Thursday, January 24, 2013

Visa MasterCard Change Surcharging Rules

Visa and MasterCard have made changes to their merchant acceptance practices effective January 27, 2013 as a result of the Merchant Class Action Litigation Settlement.

Merchants will now have the choice to add surcharges for some card based transactions. With the exception of pre-paid & debit cards, a merchant can now add a fee for accepting credit cards not to exceed the cost to process the card. Visa has determined that the surcharge should never exceed 4%. For full details on each brands rule and regulations regarding the new surcharge visit www.mastercardmerchant.com or www.visa.com/merchantsurcharging.

Before you choose to add a surcharge, you would want to take a few things into consideration. Your customers may find that your competitors have chosen not to add a surcharge on their products or services. This may lead to losing your customers to the competition. Another issue to look at is the complexity of training your sales representatives in adding the surcharge to some cards yet not on others such as debit. If your staff would miss-recognize a card, it could lead to penalties enforced on to you from Visa or MasterCard.

Your best route of travel  is to insure you have the best rates available to you, so that the cost of credit card processing is at a minimum. Contact me at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825 if you would like to have your processing rates evaluated. Feel free to visit my website at www.totalmerchantservices.pro to view information on our free credit card terminal programs and other services I offer.

Have a fantastic day!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Simple Way To Determine Credit Card Processing Costs

An easy way to keep tabs on your processing costs is by simply taking the total you were charged for credit card processing and dividing it by the amount you processed. This gives you your effective processing rate. Many merchants already know this simple trick, however if you do not, I ask you to give it a try now.

There are many variables involved that could make your rate higher or lower. One is the fact that Visa, MasterCard, and Discover all have per items that are charged that range from $0.05 to $0.22 in addition to the network processing fee charged by your processor. This results in a higher effective rate for merchants that have small average transactions, conversely merchants who have a high average ticket will have a lower effective rate. Another major factor is dependent on if the merchant processes cards by swiping or by key entering the transactions.

The following is a few examples of each:

Card Present Transactions
A merchant who processes credit cards card present swiped and has an average transaction of $25 should have an effective rate of right around 2.25% give or take a few basis points.

A merchant who processes credit cards card present swiped and has an average transaction of $1000 should have an effective rate of right around 1.25% give or take a few basis points.

Card Not Present Transactions
A merchant who processes credit cards card present swiped and has an average transaction of $25 should have an effective rate of right around 2.53% give or take a few basis points.

A merchant who processes credit cards card present swiped and has an average transaction of $1000 should have an effective rate of right around 1.68% give or take a few basis points.

Summary
Based on the above examples you should be in the below range once you have calculated your effective rate.

Card Present Transactions - 1.25% to a 2.25%
Card Not Present Transactions - 1.68% to a 2.53%

If you found that your effective rate is much higher than the above mentioned the most likely reason is the Durbin Amendment that went in effect October 1st, 2011.This amendment to the Dobbs-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 significantly reduced the cost of debit card processing.

The effective rate is by far the easiest way to determine what you are paying to process credit cards. This is why each and every custom savings analysis I prepare for a merchant includes their current effective rate and the new effective rate based on the proposed new credit card processing costs.

If you do the math and your current company just doesn't add up contact me so that I can prepare a custom savings analysis for your company. Visit this link where you can upload your current processing statement to have one prepared for you today. You have nothing to lose but everything to save!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

News - Total Merchant Services Acquires Fanminder

Purchase Underscores Company's Commitment to Help Merchants Grow and Manage Their Businesses

BASALT, CO--(Marketwire - Jan 8, 2013) - Total Merchant Services (Total) announced today the purchase of California-based Fanminder. The acquisition adds a social, mobile marketing tool to Total's existing portfolio of innovative payment solutions. Fanminder will immediately provide Total's entire base of small to mid-sized merchants with enhanced social media, email and text messaging abilities -- that help stimulate sales via personal interaction with their customers and prospects.

"Merchants are demanding more, and our industry can no longer strictly sell on price and service. ISOs and Sales Agents need to forge partnerships with a company that helps businesses manage and grow their top and bottom lines," said Joe Kaplan, CEO, Total Merchant Services. "The acquisition of Fanminder helps accelerate our business strategy and competitive advantage. Now our sales partners can provide merchants with strategies for driving social media promotions to help grow their businesses. This results in more meaningful customer engagements through digital offers, quickly distributed through social media networks and mobile devices."

Fanminder is a multi-channel, mobile marketing platform that enables business owners to easily design and publish everyday promotional offers to Facebook, Twitter, SMS, email and even their own websites. The platform provides simple-to-follow templates, eliminating the need and expense for a professional graphic designer. Customers redeem promotions at the store of origin and all redemptions are tracked in a dashboard, "closing the loop" for the business owner and helping them grow sales. The company is adding more than 1,000 small business customers per month and is used by 10,000 small businesses ranging from clothing boutiques to pet shops, and casual restaurants.

"We built our company to provide merchants with a turn-key system for producing engaging promotions that drive the success of their businesses," said Paul Rosenfeld, Co-Founder and CEO, Fanminder. "We see many synergies between our offering and Total's current services; we look forward to integrating our perspective offerings for the benefit and growth of all small businesses."

About Fanminder
Fanminder powers fan relationships for small businesses and is leading the way for Fanbase marketing. Launched nationally in 2010, Fanminder is privately-funded and based in Silicon Valley, California. The company is happily satisfying artisan donut shops, hip urban clothiers, and edgy tattoo parlors, among its thousands of customers. From one easy, do-it-yourself place on the web, Fanminder helps businesses publish gorgeous offers that reach and reward their fans on social networks and through mobile and other devices.

Keep a look out for exciting new services that I will be able to offer due to this acquisition. Once they become available I will publish a new page explaining the offers available on www.totalmerchantservices.pro.

Chris Judy
National Sales Manager
Total Merchant Services
800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825