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The following articles will help keep you up to date. Please feel free to contact us on these or other matters.
Happy New Year – Perhaps a review of your merchant processing is a great idea for a resolution
We are all looking for a more prosperous 2022 and reducing costs. A simple review of your merchant processing costs could be a great start? Merchant Connecting offers a complimentary no obligation review thar will help you confirm the program you currently have and identify the savings
Depending on your processor there are many different variances in pricing programs and a simple modification could start your savings. Because of the large portion of new “Card Not Present” transactions that are now prevalent, the Bundled or tiered programs are now obsolete. Do you know which type of program you are on?
Let’s all move into 2022 and help each other succeed through sharing beneficial knowledge.
Credit Card Processing Costs
How much does your Merchant Processing price increase from Card Present transaction cost compared to Card Not Present (CNP)?
Those of you that take payments in the form of credit cards know that there is a pricing difference whenever the card is not chip read or tapped – Do you know how much your pricing changes?
To keep this adjustment to a minimum it would be most beneficial to have a pricing structure customized from the Interchange & Assoc (Wholesale) pricing, the chart identifies the variance.
If you are on Bundled pricing it is highly unlikely that you are able to identify individual charges, as charges are all inclusive. However, with Tier pricing you see the different cost breakdown with 3 to 9 various programs available. Let Merchant Connecting put it’s almost 40 years of experience to work for you to assist in identifying cost breakdown with our Complimentary No Obligation review, and potentially identify improvements in your merchant processing program and areas to save money.
We are here to help you succeed!
Prior to covid, where we did the majority of shopping in store, there was a push to keep “Qualified” (Card Present) costs lower and “backload” the higher rates on the “Non-Qualified” (Card Not Present) transactions. Now, with the curbside pickups and deliveries being a large part of our shopping, we are learning that this pricing concept is no longer the pricing option of choice. Unfortunately, there are a number of merchants that do not know how their merchant processing is set up – Do You???
Merchant Processing through the Holidays
Not knowing what the status of Covid will be through the holiday season, and being aware how consumer choices have changed to more not in-store transactions, it might be wise to confirm the status of your merchant processing pricing. Merchant Connecting would be happy to assist you to determine your program with our Complimentary No Obligation review. We too are a local business and want to help wherever we can to strengthen the businesses around us to have a successful Holiday Season – How can we help you???
Avoiding Fraudulent Charges Going into the Holiday Season
There are several ways for fraud to be committed, here’s a few tips to protect yourself. With EMV in full force as of January 2021, there are additional requirements of the Authorization to Sales that now have an added fee by the Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express Card Associations.
As an additional security mechanism, the cardholder may be asked to provide another authentication factor by entering a personal identification number (PIN) or by providing a signature.
Dipping is when the card is inserted into the reader chip-side first. Please ensure you and your employees are trained accordingly. If the chip does not read and/or you receive an error message, please ask for a different credit card for payment. The card should never be swiped which will also assist in preventing fraudulent transactions. Any fees incurred by the Card Association will be passed along to the merchant. If you do not have working chip reader terminal, please contact us immediately.
Here’s are 5 tips to avoid chargebacks or request time to discuss terminal options –
Fighting for Chargeback Reversals
You should challenge as many chargebacks as possible. You can increase your odds of winning by using these tips from industry experts to get started.
Tip #1: Fine-Tune Documentation
To win a chargeback reversal, you must provide adequate “compelling evidence,” or documentation that contradicts the cardholder’s claim and supports your case.
Tip #2: Write a Rebuttal Letter
You’ll also need to write a detailed rebuttal letter for each dispute. Stick to provable facts and clearly explain context and meaning to demonstrate why the original transaction should stand.
Tip #3: Act Quickly
All parties in a dispute must abide by pre-determined time limits—in some cases, 5 to 10 days after receiving notice of the chargeback. Worse, the timeframes vary based on the card network, the processor, and other factors. The sooner the chargeback reversal process is initiated, though, the more likely it is to succeed…so make a point of responding in a timely manner.Tip #4: Understand the Reason
Every chargeback dispute comes with a reason code that shows the reason the cardholder gave for filing the chargeback. Each network has its own codes, but the reasons from card brand to card brand are similar. Knowing the different reason codes can help win chargeback reversals, but does little to help prevent future disputes, since reason codes seldom show the real reason for the chargeback (typically friendly fraud).
Tip #5: Avoid Unwinnable Situations
While fighting for a chargeback reversal is never easy, some chargebacks are significantly harder to fight than others: winning a dispute that originated in the US or the EU, for example, is easier than reversing a chargeback from Russia or Indonesia.
Take advantage of our Complimentary, No Obligation review to determine the most suitable plan for your business.
MerchantConnecting.com puts heart back in your credit card processing – others try but Merchant Connecting Can!!
Managing Credit Card Processing Costs Through the Holiday
Would you like to control your own merchant processing costs with wholesale pricing?
Retail Business owners that have Tiered or bundles pricing programs give the control on merchant cost to the Processor – Would you like to control your own merchant processing costs with wholesale pricing?
Restaurants – are you sick and tired of paying 15-30 % per order to delivery companies? Have you not set up online ordering because of the potential costs? Would you reconsider starting online or like to reduce existing deliver service charges and curbside pickup to less than 5%.
Whatever your concern is regarding credit card processing, we are here to help. Let us know what frustrates you?
Take advantage of our Complimentary, No Obligation review to determine the most suitable plan for your business.
MerchantConnecting.com puts heart back in your credit card processing – others try but Merchant Connecting Can!!
Increased charges for our competitors services
MerchantConnecting.com puts heart back in your credit card processing – others try but Merchant Connecting Can!!
Online shopping has become a preferred method for shoppers
Now that consumers have gotten used to ordering everything from food to cleaning supplies to home decor and more online, we expect to see this behavior continue in the post-pandemic business world. If you don’t already allow customers to shop online, you could be losing business.
Online Retailers
With our eCommerce solutions, Merchants can securely and conveniently accept payments from customers:
Authorize.net
A secure, simple user-friendly solution that allows retailers, to manually submit Credit Card transactions using a personal computer with an Internet Browser. The retailer may use multiple computers in multiple locations running transactions through one merchant accounts, while the daily batching and reports produced from a single location.
Mobile Businesses
We offer mobile credit card machines that attach to a smartphone for your Merchant’s convenience:
Swipe Simple
Swipe Simple features an affordable magnetic-stripe reader that can use Bluetooth to connect to a smartphone or tablet to enable credit card-swiping and instant authorization. Merchants using the reader realize lower-cost transactions by taking advantage of card-present credit card processing rates, with the option of multi-user application.
Mobile wallets and tap to pay are rising in popularity
Cell Phone Wallets
Customers have their smartphones loaded for fast, secure payments. Are you ready? A mobile wallet is a type of mobile app that allows the user to store credit card information and more on their smartphone. The user can then use the mobile wallet to transfer money to friends, make online purchases, and even make in-store purchases. Some of the more popular mobile wallets include Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay and Google Pay. In order to accept payments via Google Pay or any other mobile wallet, merchants must have machines with the proper functionality.
Tap to Pay
This allows customers to pay without swiping or inserting their card or handing their payment directly to the merchant. Instead, customers hold their smartphone, smartwatch or enabled credit card close to the card reader in order to pay. Tap-to-pay uses near-field communication (NFC), which allows devices to wirelessly communicate with each other and reduces the need for physical interaction with the POS terminal and employees. When using tap to pay, be sure that the contactless POS terminals are in a customer-facing position and are within easy reach of the customer.
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What Solutions are There for Contactless Processing?
Corona Virus is top of mind
All should concentrate on family, friends and themselves first and foremost as we get through this together.
I have noticed a trend that a number of my prospects are taking advantage of this slowdown to re-evaluate the processing prices and are requesting a review so they can potentially emerge from this situation stronger and more efficient. We are still here and there is no transmission of the virus through e-mail so why not take advantage of the free review to confirm the best program services as well as a pricing checkup? We are still working and are here to help with a commitment to admit if the program you are using is better all the way around – Why not give it a try and we only need a few months processing statements to provide you peace of mind in another area that affects you the Business owner.
Surcharge Status in California
It is a new concept to consider that the cardholder could cover the costs of processing a credit card the merchant usually absorbs (or builds into the price).
The Surcharge concept enables the merchant to offer a reduced price if the card holder would consider paying cash thus continuing the luxury of the card while reducing the merchant fees. The standard amount for a surcharge is not to exceed 4% and with some registration could be more flexible. There is a new regulation from Visa/MC around identifying the costs and this can be relieved by listing standard prices on a web page (both Cash & Card) to suffice the regulation. California Attorney General cannot enforce any restriction unless the merchant is abusing this opportunity and making a profit. Best news is that there is a terminal we provide that will conduct this transaction for the merchant and the deposit and the fees are paid daily.
Bank of America and FDC announced splitting the Joint venture in July
There is a phrase that “what is old is new again.” This is the reality of the BAMS Joint venture between BofA and FDC.
I was a part of this in 2010 creation where there was confusion through the change and now the program could go through some of the same dissolving issues as some of the other partners with FDC. There could be confusion of who will retain which clients and this could make the clients uneasy not knowing where they will fall going forward. There is peace of mind that the coverage should not be interrupted through July 2013 but that could depend on the service needed beyond the processing of a transaction. We offer multiple platforms and the same so there could be change of the processing entity without the processing integration.
Location
Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties
Orange County,West and South Los Angeles
San Fernando Valley and North Los Angeles County
Contact
Ritchie Brill (805) 669-8382 RBrill@MerchantConnecting.com
Alain Palacios (818) 203-6693
Anna Jennings (502) 232-4990
Michael McCann (818) 390-3889
Hours
We are open M -F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and most every other time too!