Credit Card Processing, Restaurants and Bars

How Tips Paid by Credit Card Could Affect Your Restaurant

Ellen Cunningham
by Ellen Cunningham

Tips over a certain percentage of the bill can trigger flags for fraud, resulting in card issuer-initiated chargebacks, or can cause your transaction to be downgraded to a more expensive interchange category. Tip Tolerance What happens if I get a chargeback for a big tip? Tips and Interchange Downgrades Spotting Downgrades on Your Statement How…

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Now that credit and debit cards have become a popular way to pay for meals, customers often add tips for servers when they sign their credit card receipt. However, this common practice could have implications for your bottom line.

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Credit Card Processing

Introduction to Apple Pay

Ellen Cunningham
by Ellen Cunningham

Since it’s launch in 2014, Apple Pay has been gaining traction as a payment method for consumers. More businesses are switching to contactless terminals, meaning there will be even more locations that can accept Apple Pay in the future. What is Apple Pay? Apple Pay Online How does it work? Apple Pay on Websites Security…

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By now, most people have heard of Apple Pay, a contactless option to pay using a credit or debit card through your iPhone or Apple Watch. But how does a business accept Apple Pay?

Apple Pay digital wallet

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Credit Card Processing

Digital Wallets: Intro to Apple Pay, Google Pay, Chase Pay, and more

Ellen Cunningham
by Ellen Cunningham

Digital wallets are becoming a more popular way for to pay for goods and services. With choices like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, the upcoming Samsung Pay, and even PayPal, there are plenty of options for customers no matter what kind of smartphone or electronic device they use.

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Digital wallets (like Apple Pay) are a way to pay for goods and services using your compatible smartphone or smartwatch instead of pulling out a physical credit card.

image of 100 dollar bill on smartphone

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Credit Card Processing

EMV Chip Card Acceptance

Ellen Cunningham
by Ellen Cunningham

For most businesses, the compliance date was October 1st, 2015. (Pay at the pump gas stations have until 2020 to comply.) If you’re holding out on upgrading to EMV chip card equipment, here’s what you need to know. What is EMV? Traditional Credit Cards vs. EMV Cards Fraud Reduction with EMV EMV Liability Shift Becoming…

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By now, most businesses are aware of EMV or chip cards, the new technology in credit card processing. The major credit card companies announced requirements for processors and businesses to accept these chip cards that have been shown to reduce fraud in card-present environments.

EMV chip cards

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Credit Card Processing

American Express OptBlue Pricing & Acceptance

Ben Dwyer
by Ben Dwyer

Several months ago American Express introduced OptBlue, which is a new pricing structure that will replace the company’s current One Point pricing for most businesses. OptBlue’s pricing functions similarly to that of Visa and MasterCard’s interchange in that processors pay “wholesale” rates to American Express and apply their markup through a cost-plus or tiered pricing model.

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American Express’s OptBlue program provides the possibility of lower Amex fees for businesses that know what to look for.

Amex OptBlue

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Credit Card Processing

Interchange Plus Pricing IS NOT a Silver Bullet

Ben Dwyer
by Ben Dwyer

Interchange plus pricing does not guarantee competitive credit card processing fees. It’s just as easy for a processor to overcharge a business using interchange plus pricing as it is with other pricing models, such as tiered.

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As more information becomes available about credit card processing and more people with superficial knowledge write about the topic, interchange plus is often touted as the be-all end-all to opaque billing and high credit card processing charges. This is a dangerously expensive misconception.

Interchange plus pricing

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Credit Card Processing

Playing the Credit Card Processing Match Game

Ben Dwyer
by Ben Dwyer

Allowing your current credit card processor to match a more competitive offer may sound like a good idea, but it’s a losing proposition that will cost time and money.

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I get it. It’s easier to have your current credit card processor match lower pricing than it is to go through the application and set up an account with a new processor. But, like it or not, there’s no way to win the credit card processing match game, which is why no one ever does.

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