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Merchant's
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
Accept
Merchant Services
How do I know what credit card terminal I will need?
Why do I need credit card equipment? Can I
use touch tone services?
Can I use a sliding imprinter and turn in my receipts
for processing?
Should I go with Internet or a terminal?
I want to accept credit cards on my web site.
What do I need to do?
Why are there different processing rates?
How long does it take for the my money to be deposited
into my bank account?
Will you raise my processing rates later?
Where do I get the merchant equipment to process
credit cards?
What about debit cards? How does a debit card
work?
What is a chargeback?
What is a transaction fee?
Do MasterCard and VISA have any fees?
Is there a monthly statement fee?
What is a Minimum Monthly Discount?
How
do I know what credit card terminal I will need?
If you have a storefront,
where the customer comes in and presents their credit card for a purchase,
a simple terminal is all that would be needed to read the magnetic stripe
on the card.
A receipt can be printed for the customer after the transaction has been authorized
with
some terminals having printers connected and some having them built in.
Some terminals are better suited to retail. Some are wireless for mobile transactions.
Which is right for you? Let us know what kind of business you have and we
will make suggestions.
If
you accept credit cards on location, like a home service call, almost any
terminals will work in a
phone outlet allowing you to take the equipment with you. Dragging along a
printer might not
seem like a good idea, but a terminal with a built in printer would work.
Terminals in this configuration are also wireless. You can process a transaction
almost anywhere. Or you can take an old style
sliding imprinter with you, get an imprint of the card, and bring it back
to your business to
key in the numbers. You can also use a cellular phone with some terminals.
Or process online
with a Virtual Terminal if you have access to the Internet.
If accepting
credit cards over the phone, as in mail-order, everything works the
same except you will have to key in the numbers from the credit card. You
would be unable to swipe
the card through a reader, since your customer would not be present.
A printer is helpful when you want to keep track of purchases easily and send
your customer a receipt.
Otherwise, you would need to keep track of reference numbers and authorization
numbers that
are returned to the terminal's LED readout, when completing a sale.
If you
have a restaurant, nightclub, beauty salon, or a business where you need a
credit card machine that
can track your sales receipts, you'll need a terminal that can track multiple
accounts.
Waitresses can have their tips separated, the different chairs in a beauty
salon can
each have a code number, and each could have their day's receipts assigned
to the
code and tracked by a credit card machine. Have your daily or weekly transactions
broken down into categories such as average ticket, and MasterCard versus
American Express purchases for example.
There
are many equipment options, and the best way to determine what equipment you
need is to talk with one of our representatives. You may qualify for free
credit card processing equipment.
top
of page
Why
do I need credit card equipment? Can I use touch tone services?
Yes, you can call in a credit card number for verification.
Our service, Telecharges,
allows you to phone our processing center with the credit card number, and
a
processing rep will actually process the transaction for you over the phone.
There is an activation
fee, and a higher transaction cost, which is not cost feasible if you have
many sales.
If you have just a few sales, Telecharges might be just right for you.
Top of page
Can
I use the sliding imprinter and turn in my receipts for processing?
If you cannot swipe a card through an electronic terminal to
complete a transaction,
you can use an imprinter to get an impression of the card, fill out the
old style carbon paper receipt, get a signature, and punch the numbers in
later. This transaction
carries with it the MO/TO rate, but you won't miss a sale. You may want to
call
and get authorization if the sale is large enough, to make sure the card is
good.
The receipt is yours, we don't use the receipts for processing. Keep signatures
on file for one year.
We'll give you a sliding imprinter in case you ever need it, with the paper
receipts.
Some terminals now have Store and Forward features, where you can swipe a
card and send the
information at a later time. Sometimes in retail, it is a good idea to always
swipe the credit card if you can. A carbon copy of a credit card goes a long
way in proving that you customer is to blame for a chargeback. With some sales
items in costing thousands of dollars, swiping a credit card is the best defense
against fraudulent chargebacks. Top
of page
Should
I go with Internet or a terminal?
It really
depends on your future needs. An Internet Virtual Terminal can perform like
a regular terminal,
but it needs an Internet connection to work. For debit, it requires optional
add-ons to swipe a credit card, or to accept debit card PIN numbers.
If you plan on accepting cards by opening a storefront, you may want to consider
a terminal capable of swiping credit cards. Use it for retail sales when the
card is present. This ype of transaction gets the lowest rate.
Top
of page
I want
to accept credit cards on my web site. What do I need to do?
You have
two choices, accept credit cards in real time, or accept them with a Virtual
termianl.
MasterCard
and Visa require you to have a secure page to accept credit cards
in real time on the Internet. Information must be encrypted to guard against
the
theft of credit card numbers. The easiest and most economical way of accepting
credit cards over the Internet is by telephone, off-line. The customer simply
calls you to place an order. Just like ordering from a catalog.
Accepting credit card numbers using e-mail is not acceptable. The numbers
cannot be encrypted.
If you accept credit cards in real time you will need to do at least an average
amount of business each month for it to be cost effective for a very small
company. Otherwise, try the telephone method until your business does enough
transactions to warrant real time processing.
A Virtual Terminal is included with an Internet Real-Time Processing Account.
Top
of page
Why
are there different processing rates?
The lowest rate is obtained when you physically swipe the card
through a reader.
To credit card companies, this is the safest against fraud. When you manually
key
in the numbers, from a telephone sale the magnetic stripe on the card is not
read,
and the risk of fraud, and loss, goes up according to card companies, so the
rate
is higher. To keep your costs lower, always try to swipe the card through
your
terminal if at all possible. It is difficult to determine
if a credit card is stolen, or fake, if the
card is taken over the telephone. Top
of page
How
long does it take for my money to be deposited into my bank account?
Generally about 48 hours on business days. If a customer comes
in on Monday and makes a purchase, the sale is recorded and saved by your
terminal. At midnight, our banks receive information from businesses all over
the country. The next day it is processed, and at midnight, the money is transferred
to your business bank account and will be available to you on Wednesday, unless
your bank posts it later. If a purchase is made on Friday, since banks are
closed over the weekends at midnight, your money will reach your bank account
by Tuesday.Top
of page
Will
you raise my processing rates later?
The only time we will raise Mastercard and Visa's rates are
when MasterCard
and Visa does. When this happens, all companies will be raising rates.
If they increase it .02% we will increase ours by .02%. top
of page
How
do I get the merchant equipment to process credit cards?
You can choose
to purchase processing equipment.
You
can choose to lease-to-own processing equipment. Leases include a service
plan that completely protects your equipment!
If your equipment fails, call us immediately! We will overnight you a replacement.
We know how important lost sales are to your business!
We also have options for seasonal businesses.
Top of page
What
about debit cards? How does a debit card work?
Debit cards combine the functions of ATM cards and checks. Debit cards are
issued by banks,
but are used at stores, not at the banks themselves. When you pay with a debit
card, the money is
automatically deducted from your checking account. Many merchants accept ATM
cards as debit cards.
Banks typically issue a combined ATM/debit card, which looks just like a credit
card and can be used in places where credit cards are accepted. But don't
be mistaken--they are not credit cards.
The money spent comes out of a checking account immediately using debit.
Many people prefer debit cards over checks.
Debit is not available in all states. Top
of page
What
is a chargeback?
A chargeback occurs when
a customer disputes a charge on their monthly statement. If a customer sees
a charge they think they did not make, or if they ordered something through
the mail and did not receive
the product, that customer has up to one year to dispute the charge according
to Mastercard and
Visa's consumer protection regulations. All they have to do is call the bank
where the card was issued from and tell them they want the charge dropped.
The bank will chargeback the transaction to you,
and take the money from your merchant account. You have to prove that the
sale or delivery
of the product went to the actual person whose name appeared on the credit
card that was used, as well
as the address. Many companies will not ship to any other address than what
is listed as the card holder's address.If someone else had used the card and
made a fraudulent purchase, naturally the owner of the card would notice the
charge and immediately dispute it. It is very important and helps in your
favor in cases of chargeback disputes to have utilized AVS. Address Verification
System.
Terminals used for credit card processing of mail orders and telephone mail
orders should have
the AVS enacted and be using it. Fraud is more of a problem than most people
realize.
Credit card fraud is widespread. The hardest hit victim is usually the merchant.
Any steps you can take to protect yourself from chargebacks is a positive
step. Top
of page
What
is a transaction processing fee?
A transaction fee is charged for connection of your terminal
or software into the processing network.
The fees for using their lines and network are as low as .30 cents if the
credit card was swiped
through a card reader electronically, and .35 cents if the transaction was
keyed in on the terminal.
Top of page
Does
Mastercard and Visa get anything?
MasterCard and VISA has
fees as low as 1.79% for swiped cards and 2.59% for unswiped cards.
That would be $1.79 for every $100 of swiped credit card sales, and $2.59
for every $100 of unswiped
credit card sales. A large part of this fee is sent to the bank that issued
your customer's credit card.
Top
of page
Is
there a monthly statement fee?
There is a $10 monthly
statement fee. This is for maintenance and frequent
access of your merchant account. A report will be sent each month detailing
all
of your transactions and deposits to your merchant account. It's the same
type of
maintenance fee assessed by banks to maintain your personal bank accounts.
Top
of page
What
is a Minimum Monthly Discount?
The Minimum Monthly Discount is a minimum fee to be met when you have a
merchant account. The $10 monthly
minimum, is waived when you meet your minimum
volume or go over it,and is prorated when you meet part of your minimum.
Example: If
your MC/Visa processing rate is: $2.59
Take your rate (2.59%) X your monthly sales volume ($xxxx)
example 1: .0259 rate X $1000 volume =
$25.90 ($$25.90 far exceeds
the $10 monthly minimumt, no fee is owed)
END