CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Credit Card Processing

Are Credit Card Processing Fees Negotiable?

by Ben Dwyer

Before you can negotiate credit card processing fees, you have to know which fees are flexible. Credit card processing is like any other industry in that there are fixed costs and markups. Fixed costs are those that a processor can’t change, and markups are open to discussion. Understanding the components of credit card processing cost…

Some credit card processing fees are negotiable, and some aren’t. If you’re looking to lower credit card processing fee, put the spreadsheet aside for a moment and read this article before you call another processor to ask the fateful question, “What’s your rate?”

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Credit Card Processing

American Express Discount Rate & Merchant Account

by Ben Dwyer

For the most up-to-date American Express pricing, use CardFellow’s quote comparison tool. American Express Pricing Models Closed Loop Network American Express Discount Rates American Express Settlement One Point Settlement Should You Accept American Express? American Express Fee Credits Opening an American Express Merchant Account Transferring an American Express Merchant Account Getting the Best Amex Pricing…

In the past, American Express was the most expensive credit card to accept; a reputation that it hasn’t shaken despite introducing a new pricing structure to bring costs more in line with other card brands. There’s a lot of confusion of American Express discount rates, pricing models, and settlement. We’ll untangle it in this article.

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Credit Card Processing

How to Read an Intuit Merchant Statement

by Ben Dwyer

This tutorial will show you to read an Intuit merchant statement, and it will highlight the aspects of Intuit’s credit card processing servicesthat make it expensive and opaque when compared to more competitive options that we will cover. The methodology that we use to analyze an Intuit merchant account statement is outlined in our article…

Understanding an Intuit merchant statement means reading between the lines.

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Credit Card Processing

Can I Reprogram My Credit Card Machine For Different Processors?

by Ben Dwyer

Older credit card machines that don’t have the proper hardware and memory to support modern programs may not work with any processors at all. Even if a credit card machine can be reprogrammed, it is a good idea to avoid reprogramming older machines that no longer conform to current PCI DSS or that can’t accept…

Businesses that are considering switching credit card processors wonder, “Can I use my credit card machine with another processor?” If you’re wondering if your credit card machine can be reprogrammed, here’s the scoop: Some credit card machines can be reprogrammed to work with virtually any credit card processing service, while other machines will only work with a specific processor.

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Credit Card Processing

(Evil) Tiered Pricing Merchant Account Services

by Ben Dwyer

Tiered pricing is an opaque and expensive merchant account pricing model.

Tiered merchant account pricing is currently the most common form of pricing for credit card processing services. Tiered pricing is opaque, expensive and is the vehicle for many of the hidden fees that plague the credit card processing industry.

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Credit Card Processing

Reading A Credit Card Processing Statement

by Ben Dwyer

This article will provide the general steps and knowledge necessary to decipher your small business credit card processing statement, and will link to detailed examples of actual statement analyses that will allow you to follow along as we dissect various merchant account statements. Existing Clients: If you used CardFellow to find your current processor and…

It’s not enough to simply read a merchant processing statement; the real goal is to understand what you are reading, where your money is going, and to determine whether your business has competitive credit card processing fees.

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Accounting and Finance, ecommerce, Legal

Online Sales Tax Rules for Ecommerce Businesses

by Ben Dwyer

This decision overturns a 1992 ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota in which the Supreme Court ruled that a business must have a physical presence in a state for that state to require it to collect sales taxes. That means that any online business did not have to pay sales tax in states where it did…

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair that states can require businesses to collect sales tax in states where they don’t have a business presence.

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Credit Card Processing, Legal

Contract = Good, Termination Fee = Bad

by Ben Dwyer

A contract does not equate to a cancellation fee and having a contract term end is not really a good thing.

All merchant accounts have a contract and a term; some merchant account contracts do not have an early termination fee.

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Credit Card Processing exposed