Merchant Card Service - Frequently Asked Questions about Merchant Services - FAQ's

Our comprehensive list is provided by our customers feed back during the initial application process and our follow ups with each merchant during the transition stage. We encourage your feedback if your questions are not here on this list.

Q. Many have asked why is there a separate charge for EIRF?
A. No there is not.  This is know as EIRF CREDIT (Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee) and below are the reasons why this rate category Qualifies as a NON Qualified Transaction,

Note : These types of transactions are:

• Only applicable to US issued check cards ; non-US will qualify at the credit category.
• Transactions must be settled within three days of transaction date.
• Keyed transactions or electronic transactions, that are not otherwise Qualified transactions (i.e. full, unaltered contents of the magnetic stripe that are not transmitted correctly [possibly due to merchant noncompliant software or card not containing full data] and transactions are not electronically authorized [i.e. voice authorizations, code 10s, call referrals]).

Note Further: These transactions should correctly be shown on your bill as: NON Qualified, not as a separate rate and this is more reason to have a current certified credit card machine and make sure your SIC Code for your specific industry type for your business is correct.

Q. Why do so many providers and sales people tell me "they Guarantee their rates will be the lowest"?
A. Our initial question to this question is: If they Guarantee they have the lowest rates; then why is it they need a competitors rates to give you the lowest rates ?

Note: This is another 'Smoke in Mirrors' tactic they use just to see what their rivals are doing just so that they can reduce the rate a few basis points, so they can tell you we will save you. In fact they do not, once you're locked into a ridiculous contract, they will raise your rates as soon as they are able too.

Q. How do I get technical assistance about credit card equipment?
A. See: Help Desk

Q. What credit cards are accepted with my merchant account?
A. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.

Q. How long does the Application process take?
A. It takes 24 hours or less if the merchant agreement is signed and dated at the bottom, Schedule A is signed and dated in lower right corner, and a voided business check is attached with the application and received.

Q. Do I need to buy a New credit card machine to process?
A. No you do not. People have told us that sales agents tell you this, and the reason is the agent will make additional money if you buy another credit card machine or lease one.

Note: Merchants have told us that the machine is 'internally' locked so that no other program can be installed. You can call the manufacturers, e.g. Hypercom, Lipman/Verifone, etc., directly. See our equipment page for these phone numbers and they can unlock you credit card machine.

Additionally , the machine you have can be re-programmed in approximately 35 minutes. Even if you're leasing it now; there are No restrictions on who you process with. You're free to move any time.

Note: Just remember some processors will charge you a small early cancellation fee, and others a percentage times your monthly volume. These 'Terms and Conditions' are quite rare but they do exist. So please read the T&C (Terms and Condition) before you sign.

Note further: Term commitments and cancellation fees are required by the bank. No not at all. These are just smoke and mirror tactics used by sales. Despite the legitimacy of the vast majority of sales representatives, a small minority engage in practices that can damage the reputations of ISOs and acquirers.
 "Such practices can include hidden fees, gouging on terminal leases, bait-and-switch pricing, the promise of "guaranteed" merchant approval, Internet "spamming" (unsolicited mass emailing), laundering, inaccessibility for resolution of customer service issues, and contract cancellation penalties."

Q. My new business will open in two weeks, what are the documents I need to open a merchant account.
A. You will need the following information about your business:

The merchant agreement needs the following information:

• Business information (physical business mailing address, tax ID)
• Owner/principal information (contact information)
• Account information (a voided business check only) No temporary checks. If your permanent checks have not arrived yet; provide the routing / account number on your banks letter head.
• Estimated credit card sales volume for Visa and Master Card Sales.

Note: However for check card rates the mid-qualified and non-qualified rates on the authorization side is higher due to the transaction rate being much lower than the credit card rate?

Q. Why do I have to sign a personal guarantee on the merchant application?
A. Unless you are a publicly traded company or a 501c, Chase feels that you as the majority officer of the company whether you're a Sole Proprietor or any form of a Corporation you are the company and are responsible for the companies' actions.

Q. Why do I have to pay a monthly minimum?
A. Normally you will not pay the monthly minimum unless, you do not process any credit cards at all for the month, or you did not process enough to cover the Monthly Minimum.

Note: The monthly minimum charge of $15.00 is two fold, first if you do No transactions at all the charge will be $15.00 plus the Help desk, monthly maintenance and the statement charges, which ad up to be $10.00.  Again, if you do no transactions your monthly fees are $25.00.  Secondly, the monthly minimum is reduced by dollar amounts of the fees charged for discount on your account; thereby reducing the $15.00 monthly minimum.  Example: if you did three transaction and they each qualified at the Visa credit card rate of 2.18% for a total dollar amount of $400.00, your charges at this rate category would be $8.72 {400.00 x .0218 (2.18% divided by 100 - thereby changing the % to a decimal) = $8.72} The fees charged did not meet the monthly minimum, therefore the monthly fee of $15.00 is reduced by the discount charges of $8.72 to $6.28. This is all showed in your monthly statements, which will also stated you did not meet the monthly minimum, therefore the amount of total dollar charges on for you merchant account to eliminate the monthly minimum would be $688.00 {$688.00 times .0218 = $14.9984 or $15.00}

The monthly minimum charge is to cover fees associated with keeping your account open, which includes server space, personnel, etc.

Q. Why are there volume limits?
A. Your merchant account is setup and it has algorithms in place to protect the processor from chargebacks that may occur on you account. The algorithms set your monthly volume and your transaction amount limits. Chase does not restrict any merchant from growing their business by limiting the dollar amount of total volume each month, contrary to belief when you first start out and your account is setup at a 10k monthly volume. And three months later you do 16k and your average ticket size stays inline, you will not here from Chase. Unless you take a transaction that is considerably above your established ticket size e.g. $150.00, then they will call to verify transaction.

Note: These algorithms are in place not only to protect you the merchant, but also the processor.

Note further: You can't do any transactions on your own merchant account using your own credit card to get cash back, or for someone to sell your daughter's car, or anything else.

Q. I have an existing merchant account; can I add check or gift card services?
A. Yes you can. However, let us do a checkup on your current merchant service.

Q. I bought a New machine and latter found out that it was used; who do I call to see if credit card machine is New?
A. See Helpful numbers below to call the equipment manufactures to verify if your machine is New:

Hypercom: 877 497-3726 Verifone/Lipman: 800 837-4366 Ingenico: 800 435-3014

Q. How many discount rates should I see on my banc card statement?
A. With Chase you will see (6) six - Credit card transactions they are Qualified, Mid-Qualified, Non-Qualified and for Check cards you will see each of the above at a lower rate.

Note: If you only have 3 rates then you are spending unnecessary funds due to an incorrect fee structure.

Q. Are the authorization fees applied to all transactions?
A. No. However, when you close your batch, batch settlement fees have a separate fee each time you close your batch. With Chase JPMorgan; the only charge for batching your daily transactions is $0.03.

Note: Most processing companies charge the same for credit/debit (check card) transactions as they do for closing the batch.

Q. Does it cost less for Pin based Debit card transactions?
A. Yes absolutely! It does and the savings are significant. The threshold for True Debit transactions is around $28.00.

Note: If you had a Pin Pad connected to your credit card machine whenever someone makes a purchase using a 'Check Card' (normally these words are written on face of the card) your fee is a fixed cost.

Q. Why won't my Pin Pad work?
A. The Pin Pad lost its Encryption by either dropping it, or it became unplugged and you plugged it back into credit card machine without the Power being Off on your Credit Card machine. Or, a Power Surge hit your credit card machine.

Q. Do I have to use a Surge Protector on my credit card machine?
A. Of course you do. The modems in credit card machines are very sensitive to electrical voltage surges (variations). The phone lines have a small amount of Electrical current running through them and if work is being done nearby or lighting strikes utility poles, this will damage your credit card machine or Pin Pad if it is not on a Surge Protector.

Q. What happens if I don't understand my banc card statement?
A. You will find examples of statements and pictorial explanations of the format and charges and how to read and understand your statement. Our format for your statements remains the same each month.

This can be viewed and cleared up by going to: Merchant Statement Instructions .pdf

Q. What do I do if I receive chargebacks?
A. See: Resources - Charge Backs Act promptly when notified.

Q. What do I do if my Credit card machine breaks?
A. Most credit card machines can be repaired. Go to this site to get a repair authorization number. Or, you can call for voice authorization costing only 95 cents each.

Note: If you do not have a second terminal or a spare credit card machine we suggest one of two things first, upon request for repair we will overnight a temporary terminal with a call tag to return your damaged terminal to be picked up.

Q. How do I continue to take transactions if my terminal needs repair?
A. We encourage all merchants to have a manual imprinter (knuckle-buster) and some sales slips for these manual transactions.

Q. What do I do if the credit card I swipe does not read?
A. Normally the magnetic head has picked up or accumulated dirt or dust or magnetic strip from the credit card. We highly recommend that you have a card reader cleaner, they can be purchased from: sierraposcenter.com

Note: One of two reasons could cause this: The magnetic strip on back of credit card is altered from wear or intentionally. Look at the back of card and if in doubt ask for an ID (driver's license, etc,) to match the card's name against.

Q. Do I really need a manual imprinter?
A. Yes, it is recommended that you have one in the event that your electric goes out or your credit card machine falters due to electrical surge or misuse from water spillage or dropping.

Note: When you have to manually enter credit card transactions by default these transactions are costing you more as they automatically default to a higher rate structure.

Q. What is the difference between a true debit card transaction and check card rates?
A. Check cards are used as PIN based debit transactions if you have an encrypted pin pad cabled/connected to your credit card machine.

Furthermore, if you do not have a pin pad, check cards are processed at lower rates than credit cards.

Q. How much do debit cards cost me?
A. Debit transactions are normally broken into two categories, (network fees and transaction costs). Most people charge a fixed rate of approximately 55-70 cents per transaction.

Q. Is there a need to change banks accounts or banks?
A. Neither, you keep the same bank and account that allows debit and credit transaction. Most Money Market Funds do not allow this.

Q. Can we use QuickBooks with our merchant account?
A. Yes, absolutely with one of two ways:

• With a TPI interface from Hypercom, See: TPI
• With USAePay's connection to: USAePay

Q. How do we pay our 940 & 941 payments?
A. We strongly suggest using: https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/

• There is No charge and you control the deposit intervals, you can even make 1120 payments.