Credit Card Merchant Accounts - Comments Page 1

In my city, I see many small restaurants--typically, Chinese--with signs on their windows that state "cash only". I doubt their profit margins are low, as a result of not accepting credit cards. Else, they wouldn't be in business. Or do you think they are money laundering; or worse, perhaps such restaurants are a front for some sort of crime operations?

EDITOR'S NOTE: My best guess would be they don't like paying income taxes. Credit cards and checks leave an audit trail...

There is also the option of using paypal, which doesn't have any paperwork and people can pay paypal with a credit card. I use it all the time.

Costco also offers merchant accounts through a partner (Elevon) with good rates and waived fees for Executive Members.

http://www.elavon.com/acquiring/costco/

I don't even carry cash anymore and find paying by check to be too much of a hassle. Online bill pay and credit cards are the only way to go.

Here in the UK, credit and debit card machines don't generally print the card number in full - it's usually shown as a line of asterisks plus the final 3 or 4 digits, e.g. "**** **** **** 1234".

This prevents the type of crime described in Bob's article, where a thief picks up a discarded receipt and gets the card number.

There is a new iPhone app that allows anyone with an iPhone to take credit cards (they may have an app for other phones too). I haven't tried it yet but it seems very reasonably priced and easy to set up. Here is the URL"

https://squareup.com/

Be careful. Check out whomever you go with the BBB first. My business was legally dissolved and I was forced to pay for a unit I never once used for 4 years. Bank account was closed; everything... company would not let me out of contract. I would never go that way again.

As a merchant, I paid $25/month for a processor, plus 1.7% on transactions, no transaction fees. And I was a small, one-person company. Far from "costing" me money, accepting credit cards actually increased my revenue. Presumably, for the following reason:

As a consumer, I've been carrying the same $20 for over 5 years now. This is the 21st century. Any company that doesn't acccept cards also does not want my business, apparently. That DOES cost them money, no matter how they may think they're saving it.

Yes, there was an early termination fee if cancelled out within the first two years, a maximum of $300. Not a killer, but also one of countless good reasons to incorporate. The processor would then have to collect from the dissolved company.

I tried using PayPal for our Bed and Breakfast in Budapest, Hungary connecting with our CA bank when I wanted to move money.

The learning curve for those who did not know how it worked was horrendous. Although people were told they needed to create an account before leaving home, I had a number of them who tried creating one from here on the morning they were checking out. Needless to say, they had to rush off to the ATM machine.

Regardless of how much preparation information you give, they just don't pay attention. I gave up and quick taking PayPal.

Be very careful when opening a merchant account as things are rarely what they seem. I blog about this and seemingly grate rates from costco:
http://www.http://ethicalmerchantservices.blogspot.com

Sorry the blog is ethicalmerchantservices.blogspot.com

Square, get your free card reader in the mail, and start swiping. Accept all credit cards. No hidden fees, no commitments—ever.

Available for iPhone, iPad, and Android
https://squareup.com/
Not for everyone, but free to sign up no monthly fee and the small dongle that plugs into Ipad so you can swipe the card is free. The merchant discount is 2.75% You can also manually enter cc information ,I think that manual entering cost a little more on merchant discount Merchant discount is the % you pay as a merchant to use this service . I am a plumber and use this service

Be very careful when opening a merchant account as things are rarely what they seem.

Government officials, stores and banks are having a massive row over interchange costs on debit and credit cards. Companies are getting fed up with paying banks to get money they are owed, which they have to pay due to interchange fees. I found this here: Merchants moving away from debit and credit cards

Dear Bob,
We love you as a most important member of our family. Every single question that we have is answered by your website and by your books. We cannot imagine our performance in business and on the internet without your wise guidance.
We are very happy to have you in our lives!!!
Eat healthy, wear a seatbelt and do not text while you are driving, Kindest regards, Franklin family.