Top Credit Card Payment Processing for Small Businesses in Athens

Our job at Electronic Merchant Systems is to provide a payment processing solution that makes life easier and more profitable for you - the business owner.

Customers spending money on goods and services want quick, secure, and seamless transactions. Essentially, that means paying with a quick dip, tap, or swipe of the card.

However, just because you need new technology doesn’t mean the process can’t be simple - because that is exactly what you’re offering your customers: simplicity and security.

With EMS as your merchant services provider, you can rest easy knowing that your customers' information is protected.

For over ten years EMS has been a certified level 1 PCI provider.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

So, you can rest assured knowing you are completely secure with EMS.

It is our responsibility to take all of the stress out of payment processing so you can provide exceptional service and reap the rewards without any headaches.

We want to eliminate the complexities of the transaction process so that your customers can focus on what is really important: your products and services.

If you already have credit card processing services and are at the point where your Athens business needs quicker transaction solutions or want to process transactions in a more modern fashion, then it may be time to consider a new processing system.

So, what does that look like?

Accept Online & In-Person Payments in Athens, Ohio

No matter what your business needs, Electronic Merchant Systems will deliver results.

EMS proudly offers businesses in Athens a suite of secure payment processing solutions for both online and in-person transactions.

Whether your business is brick-and-mortar or click-and-mortar online, EMS gives businesses the tools to accept all major credit cards with ease.

By partnering with us, you receive a setup that is tailored to your needs, along with exclusive tools that allow you to save money, streamline operations, and drive more sales.

The four main business types we provide payment processing for include:

• Retail stores

• Restaurants

• Service-based businesses

• Online and eCommerce businesses

EMS also offers a Surcharge Program where you can require customers who choose to pay with a debit or credit card to also cover the transaction fees that would otherwise be your responsibility. This allows them to still enjoy the convenience of paying with a credit card, at little or no credit card processing fees for you.

Let’s take a look at more detailed payment processing solutions for your type of business.

Athens Retail Store Solutions

Being a retail store owner can be a little hectic. Thankfully, EMS can help streamline operations.

Electronic Merchant Systems is an industry-leading retail Point of Sale systems provider.

With EMS’ MaxxPay, not only can you accept all major credit cards like Visa, American Express, Discover, and MasterCard, but you can add customized gift cards, review employee hours, set up low quantity alerts, and much more.

Every service provided by EMS is intended to help Athens businesses grow and thrive - while making day-to-day activities easier.

The payment processing tools listed below are built to meet the unique needs of any retail business.

-Credit Card Terminal: Credit card transactions are critical to business success. Our terminals support EMV chip cards, contactless payments, and mobile wallets with secure, compact terminals so you can accept both online and in-person payments.

-MaxxPay: MaxxPay POS is a tablet-based Point of Sale solution that seamlessly connects an entire store with its customers. Process payments, manage inventory and more, with an all-in-one Point of Sale solution.

-Gift & Loyalty Cards: Customer retention and acquisition is important for any Athens small business. With gift and loyalty cards, business owners have an efficient, yet simple opportunity to increase sales and generate new customers.

Restaurant Solutions

Chances are, your list of duties as a restaurant owner is as long and diverse and your drinks menu.

From inventory management and product shipments to staff coordination and customer satisfaction, we know you have a lot on your plate.

Payment processing can easily slip through the cracks.

That is why Electronic Merchant Systems offers Athens restaurants intuitive tools to meet your extensive needs.

For restaurants specifically, we are excited to offer Total Touch POS. Total Touch is a comprehensive restaurant point of sale system that provides benefits such as:

-Open Table Management: From the front office to the back office, restaurant owners can manage tables to help reduce long wait times by improving the speed of checkout.

-Payment Options: Do customers want to split checks by seat or by the entire table? This is done simply with Total Touch, which saves your staff headaches and increases customer experience.

-Easy-to-use interface: An interface that is easily navigated saves you time which, we all know, saves you money. This streamlines your processes and allows you to turn tables around faster.

-Online and Mobile Ordering: More and more folks in Athens are ordering food online. With Total Touch’s online and mobile ordering feature, your restaurant’s sales and efficiency will increase.

When you partner with EMS, you're giving your customers the best dining experience possible.

Service-Based Business Solutions in Athens, OH

As a service-based business in Athens, you have many moving parts between employee travel, quotes, estimates, and ultimately your service.

To make life simpler, Electronic Merchant Systems offers a unique mobile solution - EMSmobile. EMSmobile is a comprehensive payment tool that combines a mobile payment app and a Virtual Terminal.

Once your mobile device transforms into a complete credit card point of sale, you’ll discover that accepting payments has never been easier.

You already know the power of the smartphone in your daily life. Now, imagine using it as the optimal tool for your business.

Think about it - never chase clients down for cash or checks again. Never wait in lines at the bank again.

The EMSmobile app transforms your everyday smart phone into a complete credit and debit card acceptance device that allows you to take payments at your customer’s home or business.

Get paid before you start the job and make add-on work simpler to get paid for. We’re talking about absolute customer management made simple. Essentially, it’s a small business lifesaver.

Additional benefits of Electronic Merchant Systems’ Virtual Terminal include:

-Email Invoicing: If your customer had to step away at the end of the day, send them an invoice via email instead. This allows them to securely pay online with a simple click. Plus, you can see which invoices have been viewed and paid via the Merchant Console.

-Mobile Payments: Use your mobile smart device or tablet to accept payments.

-Secure Vault: Secure storage of customer credit card data for convenient re-use.

-Recurring Billing: Schedule automatic billing for service agreements. Any updates will be synced to all your EMSmobile devices in real-time.

-Business Management Tools: Manage the most important aspects of your businesses with EMS’ cloud-based program, the Merchant Console. You can review email invoice statuses, view all transactions, manage inventory, analyze sales trends, and more!

Online Business Solutions

If you are an online-based business—or plan to transition online in the near future—you need an engaging eCommerce website where you can sell products or services and process payments.

Having a clean, professionally designed website helps businesses increase brand viability and reach, establish credibility, and increase revenue.

To simplify the startup process for online Athens small business owners like you, our team at EMS offers everything from web design, online store design, to ongoing hosting, in addition to providing a secure payment gateway to handle credit and debit card transactions and digital payments across the internet.

By partnering with us, you can optimize your online presence and generate more sales.

The online payment processing solutions below are built for eCommerce providers, just like you.

-Web Store: Expand customer reach and increase your revenue with an eCommerce shopping cart.

-Web Design: Make life simple by partnering with a dedicated designer to build your website.

-API Integration: Experience seamless integration with an Application Program Interface (API) component.

Powerful Payment Processing You Can Trust

Why Choose EMS as Your Athens Payment Processing Company?

Electronic Merchant Systems embodies everything a business could want in a payment processor in Athens.

Exceptional Service & Tools

Our innovative suite of business solutions, high level of quality service, and dedicated employees increase the financial well-being of our clients.

Every service and product offered by EMS is intended to help your business thrive and grow.

Reviews

Did you know EMS has over 975 Google Customer Reviews with an average 4.7-star rating? For a Merchant Services business that has been around for 30 years, that is exceptional.

24/7 Customer Support

Chances are you’ll never have to worry about calling our industry-recognized customer service, but if you find yourself calling EMS customer service, you’ll be greeted by a real person.

We have a knowledgeable, US-based team of customer service representatives that is accessible to our Merchants 24/7/365 by phone, email, and live chat.

Security

As a payment processor, we are like a security consultant to your data. EMS takes business and customer security incredibly seriously. For over a decade EMS has been a certified level 1 PCI provider.

When you accept cards, PCI compliance goes a long way in terms of peace of mind.

Our Philosophy

EMS strongly believes in No Good Merchant Left Behind. If you are confident in your product or service, EMS wants to provide the payment processing tools that help you succeed.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Do I know Which Payment Processing Company to Pick?

You want to be sure that the credit card processing company you select for your business has extensive knowledge and experience in the industry, competitive pricing, excellent customer support, enhanced functionality, and is secure. Don't just look at the largest payment processing companies, the cheapest credit card processing, or the most popular credit card reader.

Sifting between many credit card processing companies and choosing the correct one is crucial and could land you a better credit card processing rate.

2. What exactly is a Merchant Account?

A merchant account allows your business to accept credit and debit cards and transfer funds from your customer's credit card purchases.

When a purchase is made using a credit or debit card at your business, your merchant account works in the background to withdraw funds from your customer’s bank and deposit them into your business bank account.

3. Can my business qualify for a merchant account?

The merchant account application process may vary depending on your specific business type and the associated risk that has been assigned and implemented by the credit card networks.

That being said, most merchant businesses are qualified for a merchant account.

4. How do merchants typically get burned by their payment processing provider?

Unfortunately, some providers take advantage of business owners by imposing:

• Hidden fees and lack of transparent pricing

• Poor customer service

• Lack of security

• Solutions/Payment methods that don't fit your business model

5. How can EMS help my business compete with the big companies?

Competing against other small businesses is one thing, but your merchant services provider should offer additional tools to build you up against big box companies, as well.

No matter your business size, you need a credit card processor that helps elevate your brand by offering a wide range of business merchant services. Ask about EMS' gift cards, loyalty programs, and additional options, such as web hosting and design.

6. What if I need help with funding?

We can help with that. One of the additional features that EMS offers is a funding program called BizFunds.

For Athens businesses, we will purchase a pre-determined amount of your future sales volume to help raise capital.

The best part is, instead of a fixed monthly payment, you pay an agreed-upon percentage of your daily sales until the merchant cash advance has been paid in full.

7. What is the Cost of Payment Processing?

The cost of accepting credit cards varies widely. It’s critical that you pay attention to what fees will be assessed when you sign the contract with your payment processor.

Make sure you understand the fees you’ll be assessed by your payment processor before you sign the contract with them. And ask questions about the entire process.

8. What types of payment can I accept?

Payment processing allows small businesses to accept traditional stripe cards along with EMV chip cards.

Mobile credit card processing is a great option for service-based businesses without a brick-and-mortar location for seamless payments and email invoicing.

9. What type of POS Equipment do I need?

This truly depends on your Business Operations and Model. The type of credit card terminal you select depends mainly upon the payments options you want to accept, as well as how you need to accept those payments.

A POS system should be used if you truly want to manage your entire business to ring up multiple items, track inventory, manage employees, and more.

If you are only accepting payments from a physical location, a countertop terminal may be your best bet.

If you accept payments at events such as trade shows, festivals, or farmers’ markets, a mobile POS system is a great solution.

For phone payments and invoices, you may want to discuss a virtual terminal.

Choose the Best Merchant Services and Credit Card Processing Solutions in Athens

We pride ourselves at Electronic Merchant Systems on our reliability, trustworthiness, and security. This type of support is just one of the many reasons why EMS has such a strong connection with our Athens merchants.

No good merchant left behind is more than just a slogan. Our financial institution understands your business's needs and wants to assist in your success.

We are much more than merchant credit card services. At EMS, we are dedicated to handling all of your credit card processing needs, including:

• Providing the top payment processing tools and opportunities

• Improving your cash flow

• eCommerce, email invoicing, contactless payment options

• Streamlining your business operations

• Providing the best credit card rates

• Minimizing your exposure to fraud losses

Don’t spend another day with out-of-date terminals or slow transaction times that could alienate your customers.

Instead, choose EMS - where we offer Athens businesses the most updated payment processing solutions that are simple and effective.

Like we’ve mentioned, just check out our 975+ Google Customer Reviews and you’ll see that we excel at offering business owners just like you remarkable products and services.

We stand by our product’s integrity, but should you have a concern, you can remain 100% confident knowing that our customer service team is ready, 24/7, to assist you.

If you want the best Athens, Ohio payment processing solutions, click below to request a consultation today.