You know the numbers. Processing fees eat 2-3% of every card transaction. That adds up fast when cards make up most of your sales.
What if you could cut that rate significantly? We’ve helped College Park businesses drop from 6.95% down to 3.46%. That’s real money back in your account every month.
But it’s not just about rates. You need your money faster. Waiting three days for deposits doesn’t work when you’ve got payroll Tuesday and inventory to restock. Next-day funding means you can actually plan your week without crossing your fingers.
And you shouldn’t need three different vendors for in-store payments, online checkout, and mobile transactions. One system handles everything. Your POS talks to your online gateway. Your fleet cards integrate with your accounting. Everything reports to one dashboard you can actually understand.
We’re based right here in College Park, working with restaurants on Route 1, retail shops in Old Town, and service businesses across Prince George’s County. We know what you’re dealing with because we see it every day.
As a registered ISO of PNC Bank, we bring banking-level stability without the bureaucracy. You get 24/7 technical support, not a call center in another state that puts you on hold.
College Park’s Economic Development office actively works with local merchants on growth and retention. We’re part of that ecosystem. When your business grows, we’re already set up to scale with you—whether that’s adding locations, launching online sales, or expanding your fleet operations.
First, we look at your current statements. Not just the rate—the whole picture. Interchange fees, monthly minimums, equipment costs, PCI compliance fees. You’d be surprised how many charges you’re paying that don’t need to be there.
Then we map out what you actually need. If you run a restaurant, you need fast table turns and tip adjustments. If you manage a fleet, you need fuel controls and driver tracking. If you sell online, you need a gateway that doesn’t crash during checkout. We don’t sell you a package. We build what fits.
Installation happens on your timeline. We’re not showing up during your lunch rush or your busiest sales day. Equipment gets installed, tested, and trained. Your staff knows how to run it before we leave.
After you’re live, you’ve got direct support. Not a ticket system. Not a queue. When you call, you get someone who knows your setup and can fix it now. And your deposits start hitting your account faster—usually next business day.
Ready to get started?
You get full credit card processing—Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express. Debit cards, contactless payments, mobile wallets. If your customer wants to pay with it, you can take it.
Wireless payment acceptance means you’re not tied to a counter. Tableside ordering for restaurants. Curbside payments for retail. Job site transactions for contractors. The terminal goes where you need it.
Fleet card processing is built in if you run vehicles. Fuel purchases, maintenance tracking, driver controls. Your fleet managers get the data they need without juggling separate systems.
Loyalty and gift card programs run through the same system. You’re not paying another vendor or dealing with another login. Your regulars get rewarded. Your gift card sales stay in-house.
Online payment acceptance integrates with your website. Your customers check out without getting bounced to another page. Your inventory updates in real time. Your accounting sees everything in one place.
College Park businesses deal with University of Maryland students, federal employees, and neighborhood regulars. That means you need to accept every payment type without friction. One declined card is a lost sale. One slow checkout is a customer who doesn’t come back.
The rate you see advertised isn’t what you’ll actually pay. Interchange fees vary by card type—a rewards card costs more to process than a basic debit card. Then you’ve got assessment fees from the card networks, monthly gateway fees, PCI compliance fees, and sometimes statement fees or minimum processing charges.
Most College Park businesses end up paying between 2-3% total when you add everything up. But we’ve seen statements where the effective rate hits 4% or higher once all the fees stack up.
The way to know what you’re really paying is to look at your total fees divided by your total processing volume for the month. That’s your effective rate. If it’s over 3%, you’re likely overpaying. If it’s over 4%, you’re definitely overpaying.
Standard processing usually means two to three business days before funds hit your account. You make sales Monday, you see the money Thursday. That’s the default most processors offer.
Next-day funding gets you paid the following business day. Monday sales hit your account Tuesday. That makes a real difference when you’re managing weekly payroll or restocking inventory on tight timelines.
Same-day funding exists but usually comes with higher fees and isn’t necessary for most businesses. The sweet spot for most College Park businesses is next-day funding—fast enough to manage cash flow, affordable enough to make sense.
Keep in mind weekends and holidays push things back. A Saturday deposit might not hit until Tuesday. But for normal business days, next-day funding means you’re working with your money, not waiting on it.
You shouldn’t, but a lot of businesses end up with exactly that—one system for the register, another for the website, maybe a third for mobile payments. Then nothing talks to each other and you’re reconciling three different reports.
An integrated payment system runs everything through one processor. Your POS terminal, your online gateway, your mobile card reader—they all connect. You get one deposit, one statement, one set of reports.
This matters more than it sounds like. When your inventory system knows about online sales in real time, you don’t oversell products you don’t have. When your accounting software pulls from one source, you’re not manually entering transactions from multiple platforms.
For College Park businesses selling both in-person and online—which is most businesses now—integration isn’t a luxury. It’s how you avoid mistakes and save hours every week on bookkeeping.
You need to know you can reach someone immediately, not submit a ticket and wait. We offer 24/7 technical support because payment problems don’t happen on a schedule.
If your terminal stops working during lunch rush or your gateway goes down during an online sale, you’re losing money every minute. Our support team can remote into most systems to diagnose and fix issues without a site visit.
For hardware failures, we keep backup equipment available. If a terminal dies and can’t be fixed remotely, we get you a replacement fast. You’re not waiting three days for shipping while turning away card payments.
The other piece is redundancy. If your internet goes down, some terminals can store transactions and process them once connection is restored. If your main terminal fails, a backup terminal or mobile reader keeps you running. We set up systems assuming something will eventually break, so you’ve got a plan when it does.
PCI DSS compliance means you’re following the security standards set by the payment card industry. If you accept credit cards, you’re required to be compliant. If you’re not and you have a data breach, you’re personally liable for the costs.
Compliance involves using secure payment terminals, maintaining secure networks, and completing an annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire. It sounds complicated, but most of it happens automatically if your equipment and software are up to date.
We handle the technical side—making sure your terminals are encrypted, your gateway is secure, and your systems are patched. You handle the operational side—not writing down card numbers, controlling who has access to payment systems, and completing the annual questionnaire.
Non-compliance can cost you in monthly fees, and a breach can cost you everything. College Park businesses handle thousands of transactions. One security incident could mean liability for every card number exposed. Compliance isn’t optional, and it’s not something to handle on your own.
Yes, and you should if you’re running any kind of fleet operation. Fleet card processing integrates with your standard merchant services so you’re not managing separate systems.
Fleet cards let you set controls—fuel only, specific dollar limits, certain times of day, designated vehicles. Your drivers can’t use the card for unauthorized purchases. You get detailed reporting on every transaction—which vehicle, which driver, what was purchased, odometer readings.
This matters for College Park businesses running delivery vehicles, service trucks, or any fleet operation. You need to know your fuel costs in real time, not when the credit card statement arrives three weeks later.
The integration piece is key. Your fleet transactions flow into the same reporting dashboard as your other payments. Your accounting system sees everything together. You’re not exporting data from one system and importing it into another. It just works.
Local Resources
Other Services we provide in College Park
