For many credit unions, EMV conversion means adding new vendor services and re-evaluating others. But when pricing transparency is hard to come by, it's hard to know how much is too much to pay for services such as plastic and processing, leaving many credit unions wondering whether the guy down the street is getting a better deal.

People in the vendor management business have the unique perspective of knowing what everyone else is paying. They negotiate pricing with vendors on behalf of credit unions, and often they only get paid when they find savings for their clients (a 30% cut isn't unusual). CU Times asked three of them where credit unions tend to overpay and what they can do about it. Here are a few of their secrets to getting better deals from vendors, especially during EMV conversion.

Don't assume price is final.