It’s no secret that the use of cash is steadily declining. In today’s highly digital age, more and more consumers are more keen to prefer cashless methods of payment, using credit or debit cards, mobile payments, and more. The payment processing industry is steadily growing every year, with the market having a growth rate of 5% to 7% every five years. Within the lucrative payment processing market, credit card processing agents are a crucial element to ensure more and more merchants are made aware of the payment processing solutions for their business in order to thrive. Interested in a credit card processing agent role, but unsure what to look for? Keep reading to learn more!
What is a Credit Card Processing Agent?
A credit card processing agent, also known as a merchant services reseller or merchant services agent, works with payment processing companies. These agents work with other businesses in order to help them obtain the payment processing services and solutions they need. The role of a credit card processing agent can be highly flexible and independent, as they work to identify the merchants who could benefit from payment processing solutions in order to reach a wider customer base. Credit card processing agents can completely dedicate themselves to the role of processing agent, or use it to compliment their current profession as well.
Why Should I Become a Merchant Services Reseller?
Not many people are aware of the enticing opportunities that come with becoming a merchant services agent. The opportunity to become a credit card processing agent can require a lot of learning and extensive work crafting pitches, communicating with clients, trying to close sales, and more. However, it is a highly-rewarding job that can provide a number of benefits. Some of the key advantages that come with the role of a merchant services agent includes:
- Flexibility to work from home or other locations
- Independence (working for yourself)
- Being able to pick your clients
- Financially rewarding (commission opportunities and residual income)
- Better work-life balance
How Can I Apply to Become a Merchant Services Agent?
Applying for a credit card processing agent program can boil down to a few different factors. To start with, you want to make sure to learn the ins and outs of the credit card processing business. This means learning about the different payment solutions, the industries and what specific payment services could benefit them, and also learning to distinguish what makes a successful merchant services agent from an unsuccessful one. In order to further build your reputation with potential clients and be able to offer them the services they need, improving your knowledge and understanding of the payment technologies and features is absolutely key!
After expanding your knowledge of payment processing and the market, you’ll want to look for a credit card processing agent program. This is crucial, as finding the right program can determine your long-term success, as well as how prepared you will be with custom solutions for potential clients. When looking for a credit card processing agent program that fits your needs, there are a few details you will want to consider during your search. These factors can determine how prepared you are when working in the field, as well as how enticing your products may ultimately be for merchants. What are these factors?
What Are Crucial Factors to Consider in a Credit Card Processing Agent Program?
While working as a merchant services agent is often an independent role, choosing the right partner program can be extremely important! You must consider how every payment processor company you are considering operates, as every company will work differently and also provide different solutions for merchants. Some payment processors may work more with certain industries, or specialize in specific types of merchants. For example, USA Payments specializes in high-risk merchants and provides them the solutions their businesses need when it comes to dealing with large-volume transactions, chargebacks, and other factors that contribute to their being high-risk. A credit card processing agent that decides to work with a payment processor who specializes in high-risk merchants immediately gains a competitive edge over other agents who don’t work in this niche.
As a credit card processing agent, there are some features to the job that you should be mindful of when looking for the right company to work with. These elements can determine how your business thrives, and the types of clients you may work with. What are these crucial factors? When eyeing payment processing companies to train and work with, consider:
Residual Income Potential
Residual income potential is one of the most important factors to consider when looking at a credit card processing agent program. This is continuing passive income that accumulates from a small percentage of every transaction that a client you successfully onboarded makes through the payment processor you represent. Depending on the payment processor, this can pretty much be about 1% to 3.5% of every sale. This type of income is excellent because it continues to flow as long as the client continues transactions through the payment processing company, so ensuring the agent program you work with offers residual income is highly important.
Specialized Comprehensive Training
The merchant services agent program you consider should offer specialized comprehensive training. This may look like walking you through the different payment solutions they offer, how each feature works, and so on. Comprehensive training should also include product training, sales techniques, and effective methods to further communicate with potential clients when it comes to selling your services. Any payment processor offering an agent program should be able to support new agents through every step of the process, including after the agent has successfully integrated themselves into the company!
Easily Available and Accessible Customer Support
Customer support that is readily available and easy to access is extremely beneficial both to credit card processing agents and their customers. It’s no surprise that attentive customer support can lead to happy customers. When you or a potential merchant client are experiencing problems or have questions, knowing you have the around-the-clock support of the payment processing company you represent can make a huge difference. A payment processing agent program should also enable you to provide that customer support and experience to your customers, including allowing you to brand customer communications to steadily retain that important connection with potential and current clients, provide troubleshooting support, and be able to talk them through benefits, questions, and concerns they may inquire on.
Leading Technology Solutions
Leading payment technology solutions can sway potential customers into going with your products and services. As a new merchant services agent, you want to work with a payment processor that understands this, and can provide the technology you need to seamlessly onboard new clients, activate merchant accounts effortlessly (such as with automated underwriting and instant onboarding with API), and more. Not to mention, you want to provide clients with limitless payment solutions that can work for their business, whether they’re working with online payments, in-store payments, mobile devices, and everything in between! Payment gateways, point of sale systems, mobile payment options, and virtual terminals are a few of the most important technology solutions that can help your merchant clients succeed in the long-run. And providing these services can help you succeed, as well!
Contact USA Payments Today!
Are you considering a credit card processing agent role? This job has a number of amazing benefits, and it can be rewarding to work with varied clients in ensuring they are getting the technology and payment solutions they need to be successful. When looking for a credit card processing agent program, being mindful of the factors listed above can make a difference when it comes to how you further gain experience, the types of products you provide, and of course, how the job goes in the long run!
At USA Payments, we’re dedicated to the incredibly easy onboarding process of our merchant services agents. With incredible commission rates, residual income opportunities, thorough training, and more, we want to make sure every agent that works with our team feels supported and confident in this competitive payment processing industry. Interested in applying for our program? Connect with USA Payments to learn more!