Compare dental office merchant services by asking every provider to price the same payment activity, then reviewing when money becomes available, what equipment you must use, and how the relationship ends. A quoted percentage is only one part of the decision. The useful output is a complete cost estimate attached to written operational and contract terms.
Before opening, build a conservative payment forecast. If you are acquiring a practice, use appropriately protected processor statements to understand its actual transaction mix. Keep card-processing selection aligned with the office's patient payment policy, including which payment methods and remote-payment workflows the team will offer.
Give every provider the same transaction profile
Describe both dollars and transaction counts. A proposal based on many small payments can price differently from one based on fewer large payments, even when total card volume matches.
Your request should identify:
- expected monthly card dollars and transaction count;
- payments made at a terminal versus through each remote channel;
- typical and largest anticipated transaction;
- expected refunds and disputes, with unknowns labeled;
- number of locations, terminals, and authorized users;
- whether recurring or stored-payment methods are required.
Ask how the provider classifies each channel. A manually entered card, an online payment link, and a card presented at a terminal should not quietly share one assumed rate unless the proposal explicitly prices them that way.
Request the complete merchant agreement, fee schedule, equipment agreement, and incorporated terms before signing an application. The FTC advises small businesses to obtain payment-processing terms in writing, read the entire agreement, and understand cancellation. FTC guidance on payment-processing contracts.
Recalculate a full illustrative quote
The following offers are fictional. They are arithmetic examples, not market rates or quotes from actual providers. Assume 300 terminal transactions totaling $60,000 and 100 remote transactions totaling $20,000 each month. Both fictional offers use complete transaction rates for these channels, with no additional interchange or network charges in this simplified example.
| Cost item | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal payments | 2.60% + $0.10 each | 2.40% + $0.15 each |
| Terminal cost on this profile | $1,590 | $1,485 |
| Remote payments | 3.10% + $0.20 each | 3.20% + $0.15 each |
| Remote cost on this profile | $640 | $655 |
| Monthly account charge | $25 | $65 |
| Monthly terminal rental | $20 | $30 |
| Annual charge divided by 12 | $10 | $0 |
| Comparable monthly cost | $2,285 | $2,235 |
For Offer A, terminal processing is $60,000 × 2.60% + 300 × $0.10 = $1,590. Remote processing is $20,000 × 3.10% + 100 × $0.20 = $640. Adding the other listed charges produces $2,285.
Offer B is $50 lower per month, or $600 over twelve identical months. Its lower terminal rate saves money here despite its higher recurring charges. Dividing the complete monthly cost by $80,000 produces an illustrative effective rate of about 2.86% for A and 2.79% for B.
The $10 monthly allocation in A represents a $120 annual bill. Put that bill on its actual payment date in your cash forecast. Neither effective rate includes unlisted events, upfront purchases, or a change in transaction mix.
For an interchange-plus proposal, obtain the underlying interchange and network-cost assumptions separately from the processor's markup. Do not compare that markup alone with another provider's complete rate. Ask for a low-volume opening scenario and a scenario with more remote payments using the same method.
Turn missing charges into written answers
Have the provider mark each potential charge as included, separately priced, or inapplicable. Cover setup, gateway access, statement delivery, monthly minimums, security-validation services, refunds, disputes, retrieval requests, expedited payouts, replacement devices, and account closure.
For refunds, ask whether the original processing charge returns, whether a new fee applies, and how the debit reaches the practice. Connect the answer to the patient refund workflow so staff can trace the money without promising a bank's completion date.
Keep fee events separate from the disputed or refunded principal. Returning $200 to a patient is not itself a $200 processing fee. A useful comparison shows transaction costs and potential cash withdrawals in different columns.
Follow the money from payment to bank availability
Ask the provider to explain three milestones: a payment is accepted, its funds become available for payout, and the bank makes the deposit available to the practice. Stripe's documentation, for example, distinguishes settlement timing from the payout schedule and notes that a receiving bank can add time. Apply your selected provider's written terms to the actual account. Stripe's payout explanation.
Record cutoff times, weekend and holiday treatment, initial funding conditions, holds or reserves, failed deposits, and notice of deductions. Ask whether a large payment or unusual volume can trigger review and which documents the office would need to provide.
Require a sample reconciliation showing gross payments, refunds, fees, other adjustments, and the resulting deposit. Confirm whether charges are netted from deposits or billed separately. The person reconciling the bank should be able to explain each difference.
Inspect the terminal and the exit together
Identify who owns each device, which processors it supports, and what happens after cancellation. A rented terminal and a separately financed terminal may have different return or payment obligations. Ask about installation, support, replacements, connectivity, and software dependencies before accepting equipment.
Have counsel review the processing and equipment documents together: initial term, renewal, notice method, termination charges, personal guarantees, remaining equipment payments, and access to historical statements. Write out the steps for leaving after one year and after the initial term. Include returning devices and resolving outstanding disputes.
Assign security duties and rehearse checkout
Outsourcing processing does not remove the merchant's responsibility for protecting account data. PCI SSC calls for verifying the provider's compliance, written responsibility agreements, monitoring, and clarity about shared duties. Confirm the office's validation obligations with its acquirer or payment brand. PCI SSC guidance on outsourced processing.
Map where payment information enters, which systems handle it, and who may issue refunds or change banking details. Keep full card details out of general notes and messages. Incorporate the processor's requirements into the opening IT checklist.
Before accepting the setup, use provider-approved test methods to rehearse a payment, receipt, declined transaction, refund, and deposit reconciliation. Choose the proposal whose complete economics and daily responsibilities the practice can explain and operate.
