Katie T. Hammond asked:




Chargeback fees in credit card processing services can cost any business a significant amount of money. This fee is charged when the buyer contests a charge on his or her credit card. Of course, mistakes happen. Chargeback is an unavoidable part of the business, but when it happens too often, it becomes a business risk. Because credit associations penalize financial institutions when they continue to cover the merchant account of a business with high chargeback occurrences, it could cost you your merchant account.

Still, even without the risk of losing your merchant account, chargeback can cut into your profits. Here are ways to reduce credit card processing chargeback fees for online stores:

• Be wary of late night orders. In online businesses, fraud happens mostly at night. This means you are more likely to experience a chargeback for transactions done during the night time. It’s not exactly wise to open an online store operation only during the day. Still, be cautious of late night purchasers and verify those with extremely suspicious accounts.

• Encourage consumers to go directly to you in case of service or purchase problems. This way, your customer wouldn’t go to his or her credit card issuer, thus preventing a credit card processing chargeback fee. Have a flexible return policy works so you and the card issuer wouldn’t have to do refunds.

• Setting a credit limit. Identity thieves usually order large amounts of an item at go. Therefore, it would be a great security procedure to set a credit limit on your store. When the purchaser exceeds it, do an independent verification. Call the cardholder to make sure he is indeed making the purchase.

• Do a follow-up after every purchase. Send an e-mail asking if the item purchased was to the customer’s liking.

• Be wary of purchases from foreign countries. Check out trading news to know what country frauds and thieves use as their base. This changes constantly, so be aware. Also, make an independent verification when the credit card of a US cardholder is used from another country-and whatever country.

• Make a database. Record the credit card details, together with phone numbers and addresses of customers that caused a chargeback more than once.

Raymond

Haley Jonsan asked:




With the growing technology the payment options have also improves a lot thus providing viable options for the business. The best thing is that through the use of credit cards the payment has become easy and can be done anywhere and anytime. But apart from the use are also the services that are offered through the credit card processing. There are several options that you can get in the market.

Let us take a look at some of the things that must be kept in mind while opting for any if the credit card processing services.

1. Fixed Fees
All the issues related to the fixed cost include the start up cost, monthly chargeable fees, gateway fee and also software related fees. All these cost come under this category but you should be well aware that the providers try to fool the customers so always stick to which service you want to avail.

2. Transaction Fees And Discount Rates
These are the charges that are made when any types of payment is done. So you should be attentive that your providers offer you the best one that gives you more profit. Your selection must be primarily based on the types of business that you are dong. All the payments that you do will be charged.

3. Security
Security is the main issue that should be dealt with great care. You might hake come across many such fraud cases so to prevent such cases from happening and to preserve the interest of the customers you need to avail the service that is secure and provides encrypted information. Therefore all the providers who lie in the category where their services are safe are given a title of “Scan Alert”. So always look for this title and then decide the type of services.

4. Customer Support
Many a times it may happen that the traders can come across some problems so they need to have the customer support that can sort out their queries and clear all the doubts that they have. Therefore you need to get excellent services from them.

5. Incentive
When you have got the correct information about the quality of service, the transaction fee and the fixed fees, security reasons all are completely understood you ask your service provider to give you some incentives depending upon the services that are taken. This is all done to make the services popular due to the increasing competition.

So always consider these key factors before you try any of the credit card processing services.

Vicki

Ernest Paul asked:


Most merchant transactions these days are performed using credit cards. But besides business transactions, personal ones can be carried out, too. The convenience of using a credit card allows for managing your money and your time better and eliminates the necessity of carrying unmanageable amounts of money around.

What are the three key essentials of credit card processing for a merchant?

1. First of all you need to have an Internet merchant account-affiliation between your retailing company and any merchant bank which authorizes the collection of funds from a customer’s credit card account.

2. Your customer, of course, needs to have a bank account from which withdrawals can be made.

3. And then you need the payment gateway which is a combination of hardware and software and which sends information about the payment from the buyer to the merchant, performs the credit card processing

, and doe s the billing, and reporting.

Take care to see that your method of handling credit card information is confidential and secure.

One of the easiest and safest ways of processing credit cards online is by engaging a third-party service. This would be a merchant account as well as a payment gateway. There is a large amount of software and third-party service for the asking today which is suitable for any types of business. Beside the payment gateway and the merchant account most of these services also include a shopping cart application in the deal. Although it seems more expensive it is financially feasible in the long run as you will not have to pay for a shopping cart application separately or for any other contracts.

Before you decide on a third-party service for your credit card transactions, think about what the quantity and the incidence of your sales is going to be. There are a number of other third-party credit card processing services you can avail of and their pricing schemes are almost similar. Choosing the right one for you will be dependant upon how much business you expect and how large your transactions are going to be.



TERRY

Uma A Ilango asked:


5 Things To Consider When Hiring Online Credit Card Processing Services

Branching out globally is a sure way to keep your clientele growing voluminously. With an online credit card processor, you can now accept all forms of payment anytime from anywhere in the world. However, selecting the best online credit card processing service will probably seem a little daunting with the number of options available in the market. Let us look at 5 main points that you should consider to make the task viable.

1) Fixed fees

Learn about all the costs by reading your contract conscientiously. The common fixed costs are as follows:

Start up costs Gateway fees Statement fees Monthly minimum fees Software costs

Please note that as the market is very competitive, some online credit card processing service providers offer all or some of the above for free. Be sure to compare as many service providers as you can before reaching a decision. Also be aware that some providers may charge hidden costs that may have been added on arbitrarily. Read your contract carefully before making the final decision.

2) Transaction fees and discount rates

These charges are applied to every credit card payment that you accept. It is important that you select a service provider which enables you to increase your profits. Your selection has to be suitable for your type of business and transactions. Suppose your transaction fee is $0.25, your discount rate is 3% and your sale is $100, then you would make $96.75 from that sale and pay your provider $3.25. If your transaction fee and discount rate is the same as above while your sale is $1000, you would then make $969.75 and pay your provider $30.25.

Let us say that you managed to shop around more and find a better deal with a transaction fee of $0.20 and discount rate of 2.25%. You would then effectively make $977.30 and pay your provider $22.70 for the same $1000 sale. However, if your average sale is only $100, the lower charges would cost you only $2.45. Since your average sales size is small, the difference in the charges may not make much difference to you. You should then focus more on the monthly fixed costs when making the final decision. As you can see, depending on your volume and size of sales, a small difference in the charges may or may not translate to big differences in your profits and expenses. Search for the best deal that suits your business needs.

3) Security

Credit card numbers are stolen every day. In order to protect your customers as well as your business, ensure that the online credit card processing service provider you hire is secure, and encrypted. One of the accreditation you can look for is ScanAlert. It is given to providers who are considered safe from hacking and who comply with the rules set up by the major credit card companies in the world to protect your customers’ credit card information. For further information you may want to refer to http://www.scanalert.com/. To help identify service providers who would protect you and your customers, search for customer feedback on the security features offered by them.

4) Customer support

As a merchant accepting credit cards online, you are bound to run into problems. In times of need, it is crucial that you receive prompt, effective assistance 24/7. Obtain referrals from currents users of the service provider to ensure that you would be given excellent personalized assistance.

5) Incentives

Once you have compared the all-important rates, security and quality of customer service and narrowed down your choices, you can now focus on the incentives given by the service providers. As online credit card processing service is highly competitive, most service providers are willing to throw in freebies such as free advertising of your company in popular search engines. Get one that gives you value for money.



CASEY