Straight answers, no sales fog.
The questions merchants actually ask us, answered the way we'd answer across a counter. Every answer links deeper if you want the full treatment.
Working with a broker
What does a payment broker actually do?
We shop your processing across multiple processors and negotiate on your behalf, the way an insurance broker shops carriers. You get bid rates instead of one company's rack rate, and a local human instead of a 1-800 queue. The processor pays us a share of what you already pay; brokers win by making that number smaller and keeping you long-term.
Read more →What does the rate analysis cost?
Nothing, and there's no obligation. You send one recent statement, we read it line by line and show you your real effective rate, the junk fees, and what we'd bid for the same volume. Plenty of merchants just learn something and stay put.
Read more →Are you local or a call center?
Local. Our office is in Federal Way and we work merchants from Seattle to Olympia in person. When something breaks on a Saturday, you text a person whose name you know.
How long has Northwest Payment Brokers been around?
We've been negotiating processing for Northwest businesses since 2010.
Dual pricing & surcharging
What's the difference between dual pricing and surcharging?
Dual pricing shows two real prices, cash and card, and the customer picks. Surcharging adds a disclosed fee to credit card transactions only. Dual pricing works on every card type including debit; surcharges legally cannot touch debit cards. Which fits depends on your mix and your customers.
Read more →Is dual pricing legal in Washington?
Yes. Showing a cash price and a card price is legal in all 50 states. Surcharging is also legal in Washington with proper disclosure and card-brand registration, capped at the level the networks allow and never on debit.
Read more →Will customers get angry about card pricing?
Handled right, very few. The signage, the receipt and the register flow all have to be clean, which is exactly what we configure. Gas stations have run two prices for decades; your customers have seen this before.
What's a cash discount program then?
Mostly an older label for the same idea, and a term regulators have scrutinized when it's implemented as a hidden markup. We implement it as true dual pricing: two displayed prices, no surprise on the receipt.
Read more →Rates & fees
What should processing actually cost?
Card networks publish interchange, the wholesale cost everyone pays. What varies is the markup on top. On interchange plus pricing the markup is disclosed in basis points; on flat-rate apps it's hidden in the spread. Most healthy merchants we audit should be in the 2 to 2.5% effective range on traditional pricing, or near 0% card cost on dual pricing.
Read more →What's an effective rate and how do I find mine?
Total fees divided by total card volume on one statement. Under 1.5% with volume: leave it alone, it's good. Between 1.5% and 2.5%: typical but usually improvable. Over 2.5%: you're funding someone's boat. Our statement guide walks the math.
Read more →Why is my flat-rate app suddenly expensive?
Flat-rate pricing subsidizes tiny merchants with big ones. The famous 2.6% + 10¢ is brilliant at $1,000 a month and quietly the most expensive option in the building at $10,000. If your volume grew, you outgrew the pricing.
Read more →Are there contracts and termination fees?
Accounts we negotiate avoid long lock-ins and junk termination fees; that's part of what we bid. If a deal needs a term commitment to hit a rate, we put it in front of you in plain language and you decide.
Equipment & setup
Is the equipment really free?
Terminals are placed free on accounts we open: no lease, no rental line on the statement. Leasing a $300 terminal for $80 a month is the single oldest trick in this industry, and we don't play it.
Read more →Which POS systems can you set up?
Clover, Exatouch, KORONA, SkyTab-class systems and a dozen more, matched to your industry rather than whatever's on the truck. Every system we carry has its own page with the honest fit assessment.
Read more →Can I take payments on just my phone?
Yes. Tap to Pay on iPhone needs no hardware at all, and a small Bluetooth reader adds chip and swipe. Same negotiated account underneath, not app-store convenience pricing.
Read more →How fast can I be live?
Simple accounts: same week, often within days. POS installs with menu builds take longer, and we tell you the real timeline before anything is signed.
Read more →Switching
How painful is switching processors?
Less than you fear. We run the new account in parallel, reprogram or replace the equipment, and you flip when everything works. Most switches lose zero processing days.
I'm mid-contract. Am I stuck?
Often not. We read the contract, quantify the exit cost against the savings, and sometimes the new setup absorbs the termination fee. Worst case you know the date your contract dies and we're ready that morning.
Do I have to change banks?
No. Deposits go to whatever business checking account you already use.
Question not here?
Call or text 253-799-0640. A broker answers, not a phone tree.