How to Cancel a Merchant Account

Learning how to cancel a merchant account is pretty easy. Canceling your merchant account often takes place when you find a better deal with another merchant account service provider, or you hope to find one. How to cancel a merchant account simply involves notifying your current provider.

You can call your current merchant account service provider to cancel your merchant account, and usually have no problems. However, when you are learning to cancel a merchant account, it is important to keep in mind a few stipulations. These can include if you have signed a contract or entered into any sort of time-limiting agreement. If you signed a one-year contract with your merchant account service provider, but are canceling after six months, expect to pay some sort of early-termination fee. This information is typically included in the terms and conditions on the merchant account’s website. However, there are a few things you can do to eliminate that fee.

First, speak to your customer representative about canceling your merchant account. Talk to them about waiving the fee. This can be done especially if the company has failed to follow the merchant service agreement, has provided with poor customer support (this will work in some cases, not all) and ask to speak to a manager. Sometimes the basic service representatives do not have the power to waive the early termination costs.

Unfortunately, if you cannot find a way around the cancelation fee, you might just want to weigh the costs between paying the fee as well as keeping your account open with the company for a few more months. You can always choose the option that is cheaper.

Because learning how to cancel a merchant account can be such a pain if there are legal contract or termination fees involved, it is so important to make sure and find the best merchant account service provider to begin with. Unfortunately some fall into the trap of simply trying to go with the cheapest merchant account services provider and find that they end up paying a bundle in miscellaneous or hidden fees, or have terrible customer service. You may just not like the quality of overall service, equipment, pricing and customer support that you expect to see from the best merchant account services. If this is the case, you are definitely having the right idea for wanting to learn how to cancel a merchant account.

Before you go ahead and cancel your account, you are going to want to make sure you have a quality replacement. Choosing the best merchant account service provider can be pretty easy if you know what to look for. If you are coming from a less-than-reliable or poor quality merchant account, you will at least have a good of what NOT to find in a merchant account service provider.

On that note, remember to find the best merchant account service provider with the best pricing. However, pricing isn’t all you should be looking for. While it is important to find a company that is going to save you money, don’t fall into the trap of low transaction rates just to find yourself saddled with tons of money being spend on random service and account fees. Many of the best merchant account service providers offer great products and merchant services for low monthly prices, and still manage to cut you a deal on the necessary service fees. Many won’t even charge a sign up fee, or account setup fee. These are the kinds of companies you want to do business with to get the best merchant services for your business. It is also important to find a merchant account provider that has the types of services you need for your business. If you have an online-only business, find a company that strives for that. They should have a strong reputation in being able to offer the best e-commerce merchant services.

Some of the best merchant account services also might include top-notch credit card processing equipment. If you have a store front business, you know this is an important tool to have for your business. Also, make sure there is great customer service with any business you intend to consider. If they are unable to return calls promptly, or don’t have a clear understanding of what you are looking for, this won’t bode well for the kind of business you might need from them when you are an actual paying customer.

It might help to talk to other merchant and business owners to find about their experiences with merchant account services to help you find which of the best merchant account services work for you. Once you get to that point and are ready to open your new merchant services account, go ahead and follow the above steps for learning how to cancel a merchant account.