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Why Plastic and Cash are Losing Popularity, and Why That’s Ok

When someone wants to pay for something at a register, they usually reach for the credit card or a wad of cash. That’s beginning to change, though, as smartphone adoption rates rise. One major reason why is that the concept of a digital wallet is finally becoming reality.

Digital wallets are accounts online that remain persistent across multiple devices. Another way of saying that is to say that you can access one of these digital wallets from anywhere you have an Internet connection. Customers can pre-load these wallets with whatever dollar amount they choose, and can receive money from others as well.

The first benefit to note is that these transactions are fast. Money is transferred quickly, so the user always knows what he or she has available in the digital wallet. In addition, wallets are loaded from the bank account, so they are separate spaces customers can use to track spending money.

Currently, adoption rates are rising as more and more individuals utilize smartphones.

Businesses are also shifting away from the cash only business model that had been so popular throughout modern history. Cash is becoming a big liability to store on the premises of a business, and credit card technology is beginning to fade as digital wallets make their debut.

The reality is that these payment systems will most likely help secure the finances for a great many people who struggle with their current bank accounts. Fewer fees and faster transactions mean most people will see greater control over their bank accounts and their money in the next few decades.

Article written by Charge.com. Charge.com has been rated one of the top companies for credit card payment processing on and offline for six years running.

Virtual Terminals for Online Businesses

Even if you have an online-only business, being able to manually input sales can be important. Find out how virtual terminals can help you manage your sales you receive offline.

By now, owners of online businesses recognize the importance of being able to accept credit card payments online. It’s vital that customers are able to complete an order as soon as they see a product on a website that they want to purchase. Not being able to add an item to a cart and quickly complete a purchase all but eliminates the chance that a person will make an impulse purchase – exactly the type of purchase that online businesses need to thrive.

The good news is that because it is so easy to set up Internet merchant accounts, any business has the ability to accept online credit card payments. But what many businesses don’t think about when setting up their eCommerce merchant account is the value of being able to enter in sales on their own. Just being able to take sales through your website isn’t enough. You need to be able to manually input orders as well.

Why is this important? You might receive an email or a phone call from a customer who has questions about your product. After you answer their questions, they are ready to purchase. That’s great, but now the customer has to log back onto your website and take all the steps needed to complete the online order. Those are additional barriers to a sale that you should try to avoid.

The solution to this problem is to use virtual terminals. These are computer programs offered as part of online merchant accounts that allow you to close sales by entering in credit card information manually. As you are on the phone with a customer, you can close the sale and take their credit card information over the phone. It will be processed immediately, so your customer can receive a receipt and you can start fulfilling their order.

Companies such as Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc. offer a wide range of virtual terminal options that help small businesses have more freedom when it comes to taking credit card payments. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can enter in a credit card sale made by phone, email or even through standard mail. These virtual terminals have all of the same features that you would expect from a standard electronic keypad terminal, but everything is done through your computer screen. All you need is a computer with Internet access and you can input any credit card transaction that comes your business’ way.

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This article was written by Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc. They offer eCommerce merchant account services including virtual terminals. Find out about their online merchant accounts at www.charge.com

How to Get Affordable Credit Card processing Fees

If you run an online company, you might have some concerns about credit card processing online. You might be worried about how much it will cost to set up. Is the software expensive? You might also wonder about the price on an ongoing basis. How much is each credit card transaction on the web going to cost you? Is the ability to accept credit cards online worth the cost?

Another category of business owners are already accepting credit cards online, but are more than frustrated with the amount of money they are paying for credit card processing fees. If you fall into this category, you might not have done enough research in order to find the most affordable merchant provider in the industry. You might not have read the fine print, or understood your bill. Regardless of which boat you’re in, it might be time to get a new merchant account provider, one with affordable rates you can count on.

Charge.com offers internet merchant accounts for small to mid-sized businesses who want an affordable way to accept credit cards online. However, Charge.com offers more than just affordable rates. Customers get to experience no application fees, no set up fees, and fast approvals on merchant accounts. The company also offers free check processing services by web, phone and fax. Whether you’re a retail business, home-based business, or restaurant, it pays to provide your customers with an easy and convenient way to pay online via credit cards.

How to Fight Chargebacks

Article submitted by: Solid Trust Pay

Chargebacks are every online merchant’s worst nightmare. The merchant has a lot to lose and it is not always easy to find evidence to prove that the customers claim is false and even if you do prove the customers claim is false you still end up having to pay a fee to the merchant bank.

Chargeback claims can be made for several reasons like fraud, customer disputes, authorization issues and technical issues. With chargeback being a very serious concern for the future of online trading what measures one could take to prevent chargeback?

The best way to deal with chargeback is to take precautionary matters to avoid chargeback since dealing with it after is happens is a tedious process. But when there is a chargeback how do you fight it?

Have up to date sales records- this is the first thing you can provide as proof to show a legitimate transaction did occur. Other records such as tracking records from the delivery service, delivery notices from the warehouse will all be helpful to fight chargeback.

Take prompt action – the sooner you respond the better your chances of disproving the chargeback claim.

What steps can be taken to prevent chargeback?

Use an Address Verification System to make sure that the billing address of the credit card and the delivery address are the same.

Use your corporate name on the credit card statement since a different name can cause the customer to be suspicious and challenge the charge.

Display refund policy – have a sound refund policy and make the customer fully aware it by having the customer agree to it before making the online purchase, this will deter him from claiming chargeback.

BIN (Bank Identification Number) blocking – have a list of all the credit card numbers that have claimed chargeback in the past and use this to filter potentially fraudulent customers.

Secure delivery service – it is best to use a delivery service which has tracking facilities. Have a policy to have the cardholder sign acknowledging delivery, this way a dispute cannot arise regarding the delivery of the goods.

Be cautious to avoid technical issues – make sure you double check the amount you enter to avoid charging the wrong amount or make duplicate charges.

Take all necessary measures to avoid chargeback as this can have a very adverse effect on your business. Frequent chargebacks from your customers will prompt your merchant bank to categorize you as a high risk merchant and worse will even terminate your merchant account and add your name to the Terminated Merchant File thus disabling your credit processing facilities.

Chargeback should never be taken likely and it can very possibly happen to you, so take precautionary measures to prevent chargebacks from the inception of your business to safeguard its future success.

Tips To Lower Your Merchant Account Fees

Are the high fees charged by merchant banks to open a merchant account preventing you from accepting credit and debit card payments from your customers? Not only will potential customers prefer a competitor’s store which offers credit and debit card payment facilities, you are also losing a main source of sales which are impulse purchases. Giving the option to pay with a credit or debit card will increase the customer’s purchasing capacity which in turn will increase your sales. Visit www.solidtrustpay.com to find out more about opening a merchant account.

You will be surprised to find how much of fees can be reduced by careful planning. Here are some tips on how to do it:

Shop around

This is the most important thing to do. Check the rates offered by several merchant service providers such as Solid Trust Pay and compare them to find out which one offers the most suited facilities to suit your needs at the best rates. Make sure to ask for all the fees and charges the account will entail in black white to eliminate any surprise fees being charged from you.

Knowing the market rates charged will give you the power to negotiate for the best possible rates.
Comparing prices should not stop after you open the account, it should be an ongoing process to look out for better options offered by merchant service providers such as solidtrustpay
Have two merchant accounts

This can actually reduce your costs if you do similar numbers of point of sale and online transactions. If the merchant account you have has a tiered fee structure you will be charged more for online card non present transactions as against the lower rate paid for card present transactions. Whereas a single fee structure you will be paying the same for both types of transactions which means you pay more for point of sale transactions since the online transaction fee is more costly, but the same rate is charged for both. By having two accounts which give you the best rate for each type of transaction will reduce your costs considerably. Speak to Solid Trust Pay to work out the best solution for you.
Use address verification system (AVS)

If you do online transactions AVS will help reduce fraudulent transactions by comparing the shipping and billing addresses to verify a match, and if they do not match you can call for confirmation or cancel the order. This will prevent fraudulent transactions and chargeback which can be costly not only because of the loss of business but because of the chargeback fees that will be charged from you. At www.solidtrustpay.com you can find out about the various charges associated with a merchant account.

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