Payment processing for marketing agencies: retainers and projects

The best processor is the one that fits your workflow, so compare on that. Look at how it handles retainers, milestone invoices and reimbursed spend, the total cost across your real card mix, software fit, support and reconciliation. Ask each provider for an itemized written quote and compare line by line. We will show you the flow and give you a written quote for your agency.

The cost depends on your card mix, ticket size and channels, so there is no one figure. We price every account on interchange-plus: interchange at cost, your RapidCents markup set out in your Fee Schedule, and fees for equipment or services, if applicable. It is month to month with no fixed term. Run a Fee Check on a statement to see interchange separately from markup.

Yes. RapidBridge works with Harvest, so clients can pay a Harvest invoice by card through RapidCents while your team keeps working in Harvest. For Productive, Scoro and other tools, RapidCents integrates with many major platforms through APPIE and RapidBridge. The right option depends on your vendor and version; your RapidCents representative will walk you through it.

List stored cards and authorizations, retainer schedules, open invoices, refunds and project references before you move. Keep your reports and exports from the old processor. Test a sale, a refund and a deposit on the new one, then run both in parallel. Whether stored cards can move depends on both providers, so if they cannot, ask clients for fresh authorization.

Marketing agencies can generally accept credit and debit cards by link, invoice, phone or terminal, and can add bank payments for larger retainers. The settlement currency and bank options depend on the country of your merchant account. RapidCents serves merchants in Canada and the United States, and your representative will walk you through what fits.

Store the client's authorized card on a Customer Profile and schedule the charge with Recurring Payments. Agree the amount, the date and the cancellation terms in writing first. If a charge fails, retries and notices run, and an Account Updater may refresh the card. Finance then reconciles each settled charge to the client account.

Send each as its own invoice or Payment Link with a project reference, apart from the retainer. Milestones are billed when the client signs off on a phase, and reimbursements go out with the vendor invoice attached. If a client disputes one line, the others remain settled.

Send a Payment Link by email or text message for the agreed deposit, or attach it to an invoice or a signed statement of work. The client pays on any device, and the deposit is recorded against the project. Set the refund terms in the statement of work, because a cancelled shoot or sprint may need a partial refund.

Put the client, project code and purchase order number on every invoice or Payment Link. That reference follows the payment into Reporting, so finance can match a settled deposit to a job. Your operational software stays the system of record for the project, and your accounting software holds the ledger.

Compare the total cost of each at your typical retainer size, the client's preference, authorization needs and how failures are handled. Card payments give faster confirmation and a dispute path for the client, while a bank payment suits a large, predictable amount. Get the client's authorization in writing before any bank debit.

MCC 7311 is commonly associated with advertising services and agencies. Your onboarding contact sets the right merchant category based on what your agency actually sells. If you also resell media, print or software, tell them so the full business is described accurately.