How to choose the best payment processor
Quite often, you need a payment processor. If you are accepting credit card or debit cards you will need a payment processor. If you…
PAYMENTS RESEARCH
Payments Research and Industry Data
Research and practical analysis on payment costs, merchant economics and the technology behind transactions.
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Research archive · Page 21
When credit card processing goes bad
It is unfortunate but sometimes there are issues in payments and credit card processing. They range from small annoyances to mission critical problems. Here’s…
Top reasons businesses should accept credit cards
Accepting credit cards cost money for a business. That is likely the main reason a business might not want to accept credit cards. It…
What is interchange plus in payment processing?
Interchange plus pricing, sometimes called cost plus, is one of the common ways that payment processors price their services for merchants. There are two…
History of Credit Cards
There is a long history of retailers or financial institutions providing credit for customers. In the 1800s and early 1900s, imagine going into your…
Credit card and payment processing industry overview
The payment processing industry is a sector of the financial industry that handles electronic payment transactions. It includes companies that provide payment processing services,…
Declining use of cash. Cash vs Credit Cards.
It’s been a decade long trend. People are using cash less in favour of credit card and debit card payments. It’s a trend that…
What is a chargeback in payment processing?
Chargebacks can have negative implications for merchants. They result in financial losses as the revenue from the sale is lost along with associated fees.…
How to create a return policy
A return policy is a must. Whether you allow returns or you don’t, a policy should be clear. There are statistics out there that…
What are basis points?
When you’re in payments, you’re in an industry with thousands of competitors in a complex value chain. In fact, most of the industry involves…
Future delivery and payment processing
Future delivery is an important situation for some merchants in payment processing. It’s good to know how to deal with it and your payment…
What you need to know about payment aggregation
Payment aggregators (aka third-party processors) are service providers that allow other businesses to accept credit cards without having to set up a merchant account. …
How does billing cycle impact merchant account rates?
Billing cycles are one of the most important components that payment processors use to determine the risk level of a business. They determine the…
Merchant account closed, frozen, or on hold
It has happened to many businesses before and it’s not a good experience. You are halfway through a busy day and a colleague tells…
Most common reasons for chargebacks
If you know why consumers do chargebacks, you can work on preventing them. Chargebacks are one of those things that you should pay attention…
Payments statistics: credit, debit, cash, checks, EFT…
You want to get an understanding of how people are paying for things. Here’s a set of stats to give you the lay of…
The benefits of contactless debit and credit card payments
Contactless payment is when a consumer taps their card on the payment terminal (point-of-sale, POS) to authorize a transaction. There’s no PIN, no signature.…
The difference between credit card and debit card rates
As a merchant, you need to know there is a difference between the merchant fees of credit cards vs debit cards. In the end,…
Is it worth it for businesses to accept credit cards?
It costs money for a business to accept credit cards. It would be nice if it was free, but it isn’t. The cost is…
What is the effective rate in payment processing?
The credit card processing industry has some of the most complex pricing of any industry. To make it more difficult, the industry is so…
Payment processors vs ISOs
Payment processors and ISOs (Independent Sales Organizations) mostly sell the same products and services. In the end, ISOs resell products and services from processors…
Looking up a payment term? Explore the Payment Glossary or the Resources library.