Your processor hopes the only thing you ask about is their rate.
That question is easy for them, because it's a number they can compete on.
But your processor handles all the money that comes into your business. What they don't want you to ask is what happens when a month goes wrong.
Before you sign, ask them:
- What happens if my chargebacks go up for a month?
- What happens if my refunds climb?
- What happens if shipping slows down for a few weeks?
The answers tell you whether they'll work through a bad month with you or pause your account.
When merchants ask me about rate, I tell them we can always compete on rate. What matters more is that we can support you through the problems that your business faces and won't leave you in a support queue.
Jon co-founded SeamlessChex, and he’s finally on X.
We built SeamlessChex so merchants get a processor that understands their business before it approves them, and stays with them as they grow.
Now Paynote takes that to merchants outside the US, so they can sell to US customers without a US entity or a US Social Security number.
When one of our bigger merchants has a problem with a bank, Jon is the one on the phone with the head of risk.
If you ever have any questions about the processing world, he’s the guy to ask. Give him a follow.
I co-founded a company that processes billions every year for merchants all over the world.
I've spent over a decade building SeamlessChex and never posted a thing online. Most of our business grew through networking and word of mouth.
When we started, we sold card processing
I co-founded a company that processes billions every year for merchants all over the world.
I've spent over a decade building SeamlessChex and never posted a thing online. Most of our business grew through networking and word of mouth.
When we started, we sold card processing to local shops in Manhattan. I'd walk into dry cleaners and hair salons door to door. The only thing we used to compete on was our rates.
A hair salon changed how I saw it. I set them up with a merchant account for their online shop to sell their products, and after that they never asked about price again. They cared that someone had solved their problem.
So we built the company around solving merchants' problems. As more of them moved online, the biggest one was easy to spot. Brands would scale fast on the big payment platforms, and once they hit real volume, the platform held their money and there was nobody to talk to.
That's the problem SeamlessChex is built for. We understand a business before we approve it, so merchants have a processor they can rely on as they grow.
Today we support thousands of merchants, and we've made the Inc. 5000 three years in a row. I also co-founded Paynote so merchants outside the US can sell to US customers without a US Social Security number.
I'm going to use this account to explain how the processing space works behind the scenes. If you’re interested in that, follow along and comment below with any questions you want to see answered.
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