The Merchant Processing Guru

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#12: Credit Card Processing with Mobile Solutions continued – Virtual Terminal with a Mobile computer. The virtual terminal gives you the ability to process credit cards anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection and a computer. This is why I have included it as one of the available mobile solutions. A really good terminal will allow you to add a USB “Mag Swipe” so you can swipe cards on a laptop anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

The virtual terminal has fast become a popular alternative to a traditional terminal in many office environments as it is so easy to use and there are no equipment or software costs. Another reason this has become a popular option recently is because of new PCI compliance requirements, certain software versions have become obsolete as they are not PCI compliant and the cost of upgrading to a newer version is quite high in comparison to getting set up with a virtual terminal. While some virtual terminals have setup fees, some will be free to set up. You will have what is called a gateway fee each month in addition to any other monthly fees of approx. $15.00 – $25.00 per month so keep this in mind when considering this option.

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#12: Credit Card Processing with Mobile Solutions continued – Dial Pay & iPhone apps. “DialPay” is a term used in the industry for processing cards from your cell phone or even from home or office phone. This is usually an automated system that you call into using an 800# and punch in the card & sale information and get an approval # or a decline on the spot. It is a little time consuming to punch in all the information but for the occasional sale it is a great solution and a very cost effective one. One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that you MUST GET A MANUAL IMPRINT OF THE CARD with this solution. This is to avoid “chargebacks” or at least give you the proof of a legitimate transaction with the customer’s signature and imprint of the card. ANY TIME YOU DO NOT SWIPE THE CUSTOMER CARD YOU SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN PROOF OF THE SALE, a manual imprint in this case gives you that. You do not need to do anything with the slip accept hold on to it for your records and give the customer their copy.

This solution is perfect if you only have a few transactions a month but you want to offer your clients the option to pay by credit card so you do not turn away any sales. Great for service people like Electricians or independent Carpet Cleaners who may have a transaction once or twice a week…

The iPhone credit card processing app. If you own an iPhone then this may be a good solution for you instead of the “Dial Pay” option. Basically this application allows you to access a Secure Gateway “Virtual Terminal” just like the ones you would access anywhere from a computer, in fact you can still access your Virtual Terminal from a computer in the same way you can from your iPhone. So even if your iPhone is not working, as long as you have access to a computer you can continue to accept credit cards…

There are at least 15 iPhone apps. for processing credit cards last time I counted. Choosing the right one can be a little daunting, I have tested a couple and found 2 that I would recommend for most processors out there. Absolutely terrific solution for someone who has, takes or has the potential to take a good number of card payments in and out of the office!

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#11: Online terminal solutions & uses. A good on-line, virtual credit card processing terminal should have many functions and options that serve a great many purposes. I will list all the ways a great on-line virtual terminal should be able to serve you, no matter what business you are in:

1. Process credit card orders seamlessly on the back-end of your web-site. This is the most common use and what the on-line terminal was developed for. A terminal that does this smoothly and seamlessly is a huge asset to your business.

2. You can log-in to your gateway terminal and enter credit card information yourself. This is what the term virtual terminal is referring to when it replaces a piece of equipment and becomes your terminal for processing transactions. This is good for people who don’t want or don’t need a machine and who don’t swipe cards, only key-enter them.

3. Use your virtual terminal wherever you go, at events or trade shows where you want to take orders on the spot. Plug in a little USB mag-swipe reader to your laptop and swipe cards via your computer and your on-line gateway (must have an internet connection). Again a virtual terminal replacing expensive equipment. Especially good for the occasional need to accept face to face credit card transactions away from an office.

4. Set up your terminal for monthly recurring billing. There are many benefits to this one. First of all the convenience to set up recurring billing accounts without expensive software. The ability to set them up from anywhere. Also, the virtual terminal is the most secure place to keep credit card information, behind the security of an online secure gateway. If you are going to store this information anywhere, this is the place!

5. Lastly, for those of you who still get a lot of checks, you can set up check acceptance via the secure gateway which can also be set up as recurring billing in the form of an ACH straight from a client’s bank account. Sound risky? Again, there is no place more secure to keep this information than on a third party secure gateway!

A good on-line virtual terminal should have these features and be easy to use. A user-friendly Gateway with all this flexibility can make a huge difference to any small business and not only save you money but make you money. I will talk more about the benefits of an online secure gateway in my next tip about mobile processing solutions.

Contact me at: theGuru@theMerchantProcessingGuru.com

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#10: E-Commerce – How does it all work? Processing credit cards online is very simple really. First of all you build a site with a shopping cart, then, when it is nearing completion you contact me for a merchant account. You must have privacy policies as well as return and cancellation policies on your site before even considering applying. This is something that is very important to any self-respecting processor and a requirement of Visa & MasterCard.

The processor will provide a web portal for the processing as well as the processing itself, this is called the “secure gateway”. The gateway is where your customers will go for the final phase of their checkout, to fill out their credit card info and complete their purchase. This portion is the most critical part of your web site and is encrypted so your customer’s information is safe. This gateway/portal is connected on the end of your web site’s shopping cart using codes provided by the processors tech team and your web designer will be able to plug those codes into your web site’s shopping cart to “marry” them up seamlessly.

The cost to set up the gateway is anywhere between, nothing & $250.00. Personally, I like nothing! Monthly maintenance fees for the gateway range between $15.00 & $25.00 for the most part. Again, you really have to be very careful with how high the rates are. Your basic e-commerce rate should be less than 2.20% but I see most up around 2.49% on average not to mention the downgrades (non-qualified rates).

Even though it may seem a big deal to switch your merchant account once your web site is up and running, if you are losing a huge amount of money due to the fact that you didn’t really know what you were getting when you first set up the account, does it make sense not to reign in those costs? If you have a good web person to make the switch over once everything is ready, then it is very simple and easy. Don’t wait, get a comparison today and make sure that you are not passing your profits on to the wrong people any longer! Contact me at: theGuru@theMerchantProcessingGuru.com