Wondering if selling merchant services is a good career for you? Maybe you are about to become a merchant services sales rep but don’t know how secure this industry’s future is? Well, to help you have the answers to both of these things, we have created this in-depth guide.
We will go over the growth potential of the industry, information on how to start a credit card processing company, its potential pitfalls, and whether you can become a good merchant services representative or not. So with that said, let’s get started:
How Is The Industry Doing?
Before jumping into the river, you need to gauge its depth to see if it’s even worth it to swim in it or not. The same is with doing business in any industry; you need to know its performance and potential. So when it comes to credit card processing, the good thing is that this industry is growing at a rapid pace, and the future is promising as well. Let’s see some stats for a more accurate picture:
· 84% of U.S. adults had a credit card in 2021, about 73% of Americans have a credit card by age 25
· Consumers spend 18% more when using a credit card instead of cash
· United States generated a combined $10.589 trillion in purchase volume in 2022, an increase of 12.3% from 2021, US merchants paid $160.70 billion in processing fees
· Around 500,000 applications are processed for credit cards per day
As you can see, an insane amount of people own credit cards, and the number is increasing day by day, plus people spend more when using credit cards. This clearly indicates that more and more merchants will be compelled to get a merchant account, and that’s where you will shine by selling credit card processing services. So by seeing all of this, it is safe to say the future of this industry is safe.
Benefits of Selling Merchant Services:
Now, of course, when it comes to actually being involved in the action, you will come across both the benefits and the drawbacks. We will first touch on a few key advantages of entering into this business so you can have the insights to set your expectations straight. Then, we will move towards the drawbacks. So let’s discuss the good stuff first:
Freedom of Working:
What’s the one thing that separates office workers from the independent sales people? The office workers are under the microscope of their managers. But if we talk about the independent agents’, then they are their own bosses.
You get to decide when to wake up in the morning, when to call it a night, and when to have a sick day (even when you’re not under the weather). You decide your own working schedule, and your coffee table is basically your work desk.
So if you are someone who wants to work independently while juggling through both the home and work life, then this is the job for you. However, your income is dependent on how well you perform, so you will have to make a daily schedule and stick to it to pay the bills.
Excellent Earning Potential:
Working as a independent agent means that you have an uncapped earning potential. You can sell as many merchant accounts as you can and earn based on that. So there is no more fixed monthly income to rely on even though you are putting more effort than required.
Plus, as you bring more and more merchants onboard, your residual income will start to increase, and this means that you will no longer have to worry about bringing sales to pay your bill. You will have a stable stream of income coming in already, and you can then work on expanding your business and exploring more merchant industries to target.
Low Startup and Monthly Costs:
Do you know what the best part about selling merchant services is? It’s the low overhead costs that you incur. There is literally no startup investment required, and there are very minimal monthly expenses that you would incur, which usually include the cost of your car fuel that you would burn to travel from the merchant to merchant, and that’s pretty much it.
This low barrier to entry paves the way for hard-working and creative merchant services sales reps allowing them to start instantly and without having to invest heavy sums of money. So if you have the skills and potential to be a successful sales agent, you can become a merchant services agent from today.
Very Lucrative Bonuses:
There are some very good merchant services ISO agent programs that take good care of their agents. They don’t just pay them a good chunk of the fees that are coming in from the merchants, but they also provide them with very lucrative bonuses. If an agent goes out of his way and brings a good number of sales, then he is given a bonus in the form of income multiplier.
For instance, in Shaw Merchant Group’s ISO agent program, you have the 14x multiplier for the amount of money you generate in residual income for the first month. So if you generate $100 in monthly residuals, you will get $1400, pretty sweet, isn’t it?
You Can Learn Fast:
Although you are dependent on your own skills and creativity to make the sales, the ISO agent program that you are working with should provide you with a good amount of learning resources. They should teach you how the whole program works, what your product is, how it benefits merchants, and how you can get better at sales.
Doing all of these things will allow you to educate your buyer better and increase your chances of getting that sale. So you see, learning about this business is not pretty hard. You can start after a week of learning and without making any investments, so the barrier to entry is actually pretty low.
Drawbacks of Selling Merchant Services:
Now that we are clear on what you can expect from the ISO agent program in terms of benefits, it is time that we talk about the not so good side of it as well. These things can have some impact on your life and job, but if you are someone who is persistent, patient, and hardworking, you won’t really have any issues. So with that said, let’s see the potential drawbacks of joining the ISO agent program:
Self-Dependency:
Yes, the freedom and the flexibility that come with this type of job are definitely incredible, and you would love them. However, you would also have to be dependent on your own self and on your own ability to push yourself to work on a daily basis and achieve your goals. There will be no one behind your back telling you to do this or that, but only you will be managing yourself.
Plus, your income will be tied to how much you work and sell, so for this, you will have to be extremely disciplined and extremely organized. If you think you can manage this kind of extra work that will come with this job, then you don’t really have a problem here.
High Competition:
Another potential pitfall of joining this kind of field is that due to the lucrative income opportunities, flexibility, and freedom, many people opt for this kind of work. And that is why you will be faced with cut-throat competition.
However, as discussed in the different statistics above, the need for credit card processing services will only increase with time. So there are plenty of fish for you to go and catch.
Also, if you constantly work on improving yourself by absorbing as much knowledge as you can, then you will obviously have the edge over most of the competitors.
Who Should Become a Merchant Services Agent?
If you are contemplating whether you should go for this job or not, then we can make this simple for you. You should join the ISO agent program if:
- You are disciplined
- You enjoy freedom while working
- You are patient and persistent
- You want a work-life balance
- You can talk to people into buying from you
Who Should Not Become a Merchant Services Representative?
Now let’s discuss some of the characteristics in people that can be obstacles in their way to becoming successful merchant services sales rep. You cannot become a payment service provider or agent if:
- You don’t like to meet new people
- You are not self-reliant
- You want a fixed income coming in no matter how many hours you work
- You don’t want to learn and improve yourself when it comes to selling
Over to You:
Selling merchant services is not a tough thing to do if you know what you are doing. Seeing these benefits and drawbacks, you can better assess if you really want to pursue this career or look for some other options.