Offer dental implants at your practice? You’ve made an excellent decision. First, you’re helping people with tooth-related diseases and decay. Dental implants give them a natural look and increase confidence. And, as the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry notes, dental implants prevent bone loss and restore jawbone structure. Second, the dental implant market has boomed, given the benefits. Through 2026, the market is expected to have a growth rate of 7.9%. It will be an $8+ billion market by 2026. It makes economic sense to get involved in the procedure. Clearly, offering dental implants can boost your revenue. However, as you accept payments for the procedure, you may find something eating into your profits: dental credit card processing fees!You may think you can’t stop the 3-4% in fees. Nobody will offer free dental credit card processing, right? Think again. You have a solution to eliminate dental credit card processing fees. And you should implement it—because it could increase your profits by double digits!
You may think: It’s just 3%. What’s the big deal? Here’s the thing: You’ve made a big investment to become a dentist and start your practice (congrats on your achievements!). After all, school leaves the average graduate with more than $285,000 in debt. And launching a dental clinic and implant center can cost $500,000 or even more, according to Bank of America data.To achieve professional success, you must take care of the financial aspect of running a dentistry. One way you can increase your margins immediately is by eliminating dental credit card processing fees. Just look at how you pay each time a patient swipes the credit card for a dental implant bill:
As you can see, merchant service providers (MSPs) have complex fee structures. In addition to the interchange fee (the fee paid between banks for card-based transactions), you’re often responsible for a variety of other fees and surcharges, such as online reporting fees and annual fees. All these fees add up. A survey of dental implant centers would probably reveal that many pay an average of 4% per transaction (or more).
Now, not all of your revenue is subject to dental credit card processing fees. Some patients pay with insurance. Others pay with a check or cash. But a significant portion still does. Consider that dental implants are a high-value transaction. As data from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, dental implants costs between $3,000 and $4,500. Since the price is high, your patients are more likely to swipe their credit card. As research from the Federal Reserve shows, as transaction values increase, so too does the use of credit cards. For transactions over $100, about 20% use a credit card. To get a picture of how much revenue you lose from dental credit card processing fees, let’s do an example. Let’s say you do 200 dental implant procedures per year at an average cost of $4,000. That equates to $800,000 in dental implant revenue. And let’s say 30% of your dental implant revenue comes from credit card transactions.
That means each year you pay $9,600 in dental credit processing fees. And that’s just for one service you offer. How much do you pay in total?Now, if your net margins on dental implants are 10%, you make $80,000 from the procedure. That’s pretty solid, right? Well, think if you could eliminate that $9,600 you pay in dental credit card processing fees. Your dental implant profits would jump from $80,000 to $89,600. That’s an increase of 12%!You get the point. Paying dental credit card processing fees cuts into your bottom line. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can have free credit card processing.
Merchant service providers (MSPs) know dentists are busy. That’s why many simply charge as much as they can. Because they know dentists don’t have time to analyze software fees, chargeback fees, assessment fees (paid to card brand), etc. If you truly want to eliminate dental credit card processing fees, you have to shop for the cheapest credit card processing possible. Of course, you still want the point-of-sale (POS) system to meet your needs. But don’t pay more than you should. Here are the steps to take to find the best credit card processing:
Don’t just trust what you read about dental credit card processing services on review sites. Go over all the fine print to get an accurate idea of how you’ll pay. This includes looking at different fees for payment types. For instance, payment processors charge more for manually entered virtual terminal payments.
Many merchant service providers offer lower plans with lower fees for dental clinics with a higher volume of transactions. Since you earn lots of revenue from dental implants, you can seek out better plans. Shop around.
Dental credit card processing is a competitive business. Make companies earn your business by offering lower rates. You can negotiate certain fees.
While you can’t negotiate fees charged by credit card companies, such as the interchange fees and assessment fees, you can negotiate the processor markup.
The key here is getting the MSP to be transparent. Ask what their interchange and assessment fees are so you know how much the markup is. Then negotiate. Typically, you can get 5-10% off this markup, which could save you thousands per year.
Now, you know how to get the cheapest credit card processing. But you’ll still pay fees to that payment processor, of course.How do you close the gap and take home 100% of your revenue from dental implants? Here’s the answer: Change how you accept payments. Enter the cash discount program. As the name suggests, a cash discount program rewards your patients for paying in cash. With NadaPayments’ cash discount program, paying in cash gives customers a 3.95% discount. But what if they still want to pay with a credit card? Your customers still have the convenience of swiping the plastic. It’s just that they won’t get the cash discount. This allows you to offset dental credit card processing fees. In this sense, a cash discount program offers a win-win for your dental implant center and your patients. You can take home 100% of your dental implant revenue. And your patients can save money by paying with cash. Want to learn more? At NadaPayments, we can set up a cash discount program in one day for your dental implant center. Click the link below or call us at +1 (929) 293-1800.
