Switching merchant accounts

Trials and tribulations?

[jollymcfats]

I'm considering switching merchant account providers. Has anyone been through this? The merchant agreement says that upon termination they can build a reserve by holding back funds and/or withdrawing some or all funds from my checking account.

How often (and to what extremes) does this happen when switching merchant accounts? Other potential gotchas?

[wackal]

I'm right in the middle of switching myself. The process has been relatively smooth, however they are being a little slow in addressing some issues that I wanted taken care of. Firstly, the max sales ticket they gave me is very low compared to what we have. I advised them that we would need exactly what we have and to not process application if it was not possible.

They processed anyway and gave me the low limit. They're also insisting on me providing a business land line number even though I've advised them that all customer service is handled thru email. They still want a number to put on people's credit card statements.

I haven't logged into the new account yet, because I'm still considering canceling everything if they don't agree to our terms. Definitely wait to cancel your current processor until after you have a new processor and everything is setup and verified.

If you're on good terms with your current processor, then you're in a good position to barain with the new processor. If they don't give you terms you like, find another company. People seem to be more accomodating when they know you don't need them. Hope that helps.