The worst thing you can do for your business is call a processor and ask, “What are your rates?” or choose a company based on their inclusion in a “best processing rates” table. But that doesn’t mean we can’t show you how to find the most competitive pricing. In this article, we’ll discuss the role that “rates” play in the total cost, the factor...

If you’ve browsed CardFellow’s blog, you’ll know we’re not big fans of equipment leasing. In most cases, leases are expensive and come with non-cancellable contracts separate from your processing agreement. Unfortunately, that holds true for FDGL. What is FDGL? As noted in the introduction, First Data Global Leasing (often called FDGL) is the b...

Mastercard planned to phase in MDRI over a 2 year period that began in 2018 and was completed in 2020. Now that we're several years past 2020, we have more information on what the changes entail and what it means for your business. Keep in mind that more changes are likely in the future, and we'll continue to update this article to capture changes....

There are a few situations where this can happen, which we’ll take a look at in this article. While occasional fallback transactions are okay, too many can bring fines and other penalties. Additionally, magnetic stripe transactions are not as secure as chip transactions, so you’re opening yourself up to greater liability if you don’t properly utili...

The system has some pros and cons, and VCR may result in some new fees if you incur a chargeback. Back in late 2018 or early 2019, you may have seen a notice on your processing statement about upcoming VCR charges. For example, some businesses saw this explanation: Visa recently announced they are delaying the time-based dispute response and ...

What he hadn’t seen was low pricing that stays low, with excellent customer service. Enter CardFellow. Starting a Business More than two decades ago, George started out mowing lawns with a lawnmower he hauled around in the back of his beat up car. That turned into providing landscaping services, then pond installation, and finally retailing pond s...

It seems to include a lot of different things, so what is “merchant services” or “merchant processing?” If you’re starting a business or looking to get better rates on credit card processing at your existing business, it’s a good idea to understand what’s involved in merchant services and how to choose the right provider. Let’s take a look at...

There are many factors to consider: price, features, processor compatibility, hardware and accessories and more. In this article, we’ll cover common features, popular brands, and other variables to take into account when choosing the right system for your business. We’ll address both retail POS systems and restaurant POS systems. Need a specialt...

The Acquisition Leigh first heard of the acquisition during the summer, the busiest time for her pet services business, when she received a postcard with instructions on logging in to a new site for statements. Not having time to worry about it right then, she set the postcard aside for months and hoped she’d be covered by CardFellow’s protections...

Whether you’re starting a business from scratch, taking over an existing company, or adding credit card processing to your established business for the first time, you’ll need to know how to accept credit cards securely and at a low cost. There are tons of articles out there on credit card processing fees (we’ve written a bunch ourselves!) but l...