Wireless Credit Card Processing – Saving Your Business Money

Want to save your business money? Wireless credit card processing could help! No matter if you are running a small flower shop or a large furniture store you can lower your credit card processing costs by accepting credit cards at the point of sale on deliveries. Many businesses accept credit cards over the phone prior to going out to drop off their merchandise. When this is done you will end up paying much more to process these cards since there is no magnetic strip verification. Credit card processing fees could be up to a whole percent or more higher than it card present comparison. Also, by processing your cards with a wireless processing solution you will reduce your chargeback liability by having a signature on file for the transaction.

How can you reduce cost by implementing a wireless solution in accepting cards when you get your product to the consumer’s front door? To do this you have two primary options with Total Merchant Services. The option that would be preferred for a small business is to add on a Payment Jack device to your existing credit card processing solution. If you intend to process a larger volume of transactions you would want to consider putting an independent wireless credit card processing terminal in place. 

The Payment Jack device would connect to your existing smartphone allowing it to process the credit card at the point of delivery. Processing your payment with this option has its drawbacks. The main disadvantage is the fact that the device is assigned to one smartphone. Since the device is assigned to one phone number you may need more than one device if you have multiple delivery drivers. Secondly, the mobile device does not have a receipt printer. For some this may be an advantage, however many businesses and customers like to receive a receipt for the credit card sale.

The independent wireless credit card terminal as mentioned before would be a great option for a business that needs a paper receipt and or has many drivers that handle the credit card processing throughout the day. This method’s main advantage of having its own wireless connectivity to process credit cards live over the wireless network also brings us to its disadvantage, the cost. Since the device has its own wireless service to connect and process the credit cards, it carries a wireless service fee.

Both the wireless credit card processing solutions are covered by our free terminal placement program. The Payment Jack device can be added on for free to any of our free credit card processing terminal programs such as our free counter-top credit card terminal. An independent wireless credit card terminal could be added on to an existing free terminal program if your credit card processing volume permits. 

If you would like to discuss the possibility of adding wireless credit card processing to your existing credit card processing account by utilizing our free credit card terminal programs, feel free to contact me, Chris Judy, at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825.

Links:

Free Wireless Credit Card Processing (Independent Terminal)

Payment Jack Smartphone Credit Card Processing (MobileDevice)

Should I use Square or get a merchant account?

You might be in a position right now where you are looking for credit card processing for your new or existing business. In looking I am sure you came across Square merchant services. They offer credit card processing at a wholesale rate (one flat rate for all card types). This can be appealing for a new business owner looking for credit card processing for the first time. Let's see if Square merchant services is right for your business. If the following statements fit your situation, then a credit card processing service such as Square is right for you.

• I am just starting and I do not know how may credit cards I will process, if any at all.

• My sales are on the low end as I never process much more than $1,000 a month.

• My average credit card sale is very small, often less than a few dollars.

If any of these statements fit your current situation, you should set up with Square merchant services or a similar program. Let’s look at why.

The first statement explains a situation where a new or existing business is just starting to think about credit card processing and may not be sure if they will process at all. In this case processing your credit cards with a wholesale processor like what Square has to offer would be best until you gauge how many cards you will be processing.  

In the next situation your processing is very low. With having your own merchant account to handle the processing of credit cards you would incur a monthly cost. What it comes down to, is if the savings is outweighed by the monthly costs, you would be better off with a solution like Square merchant services. 

The final statement I put forth looks at the size of the transaction. If you average sale is very small, then the per items fees would be substantial. In this case using Square could actually cost them money since processors all pay the same costs to Visa, MasterCard and Discover. For example, a debit card cost is $0.22 per transaction. At a $5 sale the $0.22 would equate to a 4.4% by itself.

Okay, now if you are currently processing credit cards or  looking to add credit as a payment option and none of the situations mentioned above apply in your case, then you would be best off with your own merchant account to handle your credit card sales.

Total Merchant Services offers a solution similar to Square without the high overall percentage called Payment Jack. We also offer several other wireless options that include receipt printing. Total Merchant Services offers the best wireless processing terminal free to your business simply due to wanting to earn and keep your business.

For more information on this or any of the other free credit card terminal programs we offer contact Chris at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825.

Free Fanminder Service

Total Merchant Services now offers optional Fanminder services free with all new merchant accounts! Fanminder gives you the tools you need to grow your business and create customer loyalty. It integrates mobile, Facebook, Twitter and email marketing into an easy to use online tool. With services from Fanminder you are able to create coupons that can be redeemed by your customers and tracked from inside your Fanminder interface. If you were to subscribe to Fanminder without the free services offered along with our credit card processing, you would pay around $1,800 a year, including a $30 monthly fee with other expenses. We offer this at no cost along with our low cost credit card processing services. You can also combine any of our free credit card terminal offers with this service at no additional cost.

Fanminder allows you to get more business in to the door and keep your customers coming back to your business, earning you more revenue. It is easy to create a coupon in minutes and send it to your customers. Many merchants only will spend 5 minutes a week in creating a new offer resulting in an 8% increase in top-line revenue for your business. Take a look at a sample coupon that was created for a pizza shop. Text the word "joespizza" to 244326 and the example pizza shop coupon will be send to your phone. (This is only a demo so you will not be subscribed to anything.) As you can see on the coupon there is a green button that instructs the customer to click to redeem the coupon in front of the merchant. Once they do this, it will log the coupon as redeemed in your interface. With all of the templates that are available this coupon only takes minutes to create.

You may already be using some form of marketing that utilizes Facebook or Twitter. In this case you can add mobile and email marketing. All you have to do once you are set-up is to add you existing customer lists to your Fanminder interface and put up signs that instruct customers in your business to enroll in your loyalty/special offers program. After signing up they will get the initial coupon that you have designed for them. Each offer sent to your customers gives them the option to opt out of the program if they so desire, however you will find that the reason people sign up is so that they can get the offers and save money. Everyone likes to save money, right?

Fanminder is a wonderful tool, and since Total Merchant Services owns Fanminder, it  is offered free to any new set-up of a merchant account. If you would like more information on Fanminder feel free to contact me at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825 or visit www.fanminder.com. Remember: you have to set-up with me for credit card processing to get Fanminder for free.

Credit Card Merchant Services Cash Advance

Could your business benefit from up to $100,000 in working capital in your account within days? Many merchants are searching for a fast, easy way to get the working capital that they need to make improvements  of their business. One way a merchant can get the cash they need is to get a credit card merchant services cash advance. A cash advance from credit card proceeds isn’t a loan. It is a purchase of future credit card sales in exchange for cash now. Many times this money would be used in a way that would increase sales of the business providing a significant return on investment for the business. A merchant services cash advance is ideal for a business owner who does not want to get a traditional loan using and affecting their credit, their business has not been in existence long or if their current credit situation prohibits them from getting the cash they need now. Getting a merchant services cash advance is fast with the cash you need now in your account within 5 to 10 working days. Since a merchant services cash advance is not a loan there are no fixed payment amounts, you pay the cash back with a small agreed to percentage of your credit card sales.

What can you use the capital that you get through a cash advance? It can be used for any business expense including building inventory purchasing new equipment, marketing your business, remodeling or expanding your business, opening a new location and more. 

Your business could qualify for up to $100,000 in the working capital that it needs with a credit card merchant services cash advance. How much money does your business need? What would your business use the money for? If you would like more information on our merchant services cash advance program Cash-On-Demand contact me at 1.800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825. I would be more than happy to help you determine how much your business qualifies for and help you get the cash you need now with a credit card merchant services cash advice.

Are Free Credit Card Terminals Really Free?

Total Merchant Services was one of the first companies out there that started offering their merchants a free credit card terminal along with their credit card processing services. When we started, our competition could not understand how we could do this. At the time it would not be unusual to sign a lease on a terminal that cost $300 and end up paying thousands more than it is worth. Other people sold the equipment with a 100%+ mark-up. This is what our competition could not understand: they were making money on credit card terminals hand over fist and we were giving them away?!?!

“How is this possible??”- asked the competition. Many different scenarios unfolded as the competition attempted to also offer a free credit card terminal to their merchants. Some decided that the only way that they can offer a free credit card terminal and still make as much as leasing or selling the credit card equipment would be to raise the fees. They increased batch fees, transaction fees and added annual fees to offset the upfront monies they were so used to receiving from each merchant. Did Total Merchant Services do this to offer the credit card terminal for free? No, since I was already working for Total Merchant Services at the time that the free credit card terminal program was reviled, I know that the fees remained unchanged. 

In rolling out the free terminal placement program, as the merchants representative I was still able to offer the same great pricing that we offered prior to the program. Some of our competition still does not understand this and tell their prospective merchants that it is “never free”, attempting to sell or lease to them an overpriced terminal. Total Merchant Services stands behind our free credit card terminal program. So what’s the catch? There is no catch, no hidden fees, no annual fees, no cancellation fees, all with our low cost pricing backed by our meet or beat guarantee. We want you to have the best credit card terminal available simply because when your business thrives, so does ours.

For more information on our free credit card terminal programs click on one of the following links:

Free Ingenico iCT220 – Counter-Top Credit Card Terminal

Get one of the following state-of-the-art countertop terminals: Ingenico iCT220, or Verifone Vx520 in our counter-top free terminal program. (A $399 value)

Free Ingenico iWL255 - Wireless Credit Card Terminal

Get a free state-of-the-art wireless terminal: Ingenico iWL255  (A $599 value)

Free Authorize.net Virtual Terminal – Online Credit Card Processing

Get an Authorize.net online payment gateway for free along with your merchant account. (A $99 value)

Free Groovv POS System - Powerfully Simple Point of Sale 
You have a choice of our Groovv Storefront, Groovv Restaurant, or Groovv Tablet.

Free Payment Jack – Mobile Phone Credit Card Processing

Enable your smartphone to process credit cards. Credit cards can be swiped or keyed in manually to your phone. (A $49 value)

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at any time at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825. Have a fantastic day!

New QuickBooks Pro 2013 Credit Card Processing Integration

QuickBooks is a leader in business and personal accounting software enabling you to manage your expenses, credit invoices, generate reports and process credit cards.

Total Merchant Services now offers our Total Processing in QuickBooks (TPIQ) add-on to fully integrate our credit card processing services in to QuickBooks (a $249.95 retail value) along with a USB credit card reader (a $69.95 value) for card present merchants. The best part of it all is that we are offering a free copy of QuickBooks Pro 2013 & USB reader (if needed) along with our no commitment services. We can also integrate the TPIQ in to your existing QuickBooks software if you choose to take advantage of one of our other free terminal programs. If you prefer, you can upgrade your current QuickBooks to QuickBooks Pro 2013 for a discounted $129.99 while taking advantage of one of our other free terminal placement offerings such as out free wireless, free physical credit card terminal or online virtual terminal. 

By utilizing the TPIQ within QuickBooks you will streamline your business, and eliminate the need for a separate processing terminal and the time-consuming process of entering credit card transactions into accounting software.

If your are interested in learning more on our QuickBooks processing solution or any other terminal program we offer,  feel free to contact me at anytime at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825. Have a fantastic day!