I created this site because when I started my business two years ago, I had no idea how a merchant account (credit card processing) worked.  When I filed my incorporation papers with the state I got phone calls from a dozen aggressive salesmen selling merchant accounts.   

I knew that the costs associated with my merchant account would be a big part of my business expenses (more than 2.00% of sales) and I was nervous about making such a big decision without knowing all of the facts, but I couldn’t find any good, unbiased information to help me negotiate.

I ended up getting taken advantage of.  It wasn’t the end of my business, my business grew and became profitable, but over the next two years I paid much higher fees on my merchant than necessary.  In total it ended up costing me about $20,000 in EXTRA fees over those two years.

Knowledge is power and, over time and repeated attempts to get a better deal, I slowly figured out how the industry worked.  I learned who was making money off of me, what tricks had been used to take advantage of me, how to properly read the confusing bills, etc.  It took time and digging because, while a credit card transaction looks simple, the process is actually very complex and many times the salespeople and tech support people I was working with didn’t give me straight answers. 

I was frustrated and I vowed that, when my business was stable and I had more time, I would spend a few hours putting my learnings online so that other merchants could get a fair deal on their merchant account without wasting a lot of time piecing together information from different sources like I did.

This site isn’t professional; it is a hobby of mine and I put it up over the course of a few rainy weekends.  I don’t make any money from it and there are no ads (nor will there ever be ads). This site also probably isn’t 100% accurate. The information is based on my own experiences and may not apply directly to yours.  However, before I put it online I showed it to a few friends who own small businesses and they found it helpful and encouraged me to put it up.

If you have a question or a suggestion about this site, or you think I am wrong about something, email me.   I am always looking to incorporate the knowledge of others into this site. 

Sean