If your business is growing to the point where you’ve branched off into multiple locations or are considering doing so in the near future, congratulations. This development usually signals strong business growth and profits, so long as the expansion is handled correctly of course.

At Merchant Card Advisors, we’re proud to provide a wide range of credit card processing services for small businesses, lenders and many other groups, including businesses expanding into secondary locations. In many of these cases, working with a big bank or similar institution for your card processing needs can create issues that you shouldn’t have to deal with – here are some of these issues, plus how services like ours can help you obtain this kind of processing without spending more than you need to.

Big Banks and Flat Rate Processing

For starters, larger banks often involve a lot of waiting and restrictions when it comes to credit card processing services. For another, big banks often prefer to give individuals and companies a flat rate for all their locations and card types, with a single statement that covers every location for your business.

Unfortunately, these tendencies aren’t always conducive to the success of your business. This kind of cookie-cutter approach may work for some businesses, but there are many – particularly those in a growth stage where they are expanding to new locations – that will fall between the cracks and end up paying far too much.

Issues With Interchange Rates

To get a bit more specific, these issues often come down to what are called interchange rates. All credit card processors have different fees and soft costs, including areas like sales, marketing and others. But all processors pay the same costs to individual card brands like Visa or MasterCard, and this cost is called the interchange rate.

For this reason, there’s no benefit to using a larger processer over a smaller one in these cases. Meanwhile, your rates may vary from location to location because each different card company has its own separate interchange rate. You often won’t have the option of breaking up your statements by individual location, making it very difficult to track your fees and where you’re spending too much. Combined with limited service and issues with bureaucracy concerns, you can see why big banks might not be advisable for these services.

How We’ll Help

With Merchant Card Advisors, you avoid these kinds of issues. Our platforms allow you to easily split up your separate locations on statements, understanding which interchange rates are hurting you and which aren’t. Through these and our careful maintenance and service offerings, you’ll always have professionals available if you have questions or concerns.

For more on how services like ours can benefit you if your business is expanding to additional locations, or to learn about any of our credit card processing services, speak to the staff at Merchant Card Advisors today.