If you’re an existing high volume merchant doing a lot of business, you can very likely have your merchant account or master merchant account fees and rates reduced simply by shopping around. To do this you’ll need a merchant account underwriter (not just an agent) who knows the banks and isn’t just locked into one with a “take it or leave it” rate. Even if you went directly to some banks with a high volume business, they simply wouldn’t give you the lowest rate, I’ll explain.

The merchant account industry itself is somewhat of a contradiction. Most ads you see claim “we have the lowest rate”, but similar to a mortgage broker, agents have a inherent self interest in getting you in at the highest rates and fees. The reason is, their residual commissions go higher as your rates go up. It’s really risky and shortsighted though. The people I know from 10 years ago when I did promotions for them, don’t have a single client they signed up from those days. He got them in at a high rate, but then eventually they shopped around and went elsewhere.

As a high volume merchant, you have to find a merchant account underwriter who has 50+ banks to pick from and not just one, but also a person with personal integrity who will get you a rate so low you’ll never find a better offer. This means taking a substantial hit on their residual income for the long term reward of a client who never wants to switch. The only person I know who follows that approach is over at MST (800-715-8053).  Otherwise you’d probably have to go by a referral from someone processing a similar volume and is happy with their rates.

The good news is if you’re doing high volume on your merchant account, you have a great bargaining chip (if chargebacks are reasonable and it’s not a high risk business like pharma). The bad news is most merchants don’t know where the bottom is for their volume and often take a higher discount rate just because they can’t find a merchant account underwriter who isn’t greedy. I’d ask any underwriter what they did before they got into banking. It might be a good indicator of their ethics, but until you speak with someone like at MST it’s really difficult to tell where rock bottom is for your volume level and type of business.

Also if you have several businesses, or a chain of stores, then a master merchant account might be the most advantageous. This allows you to issue individual merchant accounts all under your umbrella. The rates on those are very low for mainstream type businesses, but there’s only about six banks in the world that can underwrite that type of account. MST knows who they are, and if a master merchant account is what you’re shopping for, it’s really best to have someone to guide you through the process because certain banks are much more suitable for specific businesses. Give them a call at 800-715-8053.

Nick