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I am thinking about accepting credit cards for my products and services. What should I look out for? Any Gotchas I should know about?
Thanks,
Derrick
DKS Marketing
One question that many small businesses don`t think to ask when setting up their merchant account is what are the daily and monthly limits? This is especially important if you use regular billing cycles and process many transactions on the same day. Or, if you are having a big sale or a product launch, and you have many transactions in a short period of time, the processing company can freeze your account, or even put a large majority of the funds in escrow for up to a year.
Also, not all processors allow you to accept cards on line.
If you use QuickBooks software and do not plan to process charges on line, QB has their own merchant service that integrates seamlessly with the software. You can even apply right from within QB.
Hope that helps.
Derrik,
You didn`t state whether you were referring to on-line processing via a website or not. There are services that offer hand-held wireless devises for trades people (or any mobile type service provider) where you can process a credit card payment from litterally anywhere. I use a service that allows me to process CC paymnets via my website (for orders placed in that fashion) but where I can also process a payment on-line via a virtual terminal (which I use for both my consulting and security guard services).
There are a lot of options out there, so you want to first determine how often and under what circumstances you will be processing credit card transactions.
I know when I first set up, I was offered a discount by going with a company that was affiliated with my business banking account. I`ve shopped since, and still can`t beat the rate through this affiliation - so that may be an option for you to check out too.
I worked in the credit card processing industry for a short time, it can be complex. Transaction fee`s vary, monthly minimums may apply, statement fee`s are typical as a monthly fee, Gateway fee`s are typical for internet businesses. In any case the cost can be anywhere from 2-5% of your monthly business. I chose Costco ( Nova) because as a Costco member you get various discounts, depending on Membership, there are many credit card processor out there and you also could choose a Gateway company for your internet business ( since you are not transacting on a credit card machine ( like a storefront).. those cost also. Authorize.net and Plug n Pay are two good ones for Internet Gateways, but they can cost $20.00 or more per month as well. As with everything, buyer beware... read the fine print, hidden charges can add up, and typically the statements can be difficult to read and understand. Its a necessity, but keep in mind, they are in the business to make a profit also. Many fee`s are negotiable, get multiple quotes and leverage for the best deal.
If you need to run a credit card when you are on the move and not at a set location I would highly recommend talking to Nextel. They offer a cell phone with an adapter that plugs into your phone and then you can process the credit cards immediately on the spot. We currently have wireless credit card machine for our business, but the problem is getting signal! The cell phone with the adapter gets much better signal and is very small and portable.
Good luck!
I thought PayPal was the right answer, since I only process a few transactions a week. However, I learned the hard way that PayPal can block a transaction for any reason, or no reason at all. They simply refused to process an AmEx purchase from a corporate client. The client, Amex, and myself all wanted to proceed with the transaction, but PayPal refused to submit it for authorization.
Since then, I moved to a "real" merchant services. For convenience, I went with IMS (the one you sign up for through Quickbooks.). I also purchased the USB card reader, so I can swipe cards from my laptop at client`s offices and pay the lower rate for "card present" transactions.
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