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When leading a company, wether it is a merchant services business, a marketing services business, or a widget business the temptation for many business owners is to look at their people as a means to profits. Although this may technically be true the line of thinking is exactly wrong. A company’s people are not a path to profits rather a company’s mission is to make meaning and make the world a better place. A company makes the world a better place by focusing on serving its clients and helping its team members have better lives and be more successful. If a company does this as its primary motivation profits naturally ensure. It’s good karma. Or as Jesus would have said, “Treat others the way that you want to be treated.”

It is important to note that I am not arguing that we should fail to hold our team members to the highest of standards of performance. We should expect nothing but greatness for everyone within our organization. Yet, our motivation must be to help people. When our motivations are pure people will sense that, they will work harder for us, they will work smarter for us, they will be loyal to us. The natural fruit of this is innovation, productivity and increasing profits.

On the contrary, to the business owner that just wants to get rich and that is their main or only motivation the result is easy to predict – disengaged employees, stagnation, higher employee turn over.

I have been blessed over the course of my career in that I have owned or worked for good companies with good people that care about making meaning, care about others, and care about its team members. The natural outflow of that is profits.

So my challenge to any business owner is to ask yourself what your true motivation is. If your motivations are good, then surround yourself with great advisors, build a great product or service and help people and get rich at the same time. If your motivation is to get wealthy at all costs – you will probably eventually end up poor and at the very least unhappy.

How great can you be? I challenge you to greatness! You have all of the power to be great in every sense of the word.

Welcome to part 11 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our series we will discuss the following questions: “Can I take a line of credit out on my merchant payments?    What does it cost? What does the approval process look like?”

Can I take a line of credit out on my merchant payments? What does it cost?

Yes. Sort of.  Merchant Services advances like Choice Merchant Services Capital for Merchants Program, is not a line of credit yet it operates like one.  Here is how it works:

1. You essentially can received an advances of 1 month of merchant services processing volume.

2. The payback period is typically 4 to 8 months.

3. Most merchants pay back about $1.35 on the dollar over a 6 month period.

What does the approval process look like?

Welcome to part 10 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our series we will discuss the following questions: “What liabilities am I accepting by accepting electronic payments?  What liabilities am I protected from by doing business with you?”

By being a merchant who accepts payments online you do have some liabilities.  Let’s break down the most common liabilities that you obtain by getting the dramatically improved sales that come with accepting electronic payments.

1. Stolen Credit Card Data/Identify Theft
Your clients are placing their trust in you when they give you their payment information.  Not only are they trusting you to deliver what you are selling to them as you have promised, they are also trusting you to protect them from identity theft.  If you are using a good merchant services provider that offers strong encryption and only uses PCI complaint equipment and software you really have just about nothing to worry about so as long as you are following best practices.  For example, all credit card data should be stored securely behind encrypted and password protected digital firewalls.  You should NEVER write credit card information down and save a paper copy of it in your office, save it in your email, or save the information in a file such as an Excel file on your PC.  If you do so, your customers data could easily get stolen by a crook and the net result may be 1K, 5K or 30K in identity theft that happened because of your insecure actions.  If that could get traced back to you the identity theft victim could hold you responsible.  So follow-best practices and use common sense.  If you do that – all should be good.

2. PCI Compliance Violations
If you follow these three simple rules would should be safe from almost all PCI complaint violations:

a. Do not accept payments through old and outdated merchant equipment – in other words only use approved merchant equipment.
b. Only use the highest forms of encryption when accepting payments online – in other words only accept payments through Authorize.net or PlugNPay.
c. Store all data securely.  In other words do not store credit card data in any place but within your merchant equipment or software.

3. Chargebacks
A chargeback occurs when someone makes a purchase from you and then wants a refund because they are not happy with the product or service you offered, or they claim they did not make the purchase.  You are liable in both of these cases.  Visa, MasterCard, American Express & Discover rules favor the end credit card user – in other words, they favor the customer.  If a customer of yours reaches out to their credit card company and requests a charge back, the money is immediately debited from your checking account.  The burden of proof is then on you to prove that you fully and legally deserve and are obligated to the payment.  If you win the charge back – you get the money placed back in your checking account.  If you lose, the money is gone forever.

How do you mitigate your risk of charge back?

Lets cover each type of charge back separately:

a. Cardback Due to an Unhappy Client
Your best way to make sure this does not happen is offer a great product or service and do what you say you are going to do – really well.  Then, have a reasonable refund policy for those that would may want a refund.  You can also print your refund policy on all receipts or your customers to see and keep a record of that.  Lastly, if you are accepting payments via contract or online have a terms of service written up that sells your products or services “as is” and you will be in a position to win most chargebacks.

b. Cardback Due to Fraud
This happens when someone claims they never authorized the purchase.  In this case, the burden of proof is on you to prove that the person that made the purchase was actually the person who owns the credit cards.  The common advice in a situation like this to have almost no liability is to get a photo ID of every person at the point of check out and make sure the name on the ID, the picture of the person, and the name on the credit card all match.  If not, do not accept the payment.  Yet in reality, this upsets your customers becuase you are telling them you you don’t trust them.  The best way to get around this for retail locations is to simply require that all of your purchases be run through the swipe or the tap and go method and that the person making a purchase enters their zip code registerd to the credit card at the point of sale.  If that is done – your instance of credit card fraud will be really low.  For busienss to business, ecommerce, phone order or mail order merchants the best way to protect yourself is to get a photocopy of the credit card on file, a photo ID, and a signed contract.  Yet, in reality this is not practical in most situations.  Your next best option is to to get a really strong anti-fraud system such as PlugNPay’s FraudTrack2 that will cross reference billing address, credit card number, name on the credit card, and zip code and make sure they all match before allowing a credit card transaction to be accepted.  You can even go so far as use the automated features of FraudTrack2 to look at IP address and email address of the customer making a purchase.

Keep on reading.  Our next chapter of this 12 part merchant service series will be part 11, “Can I take a line of credit out on my merchant payments?  What is my interest rate?  What is the approval process look like?”

Tap & Go payment technology has grown in popularity over the last year, for good reason. It offers a number of benefits for both merchants and their increasingly mobile customers.

Canada leads the pack in adoption; one in ten credit card purchases in-store now use Tap & Go technology. It’s definitely worth a look for retailers, considering transactions valued at less than $25, also known as micro- or low-value payments, accounted for $1.32 trillion in U.S. consumer spending in 2003* and were estimated to be almost $1.7 trillion of personal consumption
expenditure in 2005.

Customers are beginning to expect the convenience of this payment system on smaller purchases. Their ability to complete the purchase without ever letting the credit card leave their hand is a huge benefit for those concerned about account safety.

Tap & Go also caters to customers who prefer not to carry change or small bills for smaller purchases. It has the added benefit of helping to reduce payment processing time for retailers, as it eliminates the need for people to fumble or dig around for change at checkout.

Making the switch to a Tap & Go system is relatively simple for merchants. Our Vivopay 4000 system, for example, has traditional swipe capabilities built in, in addition to the contactless payment device. Merchants can accept Visa, Mastercard or American Express payments, as well as debit and echeck, from one terminal. Customers with Mobile Wallet-equipped smartphones can tap their phone to pay, using this system.

Fraud prevention measures are a critical aspect of any payment processing system; to that end, the Vivopay 4000 is PCI PED compliant.

Customers appreciate the flexibility and speed of service in retail situations where Tap & Go payment is an option. Regular, small purchases, such as a morning coffee, a newspaper, lunch to go or cab fare, can all be made simpler with this technology.

This ease of use can act as a sales driver; customers are more likely to make your store their outlet of choice for small, regular purchases if payment processing is quick and they can get about their business sooner. The Vivopay 4000 also allows you to process gift cards and loyalty cards on the same terminal, which increases customer loyalty but also helps to prevent fraudulent use of gift cards. The balance remaining is displayed by the terminal and the card cannot be tampered with, as is the case with paper certificates.

Welcome to part 9 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our series we will discuss the following questions: “How secure is my customers data, including their credit card information?  Is the solution you are providing me PCI complaint?”

PCI Compliance
It is a must.  Demand that your merchant services provider is PCI compliant.  They should be Level 1 PCI complaint which means that your customer’s precious payment information is as secure as it gets. You do not want to be held liable for identify theft.  Your best protection is to have Level 1 PCI compliance.   Not sure if your provider is Level 1 PCI complaint?  Just ask them.  Want to know more about PCI Complaince?  Read more at www.pcisecuritystandards.org

Data Security
The bottom line is that if you are PCI complaint your customer’s data is secure.  Yet, here is some additional information that can help make your customers feel more at ease and help you improve your sales with data security.

eCommerce Merchant Services
eCommerce merchants that accept payment information online are often the targets of financial attack and identity theft.  This is understood by many consumers who are still a touch on the leary side to enter their payment information online.  The best way for you to overcome this is to put a certified SSL certificate on ALL pages of your website where personal information is asked for.  Then make sure your website is coded properly and all data that comes into that site comes from an https URL.  This will prevent any security warnings from popping up on your customer’s browser, phone, or tablet.  Gateways to accept payment such as PlugNPay and Authorize.net are great solutions to your online payment needs and the offer the highest levels of customer security.  In addition, adding a 3rd party security logo to all pages of our website such as a Verisign Secured logo will give you added credibility of your security and increase your sales.

Verisign Secured Logo

In-Person Merchant Services
The risk of data security threats for customer’s payment information here is not as strong as for eCommerce merchants – yet the threat from hackers is still real.  Simply make sure you are using a level 1 complaint PCI complaint merchant services provider and PCI compliant merchant equipment.

Welcome to part 8 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter  we will discuss the following questions: “How secure is my money?  How long after a payment is made until the funds are in our business checking account?”

When running merchant services processing for  your business there are two very real concerns that many businesses have.  Simply put companies want their money made securely and fast.  This should be standard in today’s world of fast processing.

Security
In short as long-as your merchant service provider is PCI compliant you should be safe in getting your payments quickly made to your bank account.  By law, all merchant services processors must be PCI compliant.  You want a provider that is Level 1, PCI Complaint which is the highest level of PCI compliance.  Level 1 PCI Compliance means that your provider has been audited by an outside firm and that they to meet or exceed standards for using PCI complaint merchant software, merchant equipment, data storage of credit card and billing data, employee background checks, processes for updating programs and more.  If your provider is Level 1 PCI complaint then all transactions are made, all money is moved, and all data is stored using the most advanced encryption and firewalls that are used for financial protection.

Fast Deposits
Your merchant account provider should be able to ensure all deposits are made within 24 hours of a transaction being completed.  It could be done faster if you would like, yet there are extra fees associated with faster movement of your money.  What essentially happens is that upon signup for your merchant account you let your merchant services provider know what account you would like your merchant account deposits made into and fees taken out of.  Then daily your company will run all transactions. Daily, at the time of your choosing all of the transactions from the past day will then be batched and placed into your business checking account.  Most providers usually charge a batch header free of $0.05 to $0.10 for this service, so if you would like to do it more often your monthly fees will go up.

Keep on reading.  Our next chapter of this 12 part merchant service series will be part 9, “How secure is my customers data, including their credit card information?  Is the solution you are providing me PCI complaint?”

Welcome to part 7 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our services we will discuss the following questions: “What mobile payment solutions should I take?  Do I need a mobile payment solution?”

What is a mobile payment solution?
A mobile payment solution give you the ability to accept credit cards no matter where you are so as long as you can obtain a cellular signal.  Mobile payment solutions are most often used by companies that accept credit cards in the field or in non-traditional store locations.  Yet, they are also used by companies like Apple inside the Apple store because of the coolness and efficiency of these type of payment solutions.

Do I need a mobile payment solution?
If you are accepting payments in-person, yet out in the field then you must obtain a mobile payment solution.  Examples of companies that should accept credit cards in the field are pizza delivery, plumbers, window replacement, home improvement, landscapers, taxi-drivers, farmer’s market stands.  Yet, Unless your business is a doctor’s office or a retail location where 100% of our customers come to you in a traditional location it is a good idea to have a mobile payment solution.  This is because if you can accept credit cards in person with the plastic card being swiped through a terminal you can save as much as 40% in credit card processing fess.  Swiped transactions cost less to run per transaction than manually keyed in transactions.  This is because there is less risk of credit card fraud for a card in hand transaction and there is also a lower risk of an unsatisfied customer who wants to run a charge back.  The net result is that card issuing companies like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover charge less to run a transaction that is swiped through a terminal and companies like Choice Merchant Services then pass that savings onto you.

What mobile payment solution should I use?
We recommend Phone Swipe.  To take some excerpts from previous posts we made about Phone Swipe:

If you want to accept payments anywhere your best solution is Phone Swipe.  Phone Swipe is the lowest cost mobile payment solution on the market.  It allows you to simply plug a free phone adapter into your smart phone and then accept credit cards anywhere in the world that your mobile carrier is connected.  This allows your customers to quickly pay out on the spot as you pull out your small smart phone and swipe their credit card through the several inch reader that you plug into it.

There is another benefit to Phone Swipe.  When you use it, you will save a lot of money in credit card processing costs.  That is because instead of a 4% of transaction fee to accept a payment via a keyed in transaction, you will pay just 2.69% per swiped transaction.  Imagine getting to keep 1.31% of your total company revenue as profit.  That is what Phone Swipe does for you.

Competitors of Phone Swipe such as Square charge more money and they offer less robust customer-service.  There are also other mobile payment solutions you could get such as the Verifone VX670 and Way Systems yet they are big and bulky by today’s standards. You can also use Dial Pay to accept credit cards from any cell phone by keying in the credit card information – yet this system will raise your credit card processing costs by as much as 40% since all transactions that it would process are keyed in as opposed to swipe transactions.

Keep on reading.  Our next chapter of this 12 part merchant service series will be part 8, “How secure is my customers’ data, including their credit card information?  Is the solution you are providing me PCI complaint?”

Welcome to part 6 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our services we will discuss the following question: “What solution can give my customers the easiest shopping experience?  How can your solution help me increase my sales by upsell, cross-sell?”

Retail, Restaurant or Doctor’s Office Merchants
If you are accepting credit cards in person at a retail store, restaurant, or at an office location such as a doctor’s office you should use the Vivopay 4000.
The Vivopay 4000 allows you to accept payments incredibly fast.  If offers fast broadband connection as well as tap and go technology for those who have Mobile Wallet equipt smart phones.    This fast check out time can improve your sales as customers today are busy.  If they can get what they want fast and then get going they are more likely to come back to your business again.  In addition, the Vivopay 4000 also empowers you to accept gift cards.  As we stated in previous posts:

All retail companies and restaurants should offer gift cards.   The advantage of doing it through a merchant service processor is that you can see the balance of all of your unused gift card amount and you can make sure that no one takes advantage of the system as is often the case with paper gift cards.

In addition, gift cards offer the added bonus of improving sales through word of mouth advertising, as well as unused products and services that are purchased on the gift cards and never redeemed.

Home Improvement & Mobile Merchants
If you want to accept payments anywhere your best solution is Phone Swipe.  Phone Swipe is the lowest cost mobile payment solution on the market.  It allows you to simply plug a free phone adapter into your smart phone and then accept credit cards anywhere in the world that your mobile carrier is connected.  This allows your customers to quickly pay out on the spot as you pull out your small smart phone and swipe their credit card through the several inch reader that you plug into it.

There is another benefit to Phone Swipe.  When you use it, you will save a lot of money in credit card processing costs.  That is because instead of a 4% of transaction fee to accept a payment via a keyed in transaction, you will pay just 2.69% per swiped transaction.  Imagine getting to keep 1.31% of your total company revenue as profit.  That is what Phone Swipe does for you.

eCommerce Merchants
Your most robust and highest ROI way to take payments online is through Authorize.net.  Authorize.net allows easy shopping cart plug-in and is also comes with free shopping cards you can put into your website.  You can setup promo codes, virtual gift cards, gift cards, automatic billing, and a host of other features that will increase your sales and your return customers.

Keep on reading.  Our next chapter of this 12 part merchant service series will be “What mobile payment solutions should I take?  Do I need a mobile payment solution?”

Welcome to part 5 of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”   In this chapter of our services we will discuss the following question: Can I accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Gift Cards, Promo Codes on my website, Debit Card, or  eCheck?

The short answer: Yes any high quality merchant service provider should be able to offer you everything mentioned above.

The next question is: should you accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Gift Cards, Promo codes on my website, Debit Cards or eCheck?

The  short answer: It depends. Let’s break this question out in parts.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover

First off, any business should accept all major credit cards.  That includes Visa, Mastercard, American Express & Discover.  If you don’t you will lose sales revenue.

Debit Card & eCheck
If your business is a doctor’s office, business to business company, or retail outlet you should also accept Debit Card and eCheck.  You should do all of the above because it increases your sales.  Some companies may opt to accept checks but will not electronically verify them.  This is a mistake.  Electronically verifying the checks made out to you at the point of purchase will let you know if the check you are accepting is good.  It will save your company a lot of lost revenue and lost time in collections.

Promo Codes on a Website
If your business offers ecommerce transactions online, make sure you have the ability to offer promo codes on your website. These promo codes can be used in your online advertising, word of mouth advertising, advertising on online coupon sites, as well as television and radio advertisements.  Promo codes not only increase your sales but they help you track the return on investment from all of your different advertising offerings.

Gift Cards
The last question is gift cards.  All retail companies and restaurants should offer gift cards.   The advantage of doing it through a merchant service processor is that you can see the balance of all of your unused gift card amount and you can make sure that no one takes advantage of the system as is often the case with paper gift cards.

This morning I was reading my daily news with the latest updates in the credit card processing industry when I ran across this headline: MerchantService.com offers Free Ak-47 with New Merchant Account.  As a full disclosure, you should know that I pro-second amendment – yet I found this post to be quite unusual.  How do you put merchant services together with an AK-47’s machine gun?

As I read the post it seemed that MerchantService.com was not being fully serious.  Instead they were pointing out that store owners should have a hand gun to protect themselves – especially if they live in a high crime area with poor police presence. Nevertheless, I think that this press release was a publicity stunt by Merchant Service and it probably worked.  You can read the full press release here.