here are a number of perfectly acceptable and predictable fees in this industry including setup fees, statement fees (also known as: account fees, customer service fees, admin fees), transaction fees, early termination fees, etc. These fees reflect the overhead absorbed by each of the processors. The problem for most merchants is to understand which of [...]
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Merchant Account Provider offering a Merchant a FREE Credit Card Machine as part of a larger value. But be cautious as this is also one of those categories where the Merchant can pay far more than what is prudent or fair. Why do processors offer Free Machines? They [...]
his is so simple it’ll either make you smile or make you scream. The idea here is that you can be presented with information in a format that seems to display a greater value than what it actually does. For example, take a look at the rate examples below. Can you tell which deal is [...]
he traditional three tier Merchant Account is more prone to confusion and abuse than that of the Interchange solutions. This is largely because of the processor has the freedom to divide those hundreds of Interchange Fees into the three “buckets”, e.g. qualified, mid qualified, and non-qualified as they deem appropriate. What a good processor tries [...]
t’s no surprise that this industry has a shady side just like any other. And by doing your due diligence you can avoid making many of the costly mistakes that other Merchants have made. But in addition to being able to spot potentially tricky marketing practices, you can also learn a bit more about how [...]
EMV vs. Magnetic Card Processing Your current magnetic card readers days are numbered and will soon be replaced with a more secure solution known as EMV. For those of you who travel outside the United States, you may already know that your trusy magnetic cards simply won’t work in some countries. You might be asking, [...]
Are you Ready to Bring in New Traffic, Increase Repeat Customers & Build Sales? Mobile Coupons Are the Way to Go! Here’s a dirty little secret about printed coupons: the big numbers they tell you about circulation and impressions may sound impressive, but the fact is that a tiny fraction of the readers actually look [...]
NFC stands for “Near Field Communication”. NFC is a short-ranged wireless technology that allows devices to communicate with each other over short distances. And by short distance, I mean a little less than 2 inches. The data transfer between the devices occurs through one of two means: either a short wave or, as is more [...]