Merchant Account Blog & Credit Card Processing Blog

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Pizza restaurants accepting credit cards are usually paying more in fees than necessary. Pizzeria’s have special needs that are often overlooked when they set-up their merchant account. First problem, is the fact that most inner-city pizzeria’s do free delivery to the customers door. Some businesses do 30%-40% in deliveries where the customer’s credit card is not “Swiped” at the point os sale. These transactions are “Keyed” in at a later point. If this merchant is set-up as a “Retail” business, all of their delivery business credit card sales are being surcharged at a “Non Qualified Rate” which can run as high as 4 Percent.

One solution to this problem would be to add a Wireless Terminal, so the credit card can be “Swiped” at the customers door, so that the transaction would be a Qualified “Swiped” Transaction. Another solution would be to set-up the merchant as a “Phone-Order” business, so the merchant is Quailfied To Key Transactions. Keep in mind the qualified rate would be slightly higher that the retail rate.

A fast audit of your credit card processing statements can determine the best route to save you money. If you have any questions, please grab your current statements and give me a call. I’m confident that we can save you money on your credit card processing fees.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Convenience Store Merchant Account

Accepting credit cards at a convenience store is a must in today’s marketplace. Getting the best rate is equally important to be competitive in your business. We offer special pricing for C-Stores with good monthly sales volumes. Now, convenience store owners can receive special pricing, once only reserved for corporations like WalMart. Saving money on your credit card processing rates & fees has never been more important for convenience store merchant account owners, as we move into a slowing economy.

OTHER C-STORE PRODUCTS:

Convenience store owners looking to reduce their expenses should grab their current statements and give me a call to immediately cut their current credit card processing costs. We look forward to working with you.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Moments ago the US House Of Representatives passed the bail-out package. As this is an necessary evil, I’m confident that we’ve diverted an immediate crisis in the credit markets. I do feel that the damage to consumer confedence will linger in the comming months and an economic slow down is inevidable.

Hopefully the consumer’s will suprise the markets, as we move forward into the Holiday Season.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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PIN-BASED DEBIT CARD TRANSACTIONS  ( “Online Debit” )

Pin-based debit card transactions can only be performed at the point-of-sale, as they require the customer to enter their pin number, into a pci-compliant pin-pad. These are also referred to as “Online Debit Transactions”, as the pin-number is verified through the appropriate pin network.

The pin number is verified by the Pin Network and the funds are pulled from the customers checking account. There are several different networks, including Star, InterLink, NYCE, Maestro, each of which charges a different interchange fee.

Recent increases in the Pin-Network fees, have forced a Percentage to be added to the merchant account fees paid by merchants that accept pin-based debit trransaction. Fees average $0.35 per transaction, plus a percentage rate of 0.75% of the transaction amount. In most cases, pin-based debit is still the cheapest transaction methood for retail businesss.

SIGNATURE BASED DEBIT TRANSACTIONS ( “Off-Line Debit” )

Debit cards “Branded” by Visa or Mastercard will pass through as a “Signature Based” transaction and require a signature, at the point-of-sale. These transactions are subject to Visa Interchange or Mastercard Interchange, depending on their branding. Merchants will be assessed the appropiate rate, very similar too a credit card transaction. These card types are also the only Debit Card types that can be used on the internet or over the telephone, as a pin number is not required.

Inconclussion, retail merchants can save money on their credit card processing fees by adding a pin-pad and signing up pin-based debit. The higher your average ticket, greater the savings.

Give me a call to discuss how much money you can save by accepting pin-based debit transactions.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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PAY AT PUMPS | MERCHANT ACCOUNT | SAVE THOUSANDS


Gas station owners are in a very competitive business. Every possible edge over the competition is a must to compete in this industry. Saving money on credit card processing can be a lucrative edge over your competitor down the street, who has not analyzed his merchant account expenses.

When you are working on pennies, your credit card processing rates and fees matter. Understanding what those transactions cost workout to on an average basis is key. If your average gas purchase is $40, you need to understand what your current cost is on that card transaction. This cost could really be eating away at your profits, if this goes unchecked.

We can offer you an interchage plus pricing program, at a small fraction above true interchange cost. This program is usually reserved for high volume accounts, but we are now offering it to independant gas station owners of all sizes. We can even included your in-store sales of food & convenience products. We even offer Fleet-Card acceptence like Wright Express and Voyager cards.

Grab your most recent credit card processing statements and give me a call. I’m confident that we can save you money, making your business more competitive.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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As we face these uncertain times in the worldwide financial markets, it seems that Ecommerce Sales may be resilient, even if we face a economic downturn and potentiel recession in the United States. According to a recent article in Barron’s, Jeff Lindsey reports that dispite a slowing economy, he forecasts Ecommerce Transactions to grow 14.3% in the US in 2008.

Online merchants should also benefit from the rising cost of fuel, as many customers would prefer saving the time & gasoline expense of traveling to make a purchase. Ecommerce merchants offering Free Shipping will really make it a “No Brainer” for the consumer looking to save money.

Lastly, online merchants selling products abroad, will benefit from the “Lower Dollar”, as foreign consumers can purchase products & services at a discount.

If you are looking to save money on your credit card processing fees and merchant account rates, please feel free to give me a call on getting your overall cost a an affordable level.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Getting the best rate on credit card processing is most important for any business with a mercant account. Many merchants were never really trained properly and small mistakes could be costing them unnecessary costs. First of all, transactions must be batched or setteled out each evening or you run the risk of all those transactions being surcharged as Non-Qualified transactions by Visa or Mastercard. Be sure that you are closing all batches within 24 Hours to avoid the penalty.

Next, if you are “Keying” a card number rather than “Swiping” it, Visa & Mastercard require that AVS Information be attempted and passed-through with the transaction data. This includes the “Street Number” and “Zip Code” of the customer, along with the “CVV2″ code on the back of the credit card. If this information is Not Attemped, the transaction will be surcharged as a Non-Quailified transcation by Visa or Mastercard. Aside from avoiding a surcharge, this information will assist merchants in reducing the risk of an expensive chargeback and the fees associated with them.

SAVE MONEY ON YOUR CREDIT CARD PROCESSING COSTS:

If you are looking to reduce your overall cost on credit card processing, please grab you current processing statements and give me a call. We can do a line-by-line comparsion and save you hundreds if not thousands, on your current credit card processing costs.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Visa has announced changes in Interchange Rates, due to take effect on October 3rd, 2008. For the most part, the average merchant should not feel any pain. As most of you know, “Interchange” is a complcated mass of different catagories for different transaction types. Seems that for the most part, the major change is the addition of the following New Interchange Catagories:

Debt Repayment -This category allows agencies that take payment for auto loans, student loans and mortgages to pay a lower rate. This Interchange category does not apply to past due debt such as items in collections.

Pay at the Pump - This fee is a reduction. Consumer credit cards used at gas pumps have been lowered by as much as .50 basis points. Prepaid gas cards will also now be to “Partial Authorization.” Some examples of these types of cards are Shell Cards and Wright Express cards.

Tax Payments - This program is a requirement for all merchants. There will be no cost for the program until April 1, 2009, but a convenience fee may be assessed. This fee may vary for consumer credit cards and commercial credit cards. For consumer debit transactions, a flat fee may be assessed and cannot exceed $3.95.

Government to Government - This category has gone up by .25 basis points for transactions over $8,750. The $5,000 minimum has been removed and Level 2 and Level 3 data is not required.

Again, most business owners will not be effected by the changes. Gas stations actually will benefit and will hopefully pass that savings on to the consumer, as Visa had intended to help consumers with the high cost of gasoline in this change.

If you have any questions or are looking to Save Money On Processing Costs, please give me a call.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Merchants who need to process transactions from remote locations, without power or telephone lines, can apply for a wireless merchant account. Transactions must be initiated from a location where the wireless signal is available. Please note, wireless coverage area may vary and not all locations are covered. Please check signal strength on the coverage map and again note that signals will vary and are not guaranteed.

FREE NURIT 8000 GPRS

While supplies last, we are offering a Free Nurit 8000 GPRS for all new wireless merchant account applications. Terminal includes Free UPS Ground Shipping, Free Programming, and Free Set-Up. We waived the wireless activation fee and your equipment will come, plug-n-play. All we ask it that you return the equipment when closing your merchant account and credit card processing. It’s that simple.

If you have any questions on our wireless merchant account, please give us a call.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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Understanding your merchant account and the risk associated with it are very important, when it comes to avoiding disaster. Merchant account risk can vary from business type to business type. Lets look at a “Retail” business first. A customer comes in your store and purchases $300 worth of merchandise. You run the credit card and customer signs receipt. In this senario the purchase was made with a stolen credit card. Thirty days from now, the true card holder receives their statement and disputes the charge. Guess who is responsible for that charge…the merchant. The merchant has received stolen money and the charge will be reversed. This is just one risk associated with a merchant account.

Another senerio for “Ecommerce”, you receive an order huge order for 10,000 Widgets and run down to your post office to ship it. Three weeks from now the customers call his credit card company and says, “I did not receive the order”. You have not proof that you mail it or he received it, becuase you used the post office. This charge will be reversed at your expense.

You need to be aware of the risks and try to avoid problems. A sound plan for avoiding chargebacks should be put in place and you should always be aware of potenial problems. We put together a pdf about avoiding the pitfalls of a chargeback, take a look.

If you have any questions about merchant account risk or avoiding chargebacks, please give me a call.

MARK SANDS
1st National Processing
http://www.usa-merchantaccount.com
1-866 828-8683

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