Transparent Financial Services (FeeFighters.com), a leading marketplace for businesses seeking financial services, has today announced that small retailers may overpay an estimated $73 million for credit card processing during an already tight holiday season. As a result of weak predicted sales, retailers are looking to cut operating costs as much as possible in order to maximize revenue.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted at least a 1% drop in retail sales for the holiday season due to continued consumer uncertainty regarding job security and housing values. The American Research Group predicts sales to drop between 2.5%-4.5%.

One area where retailers can easily cut costs is payment processing. An analysis of FeeFighters visitors shows that retailers are expected to overpay for credit card processing by more than $73 million in December alone.

Retail Businesses with Less than 250 Employees – December 2009
Est. Processing Fees as % of Revenue 2.18%
FeeFighters.com Savings 42%
Overpayment for Credit Card Processing $72,830,000

FeeFighters helps retailers quickly and easily cut processing costs with comparison shopping for credit card processors. Retailers go through a simple auction process and in minutes receive highly competitive bids from top quality processors who can save them an average of 42% on current processing costs. These savings represent almost a quarter of the estimated drop in revenue that is expected due to the sluggish economy.

The smallest retailers often get the worst deal on credit card processing and have the best opportunity to save by getting a better deal. Bookworm, a bookstore in Edwards, CO (population 10,000) is another FeeFighters customer. By having processors bid for their business on FeeFighters, Bookworm was able to cut 0.60% from its processing costs, saving around $5,000 per year. “As an independent local business we knew in a tighter economy we needed to save on some of the necessities of running our business,” says Nicole Magistro, an owner of Bookworm. “We had tried shopping around credit card processing before and it was always a big time drain and hard to compare the various rates. Especially during the holidays when we are incredibly busy, we don’t have the time to spend comparison shopping. FeeFighters gave us some great options for credit card processors, saved us a lot of money and made it really easy, saving us time.”

Online retailer RightChannelRadios.com, a leading retailer of mobile and handheld 40 channel CB radios also utilized FeeFighters to save money. Andrew Youdarian, of RightChannelRadios.com, was impressed by how simple the process was. “While I knew I was likely paying too much for credit card processing, the complex nature of the industry kept me from exploring my options,” he says. “After using FeeFighters’ online calculator, I quickly learned I was likely spending significantly more on processing than I needed to! I applied with them the same day, and was up-and-running quickly with a new, reputable processor that is saving me literally hundreds of dollars in fees each month! The best thing about FeeFighters’ service is the money they save us goes directly to our bottom line. Using FeeFighters was, by far, the easiest thing I’ve done all year to increase our company’s net income.”

“TransFS.com is one of the easiest and fastest ways that a retail business owner can make up for lost revenue this holiday season.” explains Sean Harper, CEO of FeeFighters.com.

FeeFighters services are available free of charge at FeeFighters.com.

About FeeFighters.com
FeeFighters.com is an online comparison-shopping service that enables business owners to shop for credit card processing services quickly, efficiently, and at no cost. FeeFighters evens the playing field for business owners, letting them keep more of their money without time-consuming, annoying sales calls from service providers. FeeFighters employs instant reverse auctions to quickly negotiate better deals, automated bill analysis software to identify unnecessary or undisclosed fees, a stringent certification program and an online ratings and reputation.

###

Contact:

Stella Fayman
309.368.5987
stella@feefighters.com