Reimagining a Technological Solution to Payment Processing – December 14, 2016

Reimagining a Technological Solution to Payment Processing
December 14, 2016

Small businesses are arguably one of the most valuable assets of any community. Whether it’s the family owned coffee shop, the accountant in the brick office building down the street, or the chic independent boutique selling shoes via an online payment gateway, small-business owners add vitality and personality to their neighborhoods. Unfortunately, many small brick-and-mortar and e-commerce businesses operate on slim margins. One expense that is often overlooked and misunderstood is the price of credit card processing. The cost to accept credit cards can make up 2-5% of expenses, chipping away at the business owner’s hard-earned dollar. While this cost is not entirely avoidable, it is possible to minimize it significantly, and as the Founder of HeroPay, it is our company’s mission to make it easy to do so.
As a former Visa Senior Executive, I know first-hand that big retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart have the resources to employ teams of credit card processing experts to help them optimize credit card processing strategies. Due to the large volume of transactions processed daily, big retailers have the leverage needed to negotiate variable costs. Small and mid-sized business owners typically don’t have an in-house credit card processing expert and usually cannot afford this resource. Pressed for time, business owners usually make quick and under-informed decisions. Clearly, lower volumes of transactions decrease their bargaining power. Compound this with predatory practices and complex buying processes, and it becomes clear why small business owners end up with such high fees. To illustrate, while small business merchants make up 26% of the annual transaction volume in the United States, they pay a whopping 79% of processing fees!
Aware of this imbalance, technology companies and trusted advisors could develop tools and resources to ensure the small business merchant community has access to modern platforms to purchase credit card processing. Those tools should allow merchants to purchase credit card processing the same way they purchase everything else – in one place, online, and in a transparent, informed fashion.
HeroPay is designed to serve as a credit card processing comparison platform that enables providers to bid for new and existing merchants’ business. This results in simple, seamless, and more informed purchasing decisions for merchants, allowing business owners to find the best credit card processor for their business, enabling their customers to pay via Visa, MasterCard, and American Express in an optimized way. Because HeroPay prescreens all providers, merchants have peace of mind knowing that the pricing is fair and transparent. This type of transparency also incentivizes providers to offer more competitive rates which, with time, will drive down prices in the industry. With HeroPay, the average small business can save up to 40% on payment processing fees. That savings can be used to allow business owners the flexibility to purchase necessary supplies, hire more employees, offer lower prices, or whatever the business may need.
The HeroPay website features a simple but powerful basis points calculator that enables users to quickly see how much they could potentially save if they use one of the providers on the platform. Users are then presented with options and, after finding the best one. HeroPay facilitates the entire transaction to ensure the process goes smoothly. Each business owner gets personalized attention from one of HeroPay’s payment experts, all at no additional cost to the business owner.
In addition to helping small business owners find the right payment processing option, the HeroPay website offers a wealth of resources in the HeroPay Academy that are dedicated to increasing financial literacy. Here, merchants can find answers to many of their pressing questions, such as whether or not they should accept American Express, the difference between swiping and dipping, or which mobile card reader is the best. The ever growing catalog of content further confirms HeroPay’s commitment to helping entrepreneurs and business owners.
Through innovative partnerships with trusted advisors like the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, the days of small business owners paying 79% of industry fees are quickly coming to an end. The combination of an easy to use comparison platform, access to credit card processing experts, and the HeroPay Academy provides small business owners with the resources to make informed decisions. By saving money through the HeroPay platform, the family owned coffee shop can finally buy the custom branded mugs that have been on hold and the chic independent boutique can afford to hire more staff ahead of the holiday season.

About the Author
Hiro Taylor is Founder and CEO of HeroPay. Hiro is a former Visa executive having spent 4 years in Asia helping build payment systems in international markets. As Visa Country Manager of Myanmar, Hiro built the country’s electronic payment system from zero helping enable $300 million in commerce despite the country’s antiquated telecommunications and banking infrastructure. During Hiro’s tenure, Myanmar was Visa’s fastest growing market globally.