You’re already dealing with payroll, inventory, staffing, and everything else that comes with running a business in Annandale. Your payment processing shouldn’t be another headache—and it definitely shouldn’t be quietly draining 5%, 6%, or 7% of every transaction.
Most business owners we talk to have no idea what they’re actually paying. The statements are confusing. The fees change month to month. And when you call for help, you’re on hold for 30 minutes just to get transferred three times.
Here’s what changes when your processing is set up right: you see exactly what you’re paying, your rates drop (we’re talking 3% to 4% instead of 6% or 7%), and you get a real person on the phone when something goes wrong. Your cash flow improves because funds hit your account faster. You stop losing money on hidden fees. And you can finally accept every payment type your customers want to use—cards, mobile wallets, fleet cards, online payments—without piecing together five different systems.
We’re not some national call center. We’re a registered ISO of PNC Bank, and we’ve been helping businesses right here in Annandale and across Northern Virginia get better rates and better service for years. We’ve been recognized with the Best of Annapolis Award two years running—2023 and 2024—because we do what we say we’re going to do.
You’re not getting a sales pitch and then handed off to a 1-800 number. You’re working with people who understand what it’s like to run a business in this area. We know the mix of retail, restaurants, service companies, and fleet operations that make up the local economy. And we know that when your system goes down on a Saturday afternoon, you need someone who picks up the phone.
When a customer swipes, taps, or enters their card, that transaction gets sent to the payment network—Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Amex. The network checks with the customer’s bank to make sure the funds are there and the card is valid. If everything checks out, the transaction gets approved. Usually takes two or three seconds.
Once approved, the funds get batched and sent to your merchant account. Depending on your setup, you’ll see that money in your business bank account within one to two business days. Some processors hold funds longer, but that just hurts your cash flow for no good reason.
The fee you pay covers a few things: interchange (what the card networks charge), assessment fees (what Visa and Mastercard charge), and the processor’s markup. That last part is where most businesses get taken advantage of. A lot of processors bury their markup in confusing fee structures so you can’t tell what you’re actually paying them versus what’s going to the banks. We don’t do that. You’ll see exactly what we charge and exactly what the networks charge. It’s all on your statement in plain English.
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You get credit card and debit card processing at rates that make sense—not the inflated percentages most processors charge. If you run a fleet or work with transportation companies, we handle fleet card processing too. That’s a specific need that most generic processors don’t understand, but it’s a big part of doing business in Northern Virginia.
You also get wireless payment acceptance if you’re mobile or do business outside a traditional counter setup. Contractors, landscapers, delivery services—you can take payments on the spot without lugging around a landline terminal. For retail and hospitality businesses in Annandale, we set up gift card programs and loyalty programs that actually drive repeat customers. These aren’t add-ons that cost you extra every month. They’re part of building a system that works for how you do business.
Online payment acceptance is included if you sell anything through a website or app. And if you ever need a business cash advance to cover a gap or take advantage of an opportunity, we can help with that too. The point is this: you’re not paying for five different services from five different companies. It’s one system, one statement, one point of contact.
Most small businesses in Annandale are paying somewhere between 2.5% and 4% if they have a decent processor, but we see plenty paying 5%, 6%, even 7% because they signed a contract years ago and never looked at it again. The rate you pay depends on a few things: what type of cards your customers use, whether you’re swiping in person or keying in transactions, and how your processor structures their fees.
Interchange fees—the amount that goes to the banks and card networks—are mostly the same no matter who you use. That’s usually around 1.5% to 2.5% depending on the card type. What changes is the processor’s markup. Some processors add a flat percentage on top. Others charge per transaction. And some use a confusing mix of both, plus monthly fees, statement fees, PCI compliance fees, and a bunch of other line items that make it impossible to know what you’re actually paying.
We use interchange-plus pricing, which means you see the actual interchange cost and then our markup as a separate line. No surprises. No hidden fees. If your rate is 3.2%, you’ll know exactly why.
With most processors, you’re looking at one to two business days from the time you batch your transactions to the time the money hits your account. So if you close out your terminal Monday night, you’ll usually see the funds Wednesday morning. Some processors hold funds for three days or longer, especially if you’re a new account, but that’s just them protecting themselves at your expense.
Faster funding matters more than most business owners realize. If you’re running tight on cash flow—and a lot of Annandale businesses are, especially retail and restaurants—waiting an extra day or two for your money can mean the difference between covering payroll on time or scrambling to move funds around. We push for next-day funding whenever possible because we know that cash sitting in limbo doesn’t help you.
One thing to watch for: some processors advertise instant funding but charge you extra for it. That’s fine if you need it in an emergency, but you shouldn’t have to pay a premium just to access your own money at a reasonable speed.
Not if your processor knows how to handle fleet cards. A lot of generic payment processors either don’t accept fleet cards at all, or they do but the transaction gets treated like a regular credit card, which means you’re paying higher interchange rates and your customers aren’t getting the reporting they need on their end.
Fleet cards—like WEX, Voyager, and Comdata—are used by trucking companies, delivery services, and any business that runs a fleet of vehicles. These cards require specific data to be captured at the point of sale: odometer readings, driver IDs, vehicle numbers. If your terminal isn’t set up to collect that information, the transaction can get downgraded or even declined.
We set up fleet card processing the right way, so the terminal prompts for the right data, the transaction goes through at the correct rate, and your customer gets the reporting they need. If you’re in Annandale and you work with fleet customers—whether you’re a fuel station, repair shop, or supplier—this is something you need to get right. Otherwise you’re leaving money on the table or losing customers who can’t use their cards with you.
Interchange-plus pricing means you pay the actual interchange fee (what the card networks charge) plus a fixed markup from your processor. So if the interchange on a transaction is 1.8% plus 10 cents, and your processor’s markup is 0.5% plus 5 cents, you’re paying 2.3% plus 15 cents total. It’s transparent. You can see exactly what’s going where.
Flat-rate pricing is when a processor charges you the same percentage on every transaction—say, 2.9% plus 30 cents—no matter what the actual interchange cost is. This sounds simple, and it is, but you’re almost always overpaying. On transactions where the interchange is low (like a swiped debit card), you’re still paying that 2.9%. The processor pockets the difference.
Flat-rate pricing works okay if you’re doing very low volume and you value simplicity over cost. But if you’re processing more than a few thousand dollars a month, interchange-plus is going to save you money. And if you’re doing $20,000, $50,000, or more, the difference adds up fast. We’ve moved clients from flat-rate processors and saved them thousands of dollars a year just by switching to interchange-plus. The statements are still easy to read. You’re just not overpaying anymore.
Yes. Every terminal we set up accepts mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, plus contactless cards. This isn’t an upgrade or an add-on. It’s standard. If your current terminal doesn’t accept tap-to-pay, you’re using outdated equipment and you’re probably frustrating customers who expect to be able to tap their phone or card.
Contactless payments are faster, which matters if you have a line of customers. They’re also more secure than swiping, because the card data is encrypted and tokenized. Your customer isn’t handing you their physical card, and the transaction data can’t be intercepted and reused.
Mobile and contactless payments are especially common with younger customers and in higher-volume environments like coffee shops, quick-service restaurants, and retail. If you’re in Annandale and you’re still making customers insert or swipe every time, you’re behind. We’ll get you set up with equipment that handles everything—swipe, insert, tap, and mobile—so you’re ready for however your customers want to pay.
You call us, and you get a real person who can actually help. Not a menu. Not a ticket system. Not a callback in 48 hours. If your terminal goes down in the middle of the day and you can’t process payments, that’s an emergency. We treat it like one.
Most of the time, terminal issues are simple—something got unplugged, the internet connection dropped, or the terminal needs a reboot. We can walk you through that in two minutes. If it’s a hardware problem, we’ll get you a replacement sent out fast. If it’s a software or gateway issue, we’ll work with you to get it sorted while you’re still able to take payments, even if that means processing manually until the system is back up.
The worst thing that can happen is you’re stuck on hold with some 1-800 number while customers are walking out because you can’t take their cards. We’ve heard that story a hundred times from businesses that switched to us. You won’t deal with that here. You’ll have a direct line to someone who knows your account and can fix the problem.
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