There has been a lot of buzz about the Durbin Amendment and what the ramifications of it will be. The amendment is set to go into effect at the end of October and the anticipation continues to grow. There has been a lot of speculation as to what effects it will have on the merchant account of many businesses but there are many differing opinions. But don’t worry, your business will still be accepting credit cards at a reasonable rate once it goes into effect. In fact, most opinions believe that it will actually be better for the merchant account of businesses. Rather than leave its effects up to hearsay, here is a look at the Durbin Amendment.
The news is mostly good for companies and their merchant account. One of the highlights of the amendment is that it merchants will now have a choice in what network they decide to process their transactions over. Until now, businesses were often limited to one or two options for which network to use, but the Durbin Amendment has opened the flood gates. This makes the credit card services of company’s much more dynamic and customizable, a must for every business. Also, rather than staying at a fixed percentage of the transactions, interchange fees will now only be as high as 24 cents per transaction. Continue reading Durbin Amendment Starts at the end of October – Time to change your Merchant Account?
One of the many spinning cogs in every business is merchant services. If this cog breaks the whole business will grind to a screeching halt – and for any business this is unacceptable. In order to prevent a disaster in this arena, every business needs a reliable merchant account to keep their business up and running. By implementing a few easy strategies, you can ensure that you find a reliable and trustworthy merchant services provider to keep your business running as it should.
The first and easiest way to ensure a good merchant services provider is to only deal with reputable companies. There are plenty of fly by night merchant account companies that will promise you the moon, but all too often these are the companies that let you down. They often attract merchants because they have slightly better rates, but you definitely pay for it in the long run. Stick with the more reputable companies and you will save yourself a lot of headache. In the event something does go awry with your merchant account, they will be better at fixing the problem than less reputable merchant account processing companies. Continue reading How To Ensure Great Service In A Merchant Account Provider
MerchantService.com announced today their online merchant services quote generator which completely changes the way businesses shop online for credit card processing solutions. Much like auto insurance companies, business owners now have the ability to fill out a simple form and receive an instant quote for a new merchant account.
“You can receive an instant online quote in as little as 1 minute and an on-line application is there for you to complete. Just print it out, sign and fax in. We’ll call you back to cross the T’s and dot the I’s, so you can start increasing your bottom line profits immediately. It’s as simple as that,” said Gino Kauzlarich, president of MerchantService.com, Inc.
The program offers Interchange Pass Through (IPT) pricing to all businesses regardless of their size or credit card processing volume. A merchant account that uses an Interchange Pass Through pricing method applies processing fees by adding a small percentage to the actual interchange (Wholesale) rate for every transaction and all dues and assessments are passed through directly at cost. This ensures that a merchant only pays the wholesale rate in addition to a small mark-up that goes to their merchant service provider.
“Because it is a true IPT program, 100% of the Durbin Amendment cost savings will accrue to our merchant’s benefit. Our merchant’s will be free to keep the savings, or pass them on to their customers,” said Kauzlarich.
While there are many merchant service websites that offer basic quotes for a few business types like: Retail, Mail Order, Telephone Order or Internet. MerchantService.com is the first to offer instant online quotes for all major business types, not only taking into consideration acceptance method but processing volume, business type, average ticket and longevity.
In addition to being a valuable resource when comparing pricing online, the quote generator is designed to be very user friendly. Merchant can also utilize this tool to review their existing rates since at least twice a year (generally every April and October), Visa and MasterCard re-assess their processes, regulations and fees then announce rate changes and new fees. Many times existing providers will layer on additional rate increases above the Interchange adjustments.
About MerchantService.com
Established in 1995, MerchantService.com provides leading edge credit card machine and business management solutions proven to increase total sales, accelerate cash flow, improve efficiency and reduce expense. MerchantService.com also features the most economical merchant services pricing program, Interchange Pass Through, for all merchants, and has not raised their markup rates over interchange in 15 years of operations.
PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. The rigorous application of these merchant account standards ensures that credit card merchant account holders are in compliance with industry standards for financial data security and is a key component of maintaining customer financial security. Every business that accepts credit cards must be PCI DSS compliant, as it is a requirement from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCISSC).
PCISSC Oversight and Certification for Merchant Account Holders
The PCISSC, or PCI council, was originally formed with American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa International in September of 2006. The purpose of the council is to manage PCI DSS with the goal of monitoring merchant account holders and credit card processing. The PCI council claims to be independent of each of the PCI council founding firms.
The PCI council created the PCI Data Security Standards, which consist of 12 significant requirements, including numerous sub-directives that must be adhered to in order for processors of credit card machine transactions to gain a compliance certification and a merchant account listing on the PCI Standards Council website. These standards prevent fraud, hacking, and other security threats. Continue reading PCI DSS Compliance Mandatory for Credit Card Merchant Accounts
Virtually all retail businesses accept credit cards because doing so is proven to increase total sales. At this writing the U.S. House and Senate conference committee continues to work on the controversial merchant services reform legislation. And a House-backed revision of the Durbin amendment — which gives the Federal Reserve authority to regulate credit card processing, seems likely to remain part of the final merchant account legislation.
All those that accept credit cards anxiously await news of how the Durbin “”merchant services”” amendment will affect how credit card processing at the point of sale (POS) is performed, and the impact on the merchant account. The “profit or loss” affect from the new legislation aimed at governing costs of merchant account services will directly impact how the credit card machine and credit card terminal are used.