Your Guide to Updating Credit Card Terminals

Credit card machines are evolving at a rapid pace, and businesses are finding themselves facing important decisions regarding when and how to upgrade. Upgrading is a necessity with chip cards coming to your local store, but how far should you go before you’ve taken care of the necessities for your business? While every business will be different, these guidelines should help you come to some basic conclusions as you look through your options.

Future Proofing

As you’re looking at what might be your new credit card swipe machine, consider some important concepts that you might have to deal with in the future:

• eCommerce: are you prepared to host a payment processor online in order to accept payments through your website? If not, you might miss out on potential business.
• Mobile: can your credit card machine accept mobile payments? Are your staff members equipped with mobile payment processors?
• Security: Another concern is security. Hacking isn’t going away, it’s going to get worse as time goes on. Smaller stores who can’t afford state of the art security are going to become targets. Upgrading will help shield your company from some of that liability.

The bottom line is that you need to consider the next 5-10 years of this technology, instead of the next one or three.

Final Thoughts

Updating isn’t cheap, but it is integral to the future of your business. Don’t make this decision until you’ve looked at the needs of your business. When you’re ready, try and future proof your purchases by looking into the future and studying trends in retail and customer service.

Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc. has been voted the number one merchant account provider for retail, mobile and eCommerce businesses for six years running.

Mistakes that Merchants Make With Merchant Accounts

Article Written by : Manufacturing Strategy 

If you have a good amount of customer coming through your doors, you will need to have a merchant account. A merchant account allows you to accept credit card and debit card payment through a credit card terminal. Many business owners will hop right in and sign the first contract they are given without even thinking about it. This is just one popular mistake merchants make when it comes to these types of accounts but there are ways to avoid them

You will need to compare various companies before you sign up with one of them. The best way to check a company out is through the Better Business Bureau. The BBB can let you know if the provider has a history of complaints or if they have complaints that have gone unresolved. Once you have a contract, be sure to read and understand each detail, especially the fine print.

Sure a credit card company representative can provide you with a sales pitch to get you to sign up with their company. But be sure what ever it is that they offer you, that you get it in writing. You certain do not want to be conned into something and then end up with extravagant fees. If an offer sounds to good to be true, it most likely is. If it is true, get in down on paper.

Pay attention to that nasty cancellation fee. This fee is normally an extravagant amount because the company wants to keep you in the contract. The fee is assessed if you cancel your contract early. It is important to remember these tips so you don’t make any mistakes that will cost you money.

How to Fight Credit Card Chargebacks

Article Written by : Merchant Capital Inc

Here is a situation which you may be able to relate with. Jack is the owner of a small floral delivery company in the heart of his downtown neighborhood. He recently subscribed for a merchant account so he could take credit cards as payment. He soon found it was a great decision since his sales went up by 33% in just two weeks. But soon after, jack noticed several credit card chargebacks.

The chargebacks all seemed to be for various reasons. One customer claimed they never received their delivery so they disputed the transaction with their credit card company. Another customer said the flowers were delivered but in rough shape by the time they got to her and still another disputed the charge because the flowers were not what they ordered.

The sad part is that all these claims were frivolous. Jack had a reputation of having high quality floral arrangements as well as a trusted courier for his deliveries. Jack was a victim of customers who wanted something for nothing. If you find yourself in this situation, there are some things you can do to fight credit card chargebacks.

One important step to take is to get a signature for all deliveries made. Be sure the courier is aware of this when he sets out on his deliveries. For customers who claim they never received their delivery, all you need to do is show a copy of the signed delivery receipt. For those who state their delivery was in poor condition upon arrival, showing the part of the receipt stating the customer can receive a refund as long as their return their purchase in a certain amount of time.

You don’t have to let dishonest customers take advantage of you. Stand up for your reputation by proving them wrong!