1) Discount rates are ultimately set by Visa/MasterCard. Anything in excess of these rates are profit for the ISO, Merchant Service provider, and end-reseller. In the case of high risk merchants, these can be upwards of several percentage points per transaction.

2) Being on the TMF list doesn’t automatically exclude a merchant from being accepted for a merchant account. Banks can ultimately accept a merchant but it’s rare, due to the financial responsibility the new bank takes on. However, it does happen more often than you may think.

3) Being on the TMF list has a 5 year limitation, it’s not a lifetime thing.

4) Visa/MasterCard DO NOT require thousands of dollars in fees for PCI Compliance. In fact, most merchants manage to maintain PCI compliance for a very small fee. Read “CISP for Merchants” for more information.

5) Most money is made in auxiliary fees, i.e. chargeback fees, AVS charges, batch closure fees. If you are paying more than $10 for chargebacks and $0.10 for AVS, you are paying too much.

6) Most merchant account providers advertise the “discount rate” but many times a merchant’s transaction does not qualify for these rates. Make sure you understand what qualifies as a discount rate, a mid-qualified rate and a non-qualified rate. Stay clear of any merchant provider who says you are getting a “blended rate” as that’s simply a way of hiding the fact that you are going to pay a higher rate on qualified transactions.

7) Visa/MasterCard DO NOT charge setup fees. There is a fee if you are an adult-related merchant but short of that, setup fees are, in 99% of the cases, the bonus for the person selling you the merchant account or the company they work for.

8) Visa/MasterCard DO NOT require that you use a specific payment gateway, so don’t let your merchant provider require that you use their “in house” solution.

9) Authorize.Net buy rates are as low as $5 per month plus $0.05 per transaction, anything in excess of this is typically commission.

10) Free terminals and free Authorize.Net accounts are never free. If you are getting these, expect higher rates on the backend, stiff termination fees, and high auxiliary fees. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

To sum it up, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Trust your instinct and NEVER be forced to sign today, the deals only get better over time no matter what the sales representative tells you. When in doubt, sleep on it.