Merchant Services Are Much Quicker Than The Post Office

What do the merchant services providers actually do?

Think of them like a post office. If you want to send an invoice to your customer in the next state, you take it to the post office and pay them a small fee and they take it there for you, saving you gasoline and time and effort. The customer can then go to the post office and send his funds back to you in the same way.

When you swipe or key in the customer’s credit or debit card number and code, it is as though you have just gone to the post office to ask them to deliver your letter. Except, of course, for the fact that instead of waiting 2-3 days for the letter to get there, and another 2-3 days for the check to come back, and then another week for the check to clear, you get your payment immediately. It does take a few days before everything is clear and it is credited to your bank account, but it is still a lot faster than the old pony express.