Comparing rate quotes from one merchant services processor to another can be challenging. There are after all over 1000 different rates and fees categories! The wholesale interchange rates vary based on whether the card is swiped, keyed in, or accepted from an eCommerce site. The rates also vary depending on the industry accepting the card payment. They also vary depending on whether the card is … Read More
Merchant Services Contracts that Scam the Merchant!
Most Merchant Services providers have a contract for 3 years. The provider incurs expenses setting up your merchant account and therefore wants to ensure that you keep processing with them for a minimum of 3 years. Should you want to switch to another processor and cancel your agreement before the 3 years is up, you incur an “Early Termination Fee”. Many times this fee is … Read More
The Story About Running a Super Large Credit Card Transaction!
One of our merchants recently tried to run a $480,000 transaction! It got declined at the terminal. They had run $200,000 transactions before, but this new one wouldn’t go through! So why not? Doesn’t the processor want that amount of money running through their coffers? Not necessarily, here is the story. Credit card processing companies assume the risk of chargebacks if the merchant does not … Read More
Next Day Funding for Credit Card Processing Deposits!
Surprisingly, there are still a lot of merchants who are still waiting a couple or three days to get their credit card deposits! We thought that next day funding was automatic, but apparently it is not. Most processors have an option to batch before 6 or 8 PM EST in order for a merchant to receive deposits the next morning. The time varies slightly between … Read More
Three Problems Stand Out in The Merchant Services Industry!
Dishonesty in Salespeople Presenting Merchant Fees for Payment Processing! 1-800-IGNORE-ME for Customer Service! Sneaky Rates and Fee Increases Over Time! Refer Us to Solve One of These Problems & Receive a $100 Gift Card by Filling Out a Message on our Contact Us Page Dishonesty in Presenting Merchant Fees for Payment Processing Every merchant wants low rates. The challenge for merchant services is in understanding … Read More
Understanding Credit Card Processing Rates and Fees!
Let me educate you so you, too, can avoid getting sucked into a contract from a scammer salesman. There are three determinations of the fees for accepting credit cards: the interchange cost, the brand fees, and the processor’s surcharge. a. The interchange cost. This is the rate and transaction fee set by the bank associations to collect “interest” on the money “loaned” to the cardholder … Read More
Credit Card Processing Rates – Are You Paying Tiered Pricing or Cost-Plus Pricing?
Tiered Pricing With this pricing format, the processor throws all transactions into three buckets with only three rates. Generally, one bucket is for swiped transactions, one for keyed transactions and rewards cards, and a third for business cards or keyed-in rewards cards. The buckets are called qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified. This pricing system allows for an easy to understand merchant statement because there are only … Read More
Mobile Payment Processing for Item Pickup
During the COVID epidemic, and because of the concerns to maintain social distancing, consumers are looking for new ways to shop, purchase, and pay for the things they want to buy. Consumers want to order online, pick up items, without getting out of their car, and they want a seamless way to use digital payment processing without having to pull their credit cards out of … Read More
The Famous “Restaurant Server Theft“ Soda Pop Game!
The famous Soda Pop Game is played with a POS system, by splitting tickets. Only instead of splitting the cost between two people at a table, the drinks are split off to an open ticket. This server theft works when patrons are paying with cash. Let’s say Table #1 orders two meals and two sodas. Before the server presents the ticket, he casually asks whether … Read More
Should Merchants Accept Pin Debit Cards?
It used to be cheaper to take pin debit cards via the debit networks instead of through the credit card interchange networks. That means that you would take the card and the customer would enter his pin number. The debit networks are Pulse, Maestro, Interline, Jeanie, NYCE, Star and others. But since the Dodd Frank Act, it is cheaper to take debit cards just … Read More