providers without going through the arduous process of re-learning how to use a completely new terminal.

Leasing terminals is not without its problems, however. Compared to simply buying a terminal outright, leasing one may actually be a raw deal for the merchant. Because they will be paying little by little for their equipment, they may not even notice that their money is trickling away over the course of months or years, and that they might end up paying five or ten times the market price for their POS system. It's nice to make small monthly payments, but as business owners, these merchants can't afford the delusion that those costs don't add up.

On the other end of things, leasing equipment can make lots of money for an ISO and a merchant services sales agent. Just as those monthly fees add up for the merchant, they can add up for the agent, and leasing equipment can mean a handsome addition to ones residuals. The bigger question is, however, should you sell merchants on such an unfavorable deal?

In general, the answer is no. Now, not all leasing deals are bad. Some equipment is actually quite cost-effective, especially modern, more simple POS systems that are based on popular mobile operating systems and touch interfaces. The leasing options from popular service providers are sometimes quite fair. However, there are still a lot of merchant service companies in existence that use these tactics to rip off potential merchants, and it's best that you avoid associating with them.

Your goal should be to build a long-term, sustainable relationship with your merchants. After all, this is what is going to give you sustainable, long-term residuals month after month. Being honestly concerned with your merchant's problems and offering them the best solution is also what will get you repeat business whenever it is time for them to buy added value products and services. You will want to cultivate trust, and it is difficult for a merchant to trust you if they feel that you have been trying to take them for all they have right from the beginning.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with selling a fair leasing option to a merchant if that is what they honestly want. By all means, listen carefully to the client's needs, and if you feel that leasing a terminal is a better fit than providing one for free, then give them what they need.

Regardless of what option you ultimately decide to give to your merchants, remember that no terminal is the least bit useful if your clients don't know how to use it. Make sure to partner with a company that not only offers various terminal options for your clients, but that has great training material and customer service to get your customers up to speed. After all, the sooner they are using your terminals to take in revenue, the sooner both you and the merchant service company can start seeing a new income stream. Make sure that your clients get what they need from the beginning, and you will be rewarded with few complaints, a strong reputation, and a consistent stream of residuals trickling into your bank account every month.

The best merchant services agent ISO reseller program is North American Bancard Agent Program. Choosing North American Bancard as your primary merchant services partner with earn you the largest commissions, give you access to the most powerful industry sales tools, and total sales support for you and your merchants.

Posted by: SMG Admin AT 10:54 am | Permalink | Email

ISO Agent Partnership

Become a payment service provider today and take your business to the next level. If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of payment processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, the SMG ISO agent program might be a great fit for you. With the highest paying commission structure in the industry, superior products, and sales support, our program will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.

For anyone with a sales background or a passion for the payments industry, SMG is the ideal partnership. There are dozens of reasons to become a sales partner with Shaw Merchant Group, but don’t just take our word for it. Here are some of the top reasons that we were given when we asked our ISO agent participants why they chose us and why they continue to work with our highly lucrative program.

Sales Partner Portal

With our industry leading partner portal, you’ll have access to online enrollment, training sessions, marketing materials, and you’ll always be ahead of the game with the latest news and promotions.

Alerts

Stay up-to-date on merchant issues and their resolutions via automated emails and text messages that include a detailed ticket number describing what the merchant’s concern was and how it was resolved.

Registered DBA (White Label)

With our program, you’ll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.

Free Equipment for Your Merchants

Selling businesses on a new processing plan is much easier when you are able to effortlessly jump over the hurdle of the cost of the equipment. With this program, you can offer your clients free equipment that they will need for their processing provider change. This lowers the barrier to switching and creates a higher conversion rate for you.

Lifetime Passive Income

You will recieve 50–70% of residual income based on the pay structure you select. You will share income on every available revenue stream. With SMG, you get a True Interchange Revenue Split. Unlike other ISO agent programs, there is no basis points off the top for BIN sponsorship or for what they call hidden losses. Our sales partners earn more residual income with our 50/50 partner program than you would with our competition who claim to offer a higher percentage because thier interchange cost (buy rate) is higher.

$20K Performance Bonus

We offer a performance-based fast start bonus that is payable for anyone that onboards more than the standard threshold of clients in the first 4 months. This program is designed to reward those experienced sales members that join our team and quickly learn how to sell this product. The bonus can reach up to $20,000, making it one of the most lucrative and competitive in the industry.

Profitability Based Bonuses

We will look at how much profit is generated on the account after they have been processing for one month and you earn 14 times of the total profit. Example: If we retain $100 in residuals in that month, the bonus would be 14 x $100 or $1,400. You would have already been paid $600, so we would pay you an additional $800 on that account. This bonus is capped at a max of $10,000 per merchant per location. With our dual pricing program it is easier than ever to earn huge bonuses with a 14x profitability bonus. This dual pricing model enables you to maximize your bonus at $10,000 on almost every merchant processing over $90k.

Dual Pricing Program

When you are selling merchant services, one of the best assets of any partner program is more rewards and incentive programs that save your client money. The Edge dual pricing program is one of the hottest new commodities in credit card processing, as it is designed to save the client thousands of dollars in credit card processing cost, instead passing on the fee to the consumer in a way that isn’t damaging to their own conversion rate and revenue. We offer this program to our clients and make it easy to understand and present for our sales partners.

Medical Benefits

With some sales jobs, you don’t even have the option for medical coverage. With the SMG ISO agent program, you’ll have the resources that you need to provide healthcare coverage to you and your family at an affordable rate. We take care of our own, and when you are in our program you will have access to these benefits.

White Label ISO Program

Grow Your Merchant Services ISO with White-Label Payment Solutions

As an independent sales organization (ISO), you can upgrade your business by providing merchant processing services under your own brand. You may dismiss the idea at first, probably thinking that you don’t have the infrastructure or expertise to set up your own payment processing company. However, with white label payment processing, all you really need is a good ISO partner.

How a White Label ISO Program Works

To offer payment processing services under your own brand, your ISO partner will provide you with an online application page that doesn’t identify their company. This “white label” solution is ready for your brand and includes your logo, colors, and contact information, so your merchants only identify the payment solutions with your company. It eliminates any confusion among your merchant customers about who their service provider and primary contact should be. Your brand is the only thing the merchant will see on your website, merchant portal, and marketing materials.

Your payments ISO partner becomes a silent partner, providing technology, payments functionality, and services. This puts you in more control, allowing you to deliver seamless, consistent customer experiences in all interactions – and enhance your brand’s reputation. With this white label payment solution, you won’t need to overcome negative perceptions a prospect may have about the company your working with. This is because you are creating a unique customer experience. Better still, you don't have to fall in line with another company's existing customer experience.

Once you start providing white label payment services, you will also find that you build stronger, longer lasting relationships with your merchants. They'll begin to view you as a payments expert and an expert in the other solutions you provide. You may even find you are able to grow your customer base, as merchants in every vertical or niche can benefit from accepting payments, enabling you to market to more types of businesses.

Remember: white label payment processing enables you to earn huge residual income.

Our White Label Program Will Save You Thousands in Fees

Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label payment solution with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.

We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome white label solution. There is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no annual dues. Here are some details on the “White Label ISO” program:

Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back.
Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations. from you other than the standard agent agreement.
When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand.

What do we brand?

Paper Applications
Online Applications (Simplified Enrollment)
Partner.PaymentsHub for your back office.
PaymentsHub for your merchants — It’s generic when your merchant logs in and then show your brand once inside.
Merchant Support Email — TMS (ticket management system) which emails you and your merchant each time we speak with your merchant and shows the proper brand in the notice and as the from address on the email.
Merchant Support Phone — Our call centers answer with a generic “merchant services” then once they have the MID identified, they represent your brand.
Deployment Packages — Generic boxes and welcome docs inside with proper brand.

What we need:

A letter authorizing EPX to register your DBA on your company letterhead.
A high resolution image of your company logo.
A certificate of good standing from the state you are registered in. It may not be called a certificate of 'good standing' in some states.
The ISO Branding request form.