Plain-English breakdowns of fees, pricing models, and industry practices so you can make smarter decisions for your business.
Kevin wrote this. But if he's wrong, we'll make it right — and demote Kevin to sharpening pencils. BeBetter@brooksidepayments.com
A web developer I know called me last year. His client — a subscription software company doing about $35,000 a month — had just had their Stripe account terminated. No warning. No phone call. An email arrived on a Tuesday morning saying their account had been flagged for violating Stripe’s terms of service. The email […]
Read Article →Payment Technology The Part of Every Transaction Nobody Talks About Every time a customer hands over a card — in your store, on your website, through your virtual terminal — something has to move that card data from them to your bank. Securely. Instantly. Without exposing the account number to anyone who should not see […]
Read Article →Square payment processing problems don’t announce themselves. They show up after you’ve been on the platform long enough to stop questioning it. I sat across from a restaurant owner in Boca Raton last spring. She’d been running her place for six years. Solid lunch crowd, steady dinner service, about $28,000 a month running through her […]
Read Article →Industry Insights PayPal worked fine — until it didn’t. For a lot of merchants, that’s where the story ends and the hard lesson starts. I want to be fair here. PayPal is not a scam. For a freelancer getting paid by a client overseas, or someone selling handmade items on Etsy twice a month, it […]
Read Article →Risk & Fraud Prevention A chargeback doesn’t knock. It doesn’t wait for your side of the story. It charges your account, reverses the sale, and hands you a fee — all before you’ve said a word. Chargeback payment processing is one of the least explained and most consequential parts of accepting card payments. I’ve had […]
Read Article →Human Nature She didn’t call them. They called her. Eight minutes later she still wasn’t sure if something was wrong — or if she’d just been sold something. You remember Sallie. Nail salon owner. Eleven years in business. The one who called her bank to ask about her processing fees and spent 24 minutes on […]
Read Article →Pricing Models Three tiers, three rates, one advertised number. Here’s why tiered pricing payment processing is the model built to make sure you never know what you’re actually paying. I’ve sat across from a lot of merchants over the years. And the ones who are most confused about their processing costs — the ones who […]
Read Article →Human Nature A nail salon owner. A Tuesday afternoon. One phone call that went exactly the way you’d expect. Your bank is not your payment processor — and most small business owners don’t find that out until it’s too late. Sallie owns a nail salon. She’s been in business eleven years. She’s good at what […]
Read Article →Human Nature What happens when a prospect reaches out and the honest answer is “we can’t help you profitably.” Here’s the email I sent — and why I sent it. When a payment processor says no, most merchants never hear why. Jay reached out looking for a payment processing solution for a government entity — […]
Read Article →Not the questions on every “how to choose a payment processor” checklist. These are the payment processor questions that reveal whether you are dealing with an honest payment processor or a commission-driven sales pitch. Merchant Tips Every few months someone publishes another list of questions to ask your payment processor before signing. Most of them […]
Read Article →Merchant Tips A merchant account is how your business actually gets paid when a customer swipes a card. Here’s what it is, how it works, and how to know whether a dedicated merchant account is the right move for your business right now. The Basics What Is a Merchant Account? A merchant account is a […]
Read Article →How to switch payment processors is a question most merchants overthink. It isn’t complicated. Here’s exactly what happens, how long it takes, and what to watch out for so you don’t miss a single transaction. The number one reason merchants don’t switch payment processors isn’t the contract. It isn’t the hardware. It isn’t even the […]
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