CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

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

What is a Good Interchange Plus Rate?

by Ben Dwyer

Getting a low interchange plus rate is important, but the rate is just a drop in the bucket.

Asking the question “what is a good interchange plus rate?” is like asking the question “how much does a car cost?” Neither question can be answered accurately without first knowing several supporting details.

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Credit Card Processing

Sam’s Club Merchant Account Services – Buyer Beware!

by Ben Dwyer

Not too long ago, CardFellow posted an evaluation of Costco merchant accounts that found Costco’s service to be very disappointing. Undeterred, I decided to take a look at the merchant services offered by Sam’s Club to see if Costco’s big-box competitor fares any better. As it turns out, Sam’s Club Merchant Services uses the same…

Sam’s Club Merchant Services isn’t the best choice for businesses that want competitive credit card processing services.

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Credit Card Processing

Visa International Acquirer Fee

by Ben Dwyer

Despite how it sounds, you may incur the international acquirer fee even if you don’t think you take international payments. That’s because the fee applies to transactions in the United States made with cards issued outside of the United States. If a foreign customer uses their card at your business, the fee will apply. Visa…

Visa’s International Acquirer Fee is one of several assessment fees that apply to Visa transactions. It often applies in conjunction with the International Service Assessment (ISA) Fee.

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Credit Card Processing exposed