From my 12 years of experience in Merchant Services and Business Consulting, some of the key endeavors that businesses can do to stay afloat in these unstable economical times is to be more efficient at lowering overhead. There are still expenses that are commonly overlooked that could save merchants immensely on cost of operation.
What I am referring to is the amount that businesses get charged for Merchant Services (Bank Card Processing), which by the way can be a huge expense. Some businesses get charged hundreds, even thousands of dollars annually depending on their monthly volume for this service. Generally speaking, businesses must offer it in order to provide their products and/or service. This is, in fact the most utilized forms of payment for most customers/clients today and generates the majority of the revenue.
However, adjusted correctly, can make one of the largest impacts on lowering cost of operation for the amount that is spent on this essential service. Since all credit card processing residual income processing is charged to a business in the form of Rates and Fees, the merchant must not only have the best rates and fees available but also have a clear understanding of how these fees get charged. That way they can negotiate with their provider or get quotes from another provider to ensure that they are not being dropped to higher tiers, therefore higher charges.