Merchant Account Blog & Credit Card Processing Blog

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Consumer Credit Line Cutting Has Begun !!!!!!

Starting last December, credit card companies have begun to cut credit card limits on consumer credit cards. The cut backs seem to be across the board for all consumers, as even cardholders with +700 credit ratings are feeling the pinch. In an effort to reduce their risk, credit card companies will put a strange on the average business owner, by not only cutting their credit lines, but reduce the buying power of consumers and other business owners, as well.

These actions are sure to increase the pain of the current recession, by snowballing the slowing spending on both the consumer side and the business investment side. As spending slow’s, more jobs will be cut, more mortgages in default, and more folks seeking the social safety nets of welfare.

We firmly believe that things will get worse, before they get better.

Today, we had a new President sworn in, as the 44th President of the United States. We’ve handed the reins to a social idealist, with many Anti-Capitalistic Idea’s in his heart.

Not sure if this is a time for social change, when financial growth is the crisis that will destroy the well-being of every American.

SOCIAL CHANGE ??????  FINANCIAL CRISIS ??????

God Bless America !!!!!!       DIGG THIS NOW !!!!!!

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

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Understanding Your Merchant Account Responsibities !!!!

If you are shopping for a new merchant account, you need to understand what you are getting into. Many times business owners are in a rush to set-up credit card processing for their business, they overlook the fact that they are entering into a contract that has many responsibilities and rules to abide by.

Many times merchants will find out the hard way, by being fined or getting their merchant account shut down. In some instances, merchants are “TMF’d” which means they lose their privilege to accept credit cards in the future. It surely make more sense to understand your responsibilities and model your business to conform with the rules set-forth by Visa and Mastercard.

Accepting Credit Cards - A Privilege:

Understand that being accepted to accept credit cards is a privilege, not your right !!!! Should you take this lightly, you could find yourself losing this privilege, permanently. That’s right, permanently !!!! You could personally be banned from ever accepting credit cards, for any business endeavor in the future. 

Unhappy Customers Can Destroy You:

An unhappy customer can create havoc on your business. Credit card holder’s have the right to call their credit card company and dispute a transaction on their credit card. These disputes have the potential of becoming a “Chargeback” to your business. A chargeback is simply a reversal of the charge, from your bank account, back to the customers card. These reversals come with very stiff fines to the business owner and could get your account terminated. Here some key points to avoiding chargebacks.

• Offer A Superior Product Or Service
• Quickly Resolve Customer Service Issues
• 100% Unconditional Return Policy
• Toll Free Customer Support
• Maintain Signatures + Shipping Records

Exceeding Volume Limit’s:

Every merchant account agreement has an “Average Monthly Volume” amount for Visa & Matercard. During your approval process, this amount is underwritten by the processor and is usually based on the credit scores of the merchant. If you are approved for that amount, you must process within the limit.

Should the limit become an issue, you must call in to ask that it be re-evaluated by the underwriting department. If your credit scores are too low, you may not get an increase.

If you simply ignore this limit, at some point your account will be shut-off.

Exceeding Ticket Limit’s:

Every merchant account agreement has an “Average Ticket” amount for Visa & Mastercard. Again, during the approval process, this amount is underwritten based on your credit scores. From an underwriting stand point, the higher the ticket, the higher the risk. If your account is approved for a certain ticket amount, you must process within that limit. Occasional “High Tickets” should be disclosed on the application, prior to underwriting. Contacting your “Risk Department”, prior to running high tickets is advised.

If you simply ignore this limit, your account could be terminated.

Honor All Cards:

Every merchant account agreement has a “Honor All Cards” Claus. This means as a Visa / Mastercard Merchant, you are bound to honor every credit card transaction presented to your business. That tiny sign at your local diner that states, “$10 Credit Card Minimum” is in direct violation of the terms of the merchant account agreement.

You cannot charge a “Surcharge” on credit card transactions either, this would also be in violation of the merchant agreemnet, as well.

Reserve Account:At any time, at the sole discretion of the bank, the bank has the right to place funds on hold in a non-interest barring reserve account. Reserve account is to protect the bank from future losses due to fines, chargebacks, ect that may come through your merchant account. Hold time-frame will be determined by the bank and is usually for long enough time period to cover future customer chargebacks.

In Conclusion:

As you can see, “Your Privilege” to accept Visa & Mastercard comes with many duties and responsibilities. Failure to comply, could prove to be very costly and cause your account to get “Terminated” and potentially lose your credit card processing privilege in future business endeavours. Play it safe, understand the rules and play by them.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.

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

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Understanding Different Merchant Account Types

Today we are going to discuss different types of merchant accounts for credit card processing. Their are different methoods of payments, such as face-to-face retail sales, telephone orders, fax orders, ecommerce orders, and wireless point-of-sale transactions. We will discuss each transaction type in detail below.

RETAIL - Face To Face / Swiped Card Transactions

We are all familiar with making a credit card purchase at a retail location, where our credit card is physically swiped through a credit card machine. Card information is transmitted via phone-line or tcp/ip internet connection. Card is authorized and the transaction is approved or declined. Customer signature is required and maintained by the merchant for future reference.

These transaction types receive the Best Rate for the merchant, as the card is present and signatures are verified at the point-of-sale.

KEYED - Telephone Order / Fax Order

A “Keyed” credit card merchant account is for businesses that take’s credit cards from customers who are not present to swipe through a credit card machine. Customers card information is manually keyed into a credit card machine, credit card processing software, or online virtual terminal. Card data is transmitted and verified, including customer address, zip code, and cvv2 information.

These transactions are of higher risk of fraud and typically cost slightly more in fee’s.

E-COMMERCE - Internet Sales / Order Entry

Ecommerce transactions are originated on the interent. Going to an online store, adding things to a shopping cart, and finally clicking “Check-Out”. The customer enter’s in the card information, address information, and the cvv2 code from the back of the card. Information is securely passed and authorized in real-time. Merchants as a rule, never see the customerrs card number for added security.

These transactions are of higher risk of fraud and typically cost slightly more in fee’s.

WIRELESS - Mobile Merchant / Off-Site Sales

Lastly we have a Wireless Merchant Account, where the merchant processes credit cards using a wireless point-of-sale device. Credit cards are swiped through the terminal and data is passed through a wireless signal, which is enqripted for security purposes. Transaction is approved or declined and a signature is required on the receipt. These devices are also becomming popular at restaurant settings, where the device is handed to the customer and the card never leaves the customers hand.

These transactions are considered “Retail”, as the card is present and swiped through a machine.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.

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

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Saving Money On Your Merchant Account Fee’s !!!!!!!!!!

Saving money on your merchant account & credit card processing fee’s has never been more simple. We have put together a program to save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in fees, depending on your current monthly volume. Perfect solution for any business owner looking to cut cost’s.

INTERCHANGE PLUS PRICING - Start Saving Today !!!!!

In the past, this program has been reserved for High Volume Chains, such as Wal-Mart or McDonalds. We have opened the flood gates for any business size to profit from the savings. For those of you who are not familiar with the term “Interchange”, interchange is the cost passed on by Visa & Mastercard which accounts for the majority of your transaction cost’s. Interchange consists of several hundred catagorys which any transaction could fall under. Here and links to the most recent Interchange Schedule’s for Visa and Mastercard, as you will see this is quite complicated.

To simplify matters, most merchant account’s are on a “Tiered System”, consisting of Qualified, Non-Qualified, and maybe Mid-Qualified rate. These tier’s cover any downgrades by Visa or Mastercard in which certain transactions may fall. This simplifies “Interchange”, but alway’s cost’s more in credit card processing fee’s to a merchant on the Tiered System.

BOTTOM LINE - SAVING MONEY LIKE THE BIG BOY’S !!!!!!

We are now offering “Interchange Plus Pricing” to merchants of any size. Previously reserved for large corporations, this pricing schedule will saving you money on your credit card processing fee’s and is available to any merchant account, regardless of size.

Call us immediately for a cost analysis and began saving like the big boy’s.

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Merchant accounts processing with 1st National Processing can put there fears aside with becomming PCI Compliant with the complicated standards recently set-forth by Visa & Mastercard. We have simplified the process, making it quite simple for our merchants who process with us.

First, we have painless online survey which will walk you through each step of completing your Self Assessment Questionaire, required for PCI Compliance. Once the “SAQ” is completed, you will receive an email if you need to perform a “Quarterly PCI Scan” of your website or network. You will then receive instructions by mail for performing any required PCI Scans.

Lastly, if you are required to perform PCI Scans the cost is included in our Annual PCI Compliance Fee of only $30.00. This minimal fee is cheap when compared to other processors, who charge $79-$99 and expect you to become PCI Compliant on your own.

If you are looking for more information on PCI Compliance, here’s a great 10 Minute Video that will educate you on the subject.

1st National Processing Customers can begin the PCI Compliance Process by clicking here.

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

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Merchant Account Rates - Credit Card Processing Rates

Merchant account rates and fees can vary from processor to processor. Unerstanding rates are key to finding the best overall merchant account rate for your business. We will look at each variable when searching for the best credit card processing rates.

Swiped Credit Card Rates: Credit card transactions which are “Swiped” through a credit card machine are usually fall around 1.69% - 1.79% depending on the processor. These levels usually bundel both Signatute Debt Transactions and Credit Card Transactions branded with either Visa or Mastercard Logos.

Keyed Credit Card Rates: Transactions where the customers card is not present and the card number is “Keyed” into credit card processing software or ecommerce merchant account where the customer manually inputs credit card information, the rate usually falls around 2.39% - 2.49% keyed.

Mid Qualified Rates: These rates are assessments by Visa & Mastercard and will vary by processors. Usually this tier is for Rewards Cards, branded either Visa or Mastercard.

Non-Quailified Rates: Again, these are assessments by Visa & Mastercard and do vary bt processor. This tier is for International Cards, Business Cards, Corporate Cards, Government Cards, and any keyed transaction that is un-qualified or lacks AVS Fraud Controls. Discount rate tier regulations.

Pin-Based Debt Transactions: These retail transactions require a Pin Number Authorization and usually price at $0.35 + 0.75% of the dollar amount. A PCI-Compliant pin-pad is required and is not
available for phone-order or ecommerce transactions.

Split Signature Debt / Credit Card Rates:  These rates are split into two catagories, seperating Signature Debit and Credit Card transactions. Usually priced at 1.39% Signature Debit and 1.89% Credit Card. Be careful here, as if your business accepts mostly credit cards, you will pay more.

Transaction Fee: Transaction fee’s cover the transmission cost and usually price between $0.20 and $0.30 depending on your processor and transaction processing methood. May include end-of-day batching of the day’s transactions for payment to your account.

Statement Fee: Each month you receive a monthly merchant account statement of transactions forr the previous month and usually prices between $10-$12 per month.

Minimum Fee: This fee is charged to Low-Volume Business doing less than $25 Month in discount rates fees. Often used to off-set free equipment placements to low-volume businesses.

Annual Fee: Merchant’s are usually charged a annual fee on the aniversry of their account. Fee will vary and can usually be waived.

Chargeback Fee: Customer disputes that result in a Chargeback are charged between $25-$35 per instance. Chargeback Prevention is needed as your merchant account can be “Closed” for excessive chargebacks.

Application Fee: This fee has pretty much disappeared, industry-wide.

If you are looking to SAVE MONEY on your credit card processing, please give me a call imediately.

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

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Today is one of the best times in history to apply for a merchant account to accept credit cards at your business. You will find free credit card terminals being offered by many offices in return for your business. Credit card processing has become a must for most businesses and the competition between providers is fierce. This competition in my opinion is the result of the internet, with business owners being more educated by searching for the best deal on credit card processing.

Free equipment like; free credit card machine, free credit card software, and free ecommerce solutions are slowly becomming the norm on the internet. This competition was sparked a couple of years ago and may continue for the near future. No one know when they will “Pull The Plug” on free equipment, but for now it is available and everyone should take advantage of it.

If you are thinking about setting up credit card processing for your business or are thinking about switching your provider, for a much better rate, please give me a call to discuss your needs. We offer free equipment on all new merchant accounts for credit card processing.   

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

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Businesses looking to use credit card processing software to process credit card transactions, should be thrilled to know that we are giving away free credit card processing software with every new merchant account. The software is perfect for retail merchants running transactions at the point-of-sale, using a mini card reader connected to their pc or mac system. Even more exciting, the software is perfect for merchants taking credit cards over the telephone, fax machine, or internet. These business types would include; phone-order, homebased, office billing, internet merchants, or any business type where the credit card to not present.

The credit card processing software will quickly install on any pc or mac computer. The software has a very small foot-print and can be called up from your desktop. Best of all it’s free !!!! Secondly, you have free lifetime technical support and all future upgrades are absolutely free. The software can bw downloaded immediately after your merchant account is approved.

If you have any questions about our Free Credit Card Processing Software, please give me a call.

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

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Accepting credit cards from customers over the telephone has become accepted and is a very popular payment method. Customers today actually prefer the convenience and are willing to give out their credit card information to a stranger over the telephone. Getting approved for a phone order merchant account has also become much easier as banks have also embraced the concept. Underwriters main concern is your product type and a fairly good credit rating on the principal of the business. Provided you are not selling phone-sex, you should have no problem getting approved for a phone order merchant account.

Credit card processing equipment is necessary to process your customers transaction. Choices to process credit cards will include a credit card machine, credit card processing software, or a ecommerce terminal.Cost can vary and most large credit card processors will offer Free Equipment with a phone order merchant account. Be sure to shop around for someone who can provide the best products at a fair price.

If you have any questions about phone order merchant accounts, please give me a call.

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

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