Are long term contracts and cancellation fees required by the bank?
If a merchant account service provider says you need to sign a contract that locks you into a long term commitment with early cancellation fees, beware. MasterCard has issued a statement about this: a small Minority [of sales representatives] engage in practices that can damage the reputations of ISOs and acquirers. Such practices can include hidden fees, gouging on terminal leases, bait-and-switch pricing, the promise of guaranteed merchant approval, Internet spamming (unsolicited mass emailings), laundering, inaccessibility for resolution of customer service issues, and contract cancellation penalties. MasterCard’s statement will help you to differentiate a good merchant and an unscrupulous one. Signs include high equipment leases, introductory rates, unfair contracts, guaranteed rates, and guaranteed approvals. No merchant account provider can guarantee the discount rates will stay the same because the discount rate depends on the interchange rate and the interchange fee is establis
