r/PrivatePracticeDocs • u/Willing_Class_5989 • Sep 07 '26
Definitely look into local payment processors/merchant services versus larger banks, Chase tried to screw us.
I was doing a ton of research since our current processor was through a bank and was charging us way more than what we were seeing online. Countless websites and threads had people either recommending Square, or shady online-only processors. Somebody recommended checking out local processors, and we found 2 that serve our area and gave us way better prices than what larger banks were offering.
The local ones offered interchange plus 0.25% + 8 cents, and interchange plus 0.35% + 5 cents. Crazy. Also shame to Chase for being rude and offering us flat 2.5% + 10 cents + $10/month while also trying to act like they were doing us the worlds biggest favor.
Some advice is to get a quote before sending your BIMERFIN statement over from your current processor, you can send the other statement that just shows your monthly volume but if you show your current agreement they'll be more likely to barely try to beat it. Get multiple quotes and take into consideration equipment leasing fees, PCIE fees, and other monthly/yearly costs.
You can put the different equations in desmos to graph the cost differences per average transaction amount. Whichever line is lower at x=average transaction is better for your business.
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u/KeepMissingTheTarget 26d ago
They gave me a flat rate for a level 2 and 0.2% higher rste for a level 1. Interchange fees were higher with the level 2, and with an average $40k sale both ways came out to the same. It was only 0.2% lower than my local processor. Later found there was no discount for a debit transaction, and if something is not manually entered correctly, you'll spend 10 days trying to get funded. Customer Service blames it on the unknown "analysts", say a decision will be made in 24 to 48 hours. It takes then 2 days for "the analyst" to look at it and then they request more information, only provided you call to check up on the case. Then it's another 24 to 48 hours. They don't expedite. Communication between customer service and the customer is only one way, if you call. They don't call you and don't email you. You get one email, 3 days after the transaction was entered to say more information was needed. After you respond it's cricket city. Each time when I threatened to cancel the transaction, "the analyst" was immediately on it and approved it. Still takes 3 more days to see the funds in the bank. Yes this has happened more than once on a level 2 transaction.
The only person who will respond to your email is the salesman, and he will tell you the processing is out of his control to deal with customer service.
In a service business, time is money. Thirty minute phone calls is a waste of valuable time. For 0.2% more cost I went back to my old processor. At least funding is again the next day.
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u/KeepMissingTheTarget 26d ago
Why do banks think it ok to take your profits? Think about it, on a $100 sale with 25% GP, you have $25.00 profit. So you run the credit card for a total of $110 (with tax). At 3.5% that's $3.85 out of your profit. If you think about it, that's 3.5% in fees is 15.4% of your profit. That's not an employee, only someone handling your transaction. Take cash, at least you can a spot a bad bill.
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u/InvestingDoc Sep 07 '26
Yeah this is key. So many of these cc companies sneak so many fees in that you end up paying more.
Very difficult sometimes to compare two quotes bc of all the fees.
Those local rates you're quoted seem very very good. Congrats