When it comes to acceptance of credit cards, there are four different kinds of payment processing that are possible. With so many options, you can analyze your business setup and determine which is the best method for you – or maybe you want to use more than one.
One of the newest options is called wireless processing. You do not need to be in the store and you do not need a dedicated telephone line. You simply use a hand-held wireless processor wherever you are at the time. Trade show? Customer’s home? On the side of the road doing road service? You are set to go.
One fact to realize is that credit card companies charge less if you actually swipe a card than if you simply take in the number over the telephone. Potentially, you may save hundreds or thousands of dollars using wireless.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Oct 21st, 2011. Comment. 
Most business owners are eager to save time and money. One of the newest and easiest ways to do so is with wireless credit card processing. It is so much more convenient than ever before.
The new credit card processing terminals are compact, lightweight, and small enough to fit inside your pocket or purse. You have the same access to the processing companies that you would have inside of your own store building. Imagine being able to close off that sale at a craft show or a dog show. Imagine giving a demonstration of your product or giving a concert and then selling your CD’s and DVD’s right there, and making the secure sale.
Nearly everyone these days carries a credit card or at least a debit card, and so if you desire to reach out and make sales, the wireless credit card processor is the way to go.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Oct 15th, 2011. Comment.
How much information does a business need in order to excel? Well, that’s like asking how much water a city needs or how much farmland is necessary. In other words, the more, the better. The fact is that with credit card processing you will have a lot more information about your sales than you will with cash or checks.
That’s because the monthly statement helps you to track the sales and gives you information about them. But also, the customer’s monthly statement helps him to track purchases and see where his money went. We’ve all had the problem of trying to remember where the $100 in our pocket went to throughout the day. But when we have a “trail” behind us, we will know that we spent X amount at the market and Z amount at the auto store.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Oct 7th, 2011. Comment.
Most retail businesses have a big turnover rate with employees. This means that you are constantly training people, and unfortunately, some point of sales glitches can occur. Credit card processing can actually assist by giving you more information about your sales than you would have with any other type of payment.
If an employee loses the information from the sale, you would know that a sale took place, but might not know the method of payment. When you use credit card processing, you can quickly go online and see a complete list of all of the sales for the day, including amounts and type of card used. If it’s a serious situation, you can usually even call the company and get information as to who made the sale.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Oct 4th, 2011. Comment.
If you want to understand the term “payment gateway”, then think about the fact that the city of St. Louis was called the “gateway to the west.” What did that mean? The gateway was the space they went through to get from one location to another. The gateway was the opening but it was also the place that supplied the needs. So, just as people bought sturdy oxen and wagons and food for the long journey, a payment gateway provides the encryption tools to translate the customer’s credit card number so that it will be kept safe. This payment gateway is the middle point of the process, because it connects and communicates with the merchant (payment portal) and the acquiring bank (or Front End Processor.)
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Oct 3rd, 2011. Comment.
Do you ever pay attention to which credit cards your customers use? It might seem like a trivial piece of information, but is any information about your customers really unimportant? Your credit card processing report might just give you a valuable key.
Not all Visa cards are the same. As you look at your statement, you will see a list of all of the different Visa cards that have been used by your customers during the past month. An amazing detail to note is that not all of them charge the same interchange rate. It can vary from 1.54 % to 2.55%, even though the cards all say Visa. That’s because they are owned by different banks who are just using the Visa system and logo to process the money.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Sep 30th, 2011. Comment.
Most people don’t stop with one estimate when it comes to expensive home improvements. They will call two or three home improvement companies before they decide. If you have a good rate, and can take mobile payments, then you are much more likely to get the job than your competitor is.
Here’s the reason: people are busy. They get worn out with listening to time-consuming estimates. With a mobile payment system hooked onto your cell phone, you can say, “Look, I’ve got the best materials and craftsmen. If you’re ready to sign right now, I’ll give you a 10% discount and we can get started this weekend.” Then you whip out your impressive gadget, set a date for the work to begin, and get them to run their credit card through for the deposit.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Sep 25th, 2011. Comment.
When you sign up for merchant services with a particular provider, you will receive a monthly statement either online or in the mail. On this statement, you will see a lot of information that can be quite useful for you.
Besides your account number and address and other identification information, there will be a summary. This summary shows how many sales were made via credit card during that month. It will also list the number of returns, chargebacks, and adjustments.
Next to each of those items will be a total of the dollar amounts for each category. Now you can see exactly how much money came into your business via this payment method. It’s always good to look at this column before noting the fees per credit card type. Remember: you did receive all of that business!
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Sep 23rd, 2011. Comment.
Did you know that you can actually do credit card processing from your cell phone? Gone are the days when you had to be in your store, using a telephone or a credit card terminal. Now it is possible to get a small device to take to your customer on the road.
Just imagine being in the thick of the conversation. He’s interested, she’s interested. They were thinking about buying your product soon anyway, and now you are offering them a discount if they will literally sign on the dotted line tonight. You pull out your cell phone, clip on the card reader and swipe their card through. You turn the phone sideways and produce an optical pen and collect a signature.
You have sealed the deal and impressed them with your efficiency at the same time.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Sep 20th, 2011. Comment.
If you look at the history of credit cards, you will learn that the first ones to exist belonged to particular companies. One can easily see why a master card processing procedure was established instead.
Back then, you could use a card with a particular gasoline company’s logo on it only to buy gasoline and services at that type of station. If you wanted to buy clothing at a department store, you would use a card with their name on it. It gave you the ability to buy from them and pay the bill later, perhaps after payday came around.
Someone came up with the idea of a master card that could be used at various locations, and not just in one store. As merchants signed on, everyone benefited from the convenience.
Filed under Credit Card Processing by on Sep 15th, 2011. Comment.