“How can I avoid credit card processing fees?”That’s the $20,000 per year question. Perhaps you run a laser eye surgery center and think that credit card transaction fees are part of the cost of helping others. You know the process: pay 3–4% in fees each time your patient pays with a credit card. It’s time you see a little clearer. Did you know you can get rid of credit card processing fees? You don’t have to lose hard-earned money to the bank and payment networks like Visa and Mastercard. You can keep 100% of your revenue. Now, you may be wondering: “How much will avoiding credit card processing fees help my business?” The answer? More than you think. From dermatologist offices to laser eye surgery clinics, we regularly see medical businesses boost profits by 10% or more just by eliminating credit card transaction fees. Have your attention now? In this guide, we’ll cover how you can pay zero CC fees with better medical payment processing. With just three simple, quick steps, you can avoid credit card processing fees forever.
How can I avoid credit card processing fees?That’s the question you wish to answer for your laser eye surgery center, treatment center, pediatrician’s office, or other healthcare facilities. To avoid credit card processing fees successfully, you must know the damage. It may be more than you think. First, consider the average credit card processing fee.
In addition to the network fee, you have to pay an interchange fee to the card-issuing bank, an assessment fee to the card-issuing brand, and a processor markup to your medical payment processor. Altogether, you may pay an average of 3.5% in fees per credit card transaction. Second, let’s examine how much of your revenue comes from credit card transactions. Different medical practices vary, as what insurance covers depends on your patients, the type of healthcare service you provide, and the cost of those services. For instance, if you specialize in rhinoplasty, chances are your patients have to pay out of pocket because nose jobs are elective surgeries. Given that the cost of a nose job exceeds $5,400, many of your patients probably set up a medical payment plan and pay their monthly installments with a credit card. In such a situation, it’s possible 70% of your revenue comes from patients swiping the credit card. Now, if you brought in $800,000 per year from rhinoplasty procedures, that means $560,000 of your revenue would come from credit card payments. If you pay an average CC transaction fee of 3.5%, that means you pay $19,600 per year in fees! That’s way too much. Add up the numbers at your healthcare organization, and you’ll see you pay a lot in CC fees. You don’t have to accept this.
Think of all that you’ve invested in getting to where you are. For example, if you’ve entered the eye care field, you did four years of undergraduate study, followed by an additional four years of education and training to become a Doctor of Optometry. To pay for your education, you may have worked part-time, used hard-earned savings, and taken out student loans (optometrists graduate with an average student loan debt of $173,000). On top of that, you have startup costs associated with your laser eye surgery center, which can range from low six figures to a million-plus. Ongoing costs, which include rent, insurance, taxes, supplies, equipment, and labor, can reach $800,000 per year, according to CompHealth data. After all, specialized equipment and paying optometrists cost a lot of money. Needless to say, you have a lot at stake. So, you should be wondering, “How can I avoid credit card processing fees?” Because you shouldn’t let something like credit card fees hurt the financial sustainability of your laser eye surgery clinic. To give you extra motivation to get cheaper credit card processing, consider this example:
Imagine if you could get rid of those transaction fees. Your income would jump $12,000, from $130,000 to $151,000. That’s an increase of 16.2%! Motivated enough yet to get better healthcare credit card processing?
The medical payment processing industry still suffers from a lack of regulatory oversight. Whether you’re in laser eye surgery or addiction treatment, know there are merchant service providers who may not have fair and transparent fees and pricing structures. So, be careful and thorough when shopping for an MSP. Plenty of reputable, high-quality MSPs are ready to help your healthcare organization. You just need to do your research. When looking for an MSP, follow this process:
After doing those steps, choose the most affordable MSP.
Even if you have the best MSP, you still have to pay some CC fees. That brings us to the final tip to get rid of all your processing fees: implement a credit surcharge program. When the Dodd-Frank Act passed, it became legal for merchants to use credit surcharge programs to offset transaction fees. This includes healthcare organizations like laser eye surgery centers and pediatrician offices.How does this work exactly?At Nadapayments, for instance, we offer healthcare organizations a credit surcharge program that automatically charges patients an extra 3.5% when swiping the credit card. That eliminates the impact of processing fees from your bottom line. Now, you may be wondering: “Won’t this upset my patients?” The answer is no. As long as you have clear signage, transparent pricing, and don’t apply fees to debit card transactions (merchants still pay the fee), you’ll set clear expectations, and patients will appreciate that. Moreover, patients will enjoy the freedom to choose any payment method. They can opt for the convenience of the credit card or save 3.5% by paying with cash or debit card.In this sense, a credit surcharge program is a win-win for your healthcare organization and your patients.
How can I avoid credit card processing fees? The steps are quite simple: know how much you pay, find the best possible MSP, and then implement a credit card surcharge program. That’s your path to completely free credit card processing. At Nadapayments, we’re ready to help you get to zero-fee credit card processing with our advanced credit surcharge program. Our 100% legally compliant surcharge solution integrates with your credit card installment plans, and patients can pay at your clinic, online, and via mobile. We also offer 24/7 support so that you can get the most out of our surcharge program.Ready to boost your profits by more than $20,000 per year? We can help you set up a credit surcharge program right away. By next week, you’ll be saving 3.5% per transaction. Give us a call at +1 (929) 293-1800 or click the link below.
