Americans continue to use less cash in favor of more convenient and secure options like debit and credit cards. Since customers appreciate when businesses can accept card payments, business owners need to keep up. To do this, businesses should partner with a merchant services provider to establish a system for processing cards. If you are a business owner looking for a provider, how can you select a payment provider that is actually helpful? Here are two ways to evaluate your options.

Check for free and credible advice. Does the provider offer free and transparent advice on a company blog or LinkedIn account? At Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS), we frequently publish how-to articles for business owners like you. For instance, at EMS, we offer mobile loyalty programs to help our merchants build strong relationships with their customers, but we don’t stop there. We also publish relevant articles discussing how small businesses can use mobile loyalty programs and our 24/7/365 merchant support team is trained to answer merchant questions regarding things like mobile loyalty programs. When you’re looking for a helpful payment provider, one way to analyze the company’s commitment to its merchants is to see what type of free, industry information and merchant support it provides.

Analyze the provider’s industry involvement. Does the provider engage with the payments industry by attending trade shows and events? It’s beneficial to partner with a provider that’s at the forefront of the industry. Your provider’s expertise will help you as a merchant. For instance, at EMS, we attend and participate in some of the best payments industry trade shows. These events give us the opportunity to interact with large financial institutions and tech startups—keeping us up-to-date with industry trends and cutting edge technology. By educating ourselves and developing relationships with key industry professionals, we can pass our expertise on to our merchants.

As a business leader, you should partner with a helpful, credible merchant services provider that is committed to the success of its merchants. Evaluate providers based on the free and credible advice they provide, along with their involvement in the payments industry. At EMS, we know our success depends on the success and happiness of our merchants.

Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) is a leading provider of payment processing & merchant services. EMS currently has a 4.7 star rating on Google My business from over 600 customer reviews, an OpenCompany designation and 4.0 rating on Glassdoor.com and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. EMS considers these trust elements a valuable business asset since it assures business owners that their business will receive the quality service and assistance they deserve from our dedicated employees. For more information please visit our website.