To Integrate or Not to Integrate?

06|2021

To integrate my credit card processing or not to integrate? That is the question.

Integrated credit card processing is when your business management software has credit card processing built (or integrated) into it. The nice thing about this is that you keep it simple by using just one interface and avoid double entering charges. However, the draw backs are many and will be explained throughout this article.

There are two types of integrated credit card processing. The first type is open ended, meaning that the business owner may choose among a variety of credit card processors and shop for the best solution for their individual needs. The second type of credit card processing integration and the one that this article addresses is proprietary credit card processing. That is, the business owner has to take what he gets; the built in solution is the only option. Proprietary credit card processing has several pit falls from the obvious not being able to shop around to the more opaque such as hidden fees, poor service and high costs. If you are unhappy with your credit card processor, your only option is to move to another credit card processor with a stand alone credit card terminal. That way you can avoid the proprietary processor by entering your credit cards into a credit card machine and then into your business management software.

Auto repair is an industry that has mostly proprietary credit card processing for their business management software. This is because the software development companies like the recurring revenue that they can force the companies to pay. Savvy shop owners, however, have been able to successfully use stand alone credit card machines to avoid the poor service and high prices of the integrated processing that comes with their business management software. One of the key reasons that repair shops have successfully moved away from proprietary processing is that they don’t usually run hundreds of transactions a day like other industries do. Therefore, having to enter their transactions manually into their business management software is no big deal.

Restaurants, on the other hand, may run hundreds of transactions each day and that can be a problem for manual entry. Fortunately, restaurants have mostly non-proprietary business management software and therefore are not stuck with just one choice. Those that have proprietary processing may need to make a choice between mediocre service and double entry of hundreds of transactions.

With the many different types of industries and software out there, every business has its own needs when it comes to credit card processing. Integration is a useful option to most, but sometimes it can end up being more detrimental than helpful. Understanding your options and how integration works will help you make the best decision for your business.

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