Updated on November 22, 2021
Finance and dentistry. At one glance, they seem to be poles apart but on second thoughts, there is an underlying relation between the two. When a dentist is running a clinic, he is accepting payments for his treatment and thus comes the link. With credit cards mostly dominating the payment mode today, it’s likely that every dentist out there would have his Dentist Merchant Account. But do you know dentists are increasingly getting ripped off with credit card processing fees? Yes, it’s an alarming scene and the worst part is that it’s often overlooked.
It’s a catch 22 situation. You want to get rid of it yet as per the latest market trend you have no other way but to accept credit card payments. Also, we can’t allow these unethical practices to go on. Thus, the article below sheds light on some of the processes that are ripping us off with credit card processing fees so that you can stay alert and prevent the sorry state.
Ambiguity in processing rate details
When you signed up for your Dentist Merchant account Services, you must have received a specific processing rate. But do you ever verify the rate with your monthly account statement? The answer is likely to be a “No”. While asked the reason behind such negligence, most of the dentists pointed out the complicated statement data which are too perplex to decipher in their busy schedule. It’s true that dentists lead a very busy life. But do you know that in multiple cases, dentists are actually paying an inflated rate compared to what it was in the initial quote!?! Yes, this is one of the most crucial ways how dentists are increasingly getting ripped off with credit card processing fees.
So, next time the monthly statement comes, be careful to read it properly to ensure that you are not paying an unnecessarily larger fee than what was discussed during the sign up.
Bank’s commission
It’s a common practice to run to the bank when it comes to opening up a merchant account for payment processing services. Please don’t. It’s because majority of the banks do not process the card payments themselves and only act as the middleman between the dentist and a processing company. The bottom line is your bank simply adds on more charges on the actual processing fee to secure its commission. So, kindly choose an independent reputed processing company for your merchant account to avoid paying for bank’s commission.
Key-in instead of dipping or swiping
This point is especially for your cashier who handles the credit card processing. According to experts, one must never key-in the patient’s card number into payment terminal if the card allows dipping or swiping. Why? It’s because the key-in process automatically adds on an unwanted 40-60% higher charge with the processing fee with each transaction. Do you want that? Certainly Not. So, please train your clinic cashier accordingly to eliminate risks of unnecessary additional charges.
Batching after every transaction
This is another most crucial ways how dentists are getting robbed off with credit card processing fees. Does your clinic cashier batches after every payment transaction? If the answer is in affirmative, you have been paying unnecessarily high processing fees over the months. Batching is no doubt necessary but when you do it after every transaction, you would be charged a flat $0.01 – $0.25 each time. By god’s grace and your expertise, it’s expected that you are running a busy dental clinic. So, it can be estimated that your clinic processes 10-20 transactions every day. Now, just imagine, How Much extra would you have to pay if the cashier batches after every transaction! But if you run just a single batch end of the day, there would be just one single batching fee. There are options in the processing equipment only that will help you to set the batching for just once a day.
So, try to be careful. Follow the solutions given above to prevent getting robbed off by the inflated processing fees. And most importantly, settle with a reputed and highly trusted merchant account provider. The Best Dentist Merchant Account will generally assure wholesale prices to save your costs and maintain complete transparency at every step.
ALSO SEE : Best Merchant Account in 2017
