CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Credit Card Processing

Free Credit Card Machine = An Expensive Proposition

by Ben Dwyer

You are virtually guaranteeing that you will overpay for credit card processing if you’re comparing processors based on which ones are willing to provide a free terminal. With the 2015 EMV chip card switchover, the “free” machine offers are becoming even more common. The Economics of “Free” There’s an Exception to Every Rule One-Two Punch: […]

Like the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Credit card processors recoup the cost of a free credit card machine through expensive tiered pricing and various other fees.

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Credit Card Processing

Flat Rate Credit Card Processing – Fool’s Gold

by Ben Dwyer

If you’re considering a flat rate credit card processing company, here’s what you need to know. What is flat rate pricing? Flat Rate Pricing is An Illusion Truly Competitive Pricing vs. Flat Rate Pricing Interchange Plus Pricing Arguments for Flat Rate Pricing Known Costs Small Tickets What is flat rate pricing? Flat rate is an […]

Flat rate credit card processing is an expensive illusion based more on clever marketing than reality. What some companies advertise as a competitive flat rate is actually oversimplified and expensive pricing that conceals the true costs to process.

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Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Surcharging: Charging Fees for Using Cards

by Ben Dwyer

The settlement will allow businesses to reduce the impact of credit card processing fees. However, there are many rules businesses must follow in order to charge checkout fees, as well as pros and cons that should be considered before deciding if surcharging your customers when they use credit cards is the right move for your business. […]

A 2013 class action lawsuit against Visa and Mastercard resulted in a settlement that allows businesses to charge their customers a fee for using credit cards — commonly referred to as “merchant surcharges” or “checkout fees.”

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Credit Card Processing

Chargebacks: A Survival Guide

by Ben Dwyer

The burden of proof to show that a customer has been rightfully charged falls on you, and when consumers successfully dispute charges, you lose both the product sold and the revenue from that sale. Even when a dispute is unsuccessful, the acquiring bank will withhold payment for any chargebacks until the matter is resolved. Add in the […]

The chargeback process is designed to increase consumer confidence — it’s very easy for credit card users to dispute charges, while businesses and banks have to do all of the legwork to figure out whether or not a transaction is legitimate. From a business’ perspective, however, chargebacks can often be a costly hassle.

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Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Processing Companies: A Who’s Who

by Ben Dwyer

This article aims to give a sense of the players involved in keeping this system running smoothly, and to shed some light on what credit card processing fees actually pay for. Card Brands (Visa/MasterCard) Issuing and Acquiring Banks Credit Card Processors/Merchant Acquirers Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) & Member Service Providers (MSPs) Aggregators Integrated Software Vendors […]

From a business’s point of view, credit card processing is an amazingly straightforward system — swipe, sign, and the customer leaves with her purchase. However, making a customer’s experience so hassle-free requires a complex array of companies working behind the scenes to ensure that credit card payments are processed securely and efficiently.

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Credit Card Processing

Qualified, Mid Qualified & Non Qualified Credit Card Processing Rates

by Ben Dwyer

The key to lowering your business’s credit card processing expense is not avoiding non-qualified fees. The key is completely eliminating a processor’s qualification altogether. Who Determines Rate Qualification Non-Qualified Interchange Non-Qualified Credit Cards Over-Simplifying Qualification Qualified Rate Mid-Qualified Rate Non-Qualified Rate Eliminating Non-Qualified Fees Who Determines Rate Qualification Qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified rates are set […]

If your business is paying qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified charges to process credit cards, it’s paying too much. In fact, businesses that find a processor through CardFellow typically lower fees by as much as 40% by eliminating non-qualified rates.

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Credit Card Processing

Intuit Merchant Services = Hidden Fees & Fine Print

by Ben Dwyer

Intuit markets its credit card processing services under a few different brands such as Intuit Payment Solutions, Innovative Merchant Solutions, QuickBooks Payments, and GoPayment. Whatever it’s called, Intuit Payment Solutions is an expensive way to process credit cards. In this article, we’ll look at Intuit’s current fee structure and how to determine if you’re overpaying. […]

Hidden surcharges, fine print and tiered pricing combine to make Intuit Merchant Services one of the most expensive, opaque credit card processing solutions on the market today.

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Credit Card Processing

EMV & Smartcards: Ready or Not, Here They Come

by Ben Dwyer

Visa and MasterCard have begun what will likely be a long push to bring EMV to the United States. For financial institutions, this means issuing cardholders new credit cards and updating networks to process EMV data. For businesses, this will mean purchasing new EMV-capable credit card processing equipment.

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Credit Card Processing exposed