If you have a store, then you will probably want to have at least one credit card machine for each cash register there. For a large department store, that could mean 20 or 30 machines, whereas a small gas station might only have one. In either case, the credit card machine must be hooked up to a land line telephone. If you shop several merchant service providers, you will likely find one that is willing to provide the credit card machine in order to establish you as a customer. Otherwise, they can cost between $200-350 apiece.
The next step is to contact your telephone provider to set up a dedicated line that is only used for the credit card transactions. Thereafter, when you swipe a customer’s card, or enter in the information, it will quickly be transmitted to the merchant provider and analyzed against all reported lost and stolen and closed numbers. If it is a good account, you will have a quick approval and you can happily send your customer home with some of your products.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 20th, 2011. Comment. 
Have you noticed the television ads that show that fast food chains are now accepting credit and debit cards, even at the drive through? This proves that if you haven’t signed up for a merchant account for your company yet, you really ought to consider it.
Why? Because they understand that people are busy and in a hurry. Customers want to come into your store, but in most cases they don’t want to linger: they want to get in and get done and get out. Some locations now let people scan their products and swipe the card through with little or no assistance from the sales associates. This generally means that four or six customers can be processed by one sales associate who provides assistance only when necessary.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 19th, 2011. Comment.
Ring in the new fiscal year for your company! It is an excellent time to look back over the past year and analyze the best and the worst, the exciting and even the mundane. This includes taking a good look at your merchant account. Why? Because if you don’t consider all the possibilities, you may lose out on the best opportunities.
Your merchant account may have enabled you to accept credit and debit card payments for quite a while. But have you checked to see how it compares to the other merchant accounts out there? There may be others that charge less on transaction fees and processing fees. There may be others who provide better customer service. It is worth checking into if it’s going to save you even a half of a percent, because that half of a percent will equal fifty cents out of every $100 that you take in. Do the math: if you take in $100,000 in a month, that’s $500 that you can spend elsewhere.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 14th, 2011. Comment.
What should you look for when setting up a merchant account?
Well, beyond looking at the fee structures which may vary widely among providers, it is a good idea to check whether there have been any complaints or compliments on their customer service. You do not want to be standing behind your counter or sitting in your customer’s living room and have a problem with the sale going through. But if you do, you want to know that you can reach a real person who will help you with the problem right then and there, and not just a recording telling you that they will get back to you within the next 24 or 48 hours. Yes, both types of customer service departments exist among credit card providers!
You might check with some of your business friends and get recommendations from them as well.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 10th, 2011. Comment.
How is your accounts receivable report looking these days? Do you have to chase down customers who promised to pay within 30 days who have let 60 days go by without a word? Maybe it’s time that you looked into doing your transaction processing via credit and debit cards instead of cash, checks, or empty promises.
Once you are set up to receive credit and debit cards, the payments will be immediate. The merchant account provider will quickly check whether the card is good or not, and even check whether it is over it’s limit. If it’s been reported stolen from someone, the payment will not go through. If they’ve been on too expensive of a shopping spree, then it will not go through. It’s a level of protection that you just cannot get with checks.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 7th, 2011. Comment.
It only takes a few days to set up a merchant account.
First of all, you should do some research about several companies, just as you would about any other service that you would hire. You can get started online by checking websites that compare a few merchants. Then you can call and a representative will gladly come to your business and make you an offer as to their services.
When you talk to the representative, you should ask specific questions regarding the percentage that is charged for transaction fees. You should get a list of all of the fees that are charged, because there are some that are collected by a few companies, but not the others. You could be looking at a difference of $50, $100 or more per month just on the fee differences.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 5th, 2011. Comment.
There’s some good news out there that will make you want to set up a merchant account right away.
Statements are changing, with some companies. They are providing a greater amount of detail regarding transactions than ever before. Customer service has constantly improved over the years so that you can tell where every dime and nickel goes.
Let’s say that you made $150,000 in sales last month via credit cards. Your statement will divide it up transaction by transaction, and it will tell you which Visa card charged this amount and which one charged that amount (it does vary. It will tell you which MasterCard did the same, as well as Discover and American Express.
You will be able to track every purchase that was made, and since you can access it online, you can do so paperless as well.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Dec 4th, 2011. Comment.
“Christmas is coming, my bank account’s not fat. Please, to put a twenty in my register, like that. If you’ve got no twenty, a five or ten will do. If you’ve got no five or ten, then I’ll take two.” Is your merchant account up and going and ready for all the holiday shoppers?
These non-original words do reflect the economy and the fact that many businesses are lowering their prices to move their stock before the end of the year. People are very aware of the fact that pickpockets abound at the “buying” season too, and so they are wary of carrying those greenbacks in their pockets. With a credit card, they can slip it into a less accessible pocket and not even carry a purse or a wallet. And if it still gets stolen, they can make a call and stop it immediately from being used.
Try doing that with an Andrew Jackson.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Nov 29th, 2011. Comment.
“Just hear those coins go jing-a-ling, ring-ting-ting-a-ling too, Come on, it’s lovely weather, hit the sales together, we two.” Is your merchant account ready and able to accept all the transactions that are coming its way? Those aren’t the true lyrics to the song, but with all the shopping that occurs between November and December, they might as well be.
Statistics show that when the stores start playing the holiday music, people get in the mood to buy gifts for others, and oh, isn’t that a nice item for me too, they will think. And hardly anyone will be shopping with jingling coins anymore; the majority don’t even bring cash at all!
Statistics also show that when a store displays the names of the credit cards they accept, it also puts people into the mood to buy gifts and a nice item for themselves. Is your store door decorated with this information?
Filed under Merchant Account by on Nov 28th, 2011. Comment.
The most difficult problem in business comes not only in attracting customers, but in retaining them. All the advertising in the world may bring someone in once, but if the customer has a difficult time, he will not return. Merchant solutions to this problem start with several considerations.
Do you carry a wide variety of products, or at least a full supply of the most popular ones. People are busy and store-hopping isn’t that much fun if you are working a lot of hours.
Is it hard to pay for your merchandise and get out of the store? There is nothing worse to a consumer than to see a long line at the cash register. Its much better if you hear them say, “the line was so long, but it went really fast,” you must be accepting credit cards. Why? they are way quicker than check or even cash, and your line moving will keep moving.
Filed under Merchant Account by on Nov 27th, 2011. Comment.