Interchange fee” is a term used in the payment card industry to describe a fee that a merchant’s bank (the “acquiring bank”) pays a customer’s bank (the “issuing bank”) when merchants accept cards using card networks, such as Visa and MasterCard, for purchases. Although Visa and MasterCard determine Interchange rates, the fees are not retained […]
With 80% of online shoppers using credit cards, you can’t afford NOT to take credit cards. Did you know that merchants offering credit cards as a payment option increase their profitability by estimated 50%? With the inherent advantages involving credit card processing, should you really go with your initial instinct and choose the cheapest option? […]
Non-Qualified I frequently get calls from merchants who say they were quoted one rate, but claim different rates are showing up on their statements. Unfortunately, merchants can experience a rate increase or surcharge because of the type of card your customers are using, such as sky miles cards and rewards cards. Another cause of increased […]
Are Credit Card the Same? Not all credit cards are the same. No I don’t mean they are different colors, or have different designs on them. Different card issuers have cards types of cards. So how do people know they are picking the right credit card? There are cards that have rewards programs, cards with […]
Credit card processing has been around for many years in some form or another. Back on the “Little House on the Prairie,” the Olsen general store allowed consumers to pay for items on an account. All the consumers were kept in a log book and paid when they could. We have evolved as a nation, […]
Every day more businesses are going out of business and layoffs continue to plague the nation. The traditional brick-and mortar merchant may slowly become a thing of the past. Many are trying their hand at home-based businesses and internet ventures. Over the past year we have seen a significant rise in companies like mortgage restructuring, […]
It is amazing to me how many different sized businesses still are not accepting credit cards as a form of payment, and do not know about other value-added products. Many business owners I have talked to that do not accept credit cards at their business seem to have the same two objections. The first reason […]
I would say that the merchant services industry is competitive, and even cut throat in some cases. Many merchants have been taken advantage of by credit card processors’ ads of low teaser rates and costly equipment. I was working on a very large merchant account this past week and felt that the proposal we put […]
VISA and MasterCard Rules and Regulations Many merchant violations of the VISA and MasterCard rules don’t even know they have committed a violation. Most stores don’t have any procedural information about how to process a credit card sale as part of their employee training other than hitting the “sale” button, and why should they? Are […]
If your merchant account is set up to accept only credit cards (i.e. you are on online merchant or you do not have the ability to accept PIN-based transactions), then the answer is simple – you can only accept credit card transactions at this time. If you accept POS (Point of Sale or in-person) transactions, […]
