Make Your Merchant Services Program More Profitable

Across the country, bankers at both large and small financial institutions want to boost their non-interest income, and they’re asking third party service providers to help them do so.

One potential source of valuable revenue is a financial institution’s merchant services program. With a little time and a renewed focus, you can create a more profitable program. Here are a few pointers that can help boost your portfolio and revenue.

Train Your Employees

Make sure your employees know your merchant services program inside and out. Otherwise they won’t be able to effectively pitch it to potential clients. Also, make sure they’re up-to-date on the industry. Educate them on the latest trends, train them on the newest merchant services software, and basically do everything you can to ensure they’re cutting edge.

Help Your Employees Beat Sales Call Stress

A sales call can be frightening, and some of your employees are probably reluctant to truly engage with your customers. But once they see that they’re helping customers−not tricking them or forcing information on them− they’ll feel more comfortable talking about your merchant services program. So point out how your services help your merchants. Framing a sales pitch in this light can make it much less stressful.

Offer Your Employees Incentives

Think about the rewards that would best motivate your team. Then give them to employees when they reach milestones. Incentives can be based on individual performance or team success. A little friendly competition encourages teamwork.

Reach Customers in Multiple Ways

There are many ways to reach out to your customers, including direct mail campaigns, phone calls, online newsletters and in-person visits. The more methods you use, the better your response will be.

Keep Merchant Services Top of Mind

Make sure your merchant services program and merchant services software stay top of mind for your employees and customers.

It’s not easy, but having brochures, posters and table tents set up at all your branches can help accomplish this. Featuring a banner about your program on your website can also help boost awareness.

With these tips and some hard work, you can make your financial institution’s merchant services program more profitable. What else have you done to try to increase your profits? Leave us a comment below.

As a Relationship Manager, Nick Karcher supports both current bank partners as well as those institutions that want to know what makes Clearent a different kind of payment processor. Nick began his career in debit and credit card processing with Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) as an Account Executive and later started his own Independent Sales Office. With an abundance of credit card processing solutions and excellent merchant services software, Clearent provides clients with the necessary tools to really improve their merchant services programs.

 

 

Find Answers to Common Questions with Merchant Services Software

Merchants have a busy day-to-day schedule, constantly dealing with the typical operations of their business. Sometimes they have to take time from their busy schedules to ask their merchant account service provider questions about their statement or a particular transaction. Instead of answering the same questions over and over again, it may be more efficient to teach your merchants how to find those answers online through the use of merchant services software. Helping merchants answer their own questions can help you provide the best credit card processing service possible. Here are a few typical situations that can be confusing.

1. I don’t know why my costs are increasing. What’s driving up my costs?

   When it comes to a merchant’s credit card processing service, there are several factors that can impact the cost. The main reason depends on the various credit card types being used by the merchant’s customers. This is why merchants should to figure out which of these cards are being used the most by reviewing their monthly statements or using merchant services software.



2. I don’t understand my merchant statements.

   Merchant statements vary greatly between merchant account service providers and can be difficult to understand. Once they’ve had a more thorough explanation, they’ll be more able to trust you as the best credit card processing company and they’ll feel better knowing where costs are coming from.



3. Locating my old merchant statements is difficult. Is there an easier way?

   Often times, merchants need to locate their old statements, whether for themselves or for an accountant, and it can become a recurring question that providers are asked. To reduce the time spent answering this question often, make sure merchants understand how to use their merchant services software to download their statements.

By spending time reviewing key components of merchant services and teaching merchants how to find and analyze information on their own, you will be saving yourself more time in the long run – creating a more efficient working environment.

About The Author:
Nick Karcher is a Relationship Manager with Clearent. He began his career in merchant services as an Account Executive and later started his own Independent Sales Office, growing an impressive portfolio before joining the Clearent team. Nick currently manages Account Executives and Relationship Managers who service both referral and agent banks.

Clearent is a different kind of merchant account services provider, offering a flexible proprietary acquiring platform and best-in-class service for not only your organization, but your merchants as well. Learn why you should choose Clearent. Our online merchant services software can help you maximize profitability and stay on top of your business.

New Merchant Services Software Gaining Popularity

If you are not familiar with Square you should be, as it is one of the most highly acclaimed merchant services around today. Square recently developed a mobile wallet called Card Case, which is an app that allows you to purchase items directly from your mobile device. This new merchant services software has not generated the popularity that its mother company Square has, but the trend is gaining buzz in select businesses and markets across the nation.

Getting started requires that you make an initial visit to the business and register your information. Then the next time you return you will be able to “start a tab” as soon as you are in range of the store and order. For example, once you pull into the parking lot you can start a tab while sitting in your comfortable air-conditioned car with your favorite music playing. The cashier will then find your information when you pick up your order and that’s that, no need for cash or a card as the transaction has already been made and will appear in the history tab of your Card Case app.

While this is a neat app for small take-out businesses, it’s difficult imagining it moving to the mainstream of merchant services software. The setup is somewhat annoying, in that it requires you to visit the business to set up an account and then make a second visit before you can actually use it. Also it will be hard to get people to use it over cash or a typical card-based payment because Card Case isn’t really that much of a time saver. Unless of course the business is insanely crowded, then sitting in your car greatly trumps a long line.

The mobile wallet has in no way become an ordinary method of payment. However, if businesses paired its use with an incentive of some kind, a coupon or product give away, it would become more desirable to consumers. But with the rapid growth of mobile payments, it will be interesting to watch the changes unfold.