NBS Agents >> Merchant Account Agent and ISO Programs

While using credit card for merchant subscription payment safepaysolutions .com gives error and payment not processed.

any solution?

Did they ask for a password? Did you register this credit card with safepay solution? You should look for a phone number for them and contact them. Perhaps they are having server problems, perhaps it is something else. Contacting them is the only way to know what the problem is.

I recently paid some hundreds dollars for something that I have never received, I have finally got hold with the merchant after a couple of days trying, but now, they asked me to back to their store which is 2 hours one way there, so they can give me the refund, because they will need my credit card again to process the refund. I am not sure if they just jerk me around.

Nowadays most of stores do not ask for the original credit card while doing refund.

Please advise if you know how this works. Thanks a lot.

I would not expect to have to drive two hours for a refund. Call them up and read the CCV number to them if that is what they need. They should be able to process it that way. If they continue giving you a hassle, tell them you will dispute the original charge with the credit card company in writing, then do it.

I recently paid some hundreds dollars for something that I have never received, I have finally got hold with the merchant after a couple of days trying, but now, they asked me to back to their store which is 2 hours one way there, so they can give me the refund, because they will need my credit card again to process the refund. I am not sure if they just jerk me around.

Nowadays most of stores do not ask for the original credit card while doing refund.

Please advise if you know how this works. Thanks a lot.

I would not expect to have to drive two hours for a refund. Call them up and read the CCV number to them if that is what they need. They should be able to process it that way. If they continue giving you a hassle, tell them you will dispute the original charge with the credit card company in writing, then do it.

I would like to add online credit card processing to my website. Which bank is the best for this?

The service shouldn’t be too expensive, and the transaction fees should be reasonable.

Thanks.

While PayPal is not a traditional bank, it is a very reliable, easy, and not-too-expensive method for accepting credit card payments online.

A traditional credit card merchant account deducts fees from your checking account each month ($25 or more – usually more) while PayPal deducts a percentage of each sale when the transaction is complete.

After many years of allowing merchant accounts to treat my checking account like a piggybank, I’ve opted for PayPal. Perhaps their program will also benefit your business. The link is below.

Outside of PayPal, the bank where you’ve already established a personal or business account will inform you of merchant account options.

Shirley George Frazier
Author and Small Business Expert

I might have the wrong name. When I say card processor, I mean companies like Google checkout, 2Co, Clickbank, e.t.c., people who you need to process your customers credit cards. I think another name for them is merchant account.

I ask this question bcz I heard it can cost thousands just to set up, and yet I’ve heard it’s not that expensive. For example I saw Google is only $50 to set up then couple cents off each item sold. So I want to know is it thousands one time or not. Thanks.

The one we use has a 10% Holdback fee (which you are reimbursed after 6 months) and a 4% processing fee

I am looking for a merchant account that will process credit card payment online. A 3rd party processor would be ok. This is for a adult dating web site and every company I have found does not work with adult sites. I also need international payment processing. If anyone knows of a good legitimate company please post the name or link.

Your business falls into the highest risk category for credit card processing, that’s why you are having a hard time finding a provider. You don’t have to go through a third party processor though. They are the most expensive ones and you give up control over your account as well. If you Google "adult credit card processing", you will come up with a whole bunch of potential processors and the first in the list is appropriately called www.adultcardprocessing.com.

Be advised that the reason not every merchant account provider can accommodate your business requirements is that US banks will not underwrite certain very high-risk accounts (like yours). So companies that can provide you with merchant services are large enough to be able to underwrite (in other words to assume the risk) themselves. Most of the time they also have relationships with offshore banks and will be able to do your international processing as well.

Good luck!

I am in the process of buying an existing retail store. The current owner is trying to get me to buy the current credit card machine. I was under the assumption that when you signed up with a credit card acceptance company, they provided the machine at no charge… am I right? She is trying to get me to pay $400 for this credit card swiper.

Please no answers like "you don’t know anything about business if you are asking such a stupid question, why are you buying one"…. this is just a simple question that is a small part of the grand scheme of buying this business..

Wow is this a perfect question for me to answer… I actually sell credit card processing, and I can give you all the info you’ll ever need, but…

Plain answer is that one processor might "loan" you a free terminal, but at the end of the day, we all know what "free" is – there’s some catch, be it in higher fees or minimums, etc. I offer free terminals too, but as I just said, you’re simply subsidizing the cost of the machine you’re borrowing from me, but over time.

These machines do cost a lot of money, but depending on the machine the old owner has, it might not even be worth $25, let alone the $400 she’s asking for it.

If you need more help in figuring this out, please feel free to contact me off-line.

Good luck!
J

Who knows of a web service that can set up a site for that does something like what I have described below?

Im looking for a web service (that can create a web site for me) that will allow people to purchase a product from me by accessing the web site and using a credit card.

The logic on the site needs to do something similar to the steps below.
1 User enters information needed to process a credit card purchase
2 Validate credit card info is correct
3 User submits an email address to web site.
4 Web site sends conformation code to email address.
5 User retrieves code from email and enters code into web site, validates email address
5 Email address is stored in some sort of database on web site
6 Web site allows user to download file (after email address is confirmed)
8 After successful download of product credit card payment is accepted and deposited into merchant account

I can handle that for you as my company offer hosting servicing and management. what you re talking about is an E-commerce application enable site. lets talk by droping a mail at ‘mobolaji23401@gmail.com’

regards

I might have the wrong name. When I say card processor, I mean companies like Google checkout, 2Co, Clickbank, e.t.c., people who you need to process your customers credit cards. I think another name for them is merchant account.

I ask this question bcz I heard it can cost thousands just to set up, and yet I’ve heard it’s not that expensive. For example I saw Google is only $50 to set up then couple cents off each item sold. So I want to know is it thousands one time or not. Thanks.

The best offer I’ve found is from Charge:
http://www.charge.com/banners/click.php?a=1010m265
But PayPal is also popular:
https://www.paypal.com/us/mrb/pal=L7UGTG34FPGRW

This is for actual store owners/merchants. I am trying to get a better feel for what a good deal is for Credit Card transactions and with companies like PayPal and others offering the service for between 1.9% (over $1 mill) to 3% (0-$1000), I need to know if that is a good deal.

Geek is right – you only have part of the picture. But there is more to it than even he let on.

Let’s start by saying that what you should try to gauge is the EFFECTIVE RATE. The effective rate is the total percentage paid in fees for your credit card transactions over a given period of time. Your target for your effective rate will vary depending on your average ticket, total volume, method of processing and card assortment.

Your average ticket plays a big part in targeting your effective rate. A smaller average ticket will be impacted more by per transaction fees than a larger average ticket.

Example with 2% rate and $0.25 total transaction fee:
$5.00 transaction-
($5.00 X 2.00%) + $0.25 = $0.35 or 7%

$100.00 transaction-
($100.00 X 2.00%) + $0.25 = $2.25 or 2.25%

Example with 3% rate and $0.15 total transaction fee:
$5.00 transaction-
($5.00 X 3.00%) + $0.15 = $0.30 or 6%

$100.00 transaction-
($100.00 X 3.00%) + $0.15 = $3.15 or 3.15%

This tells us two things. First, the smaller your average ticket the higher your effective rate will be. Second, with a higher average ticket you should be more concerned about the rate and less about the per transaction fee while the opposite is true if you have a lower average ticket.

Once you have determined what your expectations should be based on your average ticket then the total volume, card assortment and method of processing come in to play. For starters, it is important to note that Visa and MasterCard (the card associations), and not merchant services provider, receive the majority (over 75%) of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. What this means is if you pay $10,000.00 annually in processing fees, over $7500.00 of this goes directly to the card associations and is non-negitiable by you or your merchant processor. The card associations have also designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations.

The card categories are designated in the following manner:
1.)Industry – Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc.
2.)Type of Card – Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc.
3.)Method of Processing – Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc.
4.)Processing Efficiency – Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc.

These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. – a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn’t enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order.

Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer’s complete inability to understand their services. If you ask all of the right questions you will certainly be able to make an educated pricing decision.

There are some additional things to consider when making your merchant processing decision:

*Service, support, integrity and education-
Many merchants make their choice solely based on price. Be sure to ask questions about the service platform. The web is full of stories from merchants who have had horrible issues with a processor that they went with for a perceived $5.00 monthly savings.

*Leased equipment-
Always, Always, Always a bad deal. I have never spoken to a merchant who is happy that they did this. Do the math.

*Term agreements-
Avoid if possible and check the buy-out. Look for a processor who will sign you to an at-will agreement so you will always have open options.

*Beware "FREE" anything-
Free setup. Free equipment. Free software. These things cost the processor money and their margin is incredibly small – especially with small businesses. Ask yourself the what, when, why and how of your business giving away something for free and try to figure out what the benefit is of a processor doing it for you. If it is too good to be true……..

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me at (920)993-9433 or jbordeaux@windriverfinancial.com.