Considering POS

Business owners have to make many decisions before they open the front door to even their first customer. The interior design of their store must be advantageous to purchasing, clutter free, well lit, and inviting. If it is a restaurant, ample comfortable seating must be provided, and the kitchen has to of course be clean as a whistle. In all the consideration of décor and hospitality, retailers must never forget they must possess the ability to accept tender from their clients, and the more forms of payment is always better, giving customers many varied options when they look in their wallets or pocketbooks. Merchants must consider a whole range of options when considering their POS (point of sale) systems, and it is a good idea to patronize their own favorite retailers and hospitality providers in order to witness POS systems in operation.

Whether you are at the grocery store, your favorite watering hole, or the movie theater, all types of businesses must have reliable POS systems in place to expedite payment from their valued customers. Everyone has experienced a long wait due to either an employee’s unfamiliarity to less than intuitive credit card machines or cash register equipment; with the right equipment and of course, training in place, customers can freely shuffle in and out, happily enjoying their experience from product or service fulfillment all the way through to their purchasing. When considering POS, every merchant must be prepared to take credit cards, ATM cards, and checks, as most purchasers, especially tourists or visitors have taken less and less to carrying cash because of its inconvenience and lack of protection if lost or stolen. Though the initial investment might seem large, an all in one system that allows for check verification, ATM card processing, cash, and credit card processing, might be the best opportunity to serve all your customers’ payment needs. Another option is starting off with a cash register for cash transactions and adding other equipment as your business and growing clientele demands change. It is necessary to find equipment that can grow with you however, so that integral parts must not be continually replaced as communication with new technology is necessary. So, that outdated cash register found at a “going out of business” sale might not prove to be an adequate option in the long run.

Many electronic providers not only allow merchants the ability to process all forms of payment, but also can supply merchants with the necessary equipment personally, or through their years of experience with retailers, are able to put merchants in touch with distributors and outfitters who provide the latest in POS technology. Providing your customers with quick and secure payment options is not only necessary for their satisfaction, but is of course essential for continued smooth operation and growth.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and electronic payment provider specializing in merchant accounts. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

ACH is Beneficial for Americans and American Business

In California in the early 1970’s, several banks in conjunction with the regional Federal Reserve office in California began brainstorming to find a safe and secure way of transferring funds electronically between different financial institutions. Their hard work paid off with a new network labeled the Automated Clearing House coming online in 1972. Other institutions across the nation were motivated by the Californian’s success, forming their own regional Automated Clearing House networks to deal with paperless transactions in their individual states. The natural progression of these separate efforts came to its fruition in 1974, as a concerted effort of individual ACH organizations formed the National Automated Clearing House Association. The main goal of this association involving all regional ACH operations was to successfully combine them into a national network of automated clearing houses. In 1978, their goal was realized when financial institutions across the nation were securely electronically linked.

From its humble grass roots beginnings in the early 1970’s, the ACH has grown into the largest network of its kind in the world. It has truly revolutionized the way Americans and American businesses do business, providing all with the peace of mind that all transactions are made securely and safely between institutions. But what began as a way for banks to communicate with each other has bloomed into so much more. Now, practically all Americans rely upon ACH in fulfilling a financial need each and every month, if not daily. If a worker gets his or her paycheck directly deposited into a checking or savings account, this is done through an ACH transaction. April marks a time of increased ACH transactions, as it is the time of year Federal Tax Return monies are directly deposited into taxpayers’ accounts. Social Security benefits are also tendered through ACH transactions, as well as most all government benefits and payments. Many computer-savvy Americans have adopted the paperless option when paying their monthly bills, with most providers (utility, cable, mortgage providers, etc.) allowing for this time and paper saving feature. For online merchants, the ACH has proven essential in their acceptance of electronic payments and has proven a boon to online merchants in the United States. Nearly all electronic payment providers work with the ACH in order to provide protected gateways for the merchants they represent. Providers like New York’s Stradafee, effectively represent their customers by keeping up with all ACH developments, following guidelines implicitly so that their clients can keep their efforts focused on the cultivation and improvement of their individual businesses. The ACH and the network it provides has truly become an integral innovation contributing to smooth operations of commerce in America today.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and electronic payment provider specializing in merchant accounts. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

Accepting Online Checks is Advantageous

Qualifying for a checking account is one of the easiest and first financial endeavors for developing credit. Many consumers, Americans and otherwise, acquire their first checking account in their early teenage years, as a gateway for cultivating good fiduciary judgment, often set up by parents or guardians. As more and more Americans especially are grappling with overwhelming credit card woes, consumers are turning to checks, paper and paperless, to pay for their purchases. As an online or brick and mortar retailer, the ability to process and accept checks is essential for the prosperity and growth of your business.

According to recent research, half of the shopping public in the United States are not able to qualify for a credit card. In fact, a recent survey of checking account holders in the United States showed that only one in four were in possession of a credit card that was eligible for a transaction because of available credit. Of the billions of (cashless) transactions that are made each year, nearly 60% are made with checks. The number of transactions made with checks instead of credit cards continues to grow each and every year. Retailers who desire to remain competitive owe it to themselves to be able to accept and process all forms of payment, especially those by checking account holders.

Not only is it beneficial to accept checks based upon the sheer numbers of check purchases, the processing fees administered by most electronic payment companies when processing checks is a fraction of the cost when compared to credit card processing fees. The cost to process a check invoice is 24% of the accessed cost to process a credit card purchase of an equal amount. Merchants are charged much smaller fees on check purchases so more of the purchase price assumedly goes to profit rather than in the electronic payment company’s pocket.

Most processing companies provide the merchant with added benefits when accepting checks as well. Online check processing allows for the automatic deposit of funds into your business checking account allowing for more rapid and immediate access to funds, mostly within 48 hours. A reputable processing company like Stradafee will provide your business with all the software needed to provide an electronic gateway to safely and securely process your customers’ checks. Using a process known as Automatic Check Handling (ACH), checks are validated safely and quickly, allowing you and your customers to interact with the highest amount of security and confidence. By accepting checks, you are making your business attractive to a larger amount of customers, and your profits will undoubtedly grow due to new opportunities for sales.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card and check processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

Disputing Chargebacks

As an internet retailer, one of the most terribly annoying aspects you will (there is no might) have to deal with are chargebacks. A chargeback occurs in any number of situations where a customer makes a claim to their credit card company or bank in order to receive their funds back after a purchase. As a merchant, not only will you be out of the initial purchase funds and possibly the product as well, you will also be charged a percentage-based fee on top of that, according to your electronic payment company’s policy guidelines, to pay for the hassle of refunding funds. Ideally, of course, merchants want to keep these situations to a minimum and by following several guidelines, chargebacks can be of rarer occurance. This article will discuss what to do when disputes are attempted against you; a successive article will discuss how to protect yourself (and your business) initially against chargeback attempts.

Trying to get something for nothing is not a new phenomenon of course. When a patron attempts this at your brick and mortar storefront, we call it shoplifting. How is it any different when a would-be purchaser attempts this very thing in various ways through your electronic gateway? Perhaps credit card companies, with their all-inclusive fraud protection policies are actually contributing to the problem by adopting a “don’t ask, customer is always right” approach; allowing customers to feel entitled to dispute any charge, knowing that their credit card company has promised to “have their back”. How can individual, small-business merchants compete with disputes rendered through large credit card companies? Most merchants believe there is nothing they can do, and this is where they are wrong. An internet retailer owes it to him or herself to voraciously defend every purchase made, because every piece of inventory and revenue lost to fraud can add up. Merchants must immediately dispute the chargeback with the bank upon first notice. Keep track of all purchase information. Email correspondence or phone conversations should be readily available as proof that a legitimate purchase was indeed attempted and made. Shipping details should be in order including confirmation of delivery for those pesky customers that might claim to have not received the product. If this initial dispute fails, you must be prepared to seek retribution from the consumer for the initial purchase fee, as well as any added fees incurred in the process. Because your bank will require you foot the bill for illegitimate purchases, you must be willing to weigh your time and effort against the compensation you might gain in a successful dispute.

Choosing an electronic payment company that uses all available tools to protect you and other clientele from internet fraud is extremely important. Companies like Stradafee make it their business to help protect your business, by providing you with secure merchant accounts and options to help your business prosper.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

High Risk Merchant Solutions

When starting a new internet business, there exist many hurdles and hoops to jump over and through in order to accept and process online purchases. Depending on the kind of product offered and simply because the business is new and unproven, many credit card and electronic payment processing companies, especially local bank branches, might balk when initially approached for representation. Truthfully, all new businesses are risky inherently, but some require a little more finesse in order to get operations and purchasing, especially online, off the ground.

Typically, retailers that have a more difficult time procuring electronic payment providers are called “high risk merchants”. The denotation “high risk” applies to companies that deal in businesses that possess high volumes of sales and large turnover when it comes to customers. This sort of business could be anything from an online auctioning site such as ebay, to an online sports gambling site or other adult oriented site. These sites and others tend to have a higher risk of fraud and have a harder time acquiring online payment assistance. Most electronic payment companies that agree to represent such high risk merchants will require a much higher setup fee initially as well as higher fees for credit card processing. Larger fees are levied by these merchant account providers because of the added risk they are personally taking on in providing the account. Many domestic providers do not provide high risk merchant accounts, and in many cases higher risk online businesses such as tobacco and pharmaceutical sales look to international, also referred to as offshore account providers for representation. Because these providers exist outside the merchant’s native country, tax-free purchasing can also be a significant incentive to prospective merchants who are deemed high risk. These international providers offer added security and privacy to business owners who require it. Also, if the business hopes to attract worldwide buyers in the global marketplace, it is necessary to accept forms of payment backed by all types of currency. Offshore providers typically accept payment in currencies of the merchant’s choice, allowing merchants to be very flexible and accommodating to buyers all over the globe. As a last resort, these high risk businesses can turn to third party merchant providers in order to process their credit card purchases. Electronic payment companies like Stradafee are full service providers that offer these as well as many other solutions for all types of internet business endeavors.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in offshore merchant account solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

A Look at Personal and Third Party Merchant Accounts for Ecommerce

There are many important things to consider when opening your business up to online purchases. One consideration could be your ability to handle the demands generated by 24-hour access to your products; can you keep up with the added orders? Another consideration is making sure your website can handle the amount of traffic present after increased exposure to a larger amount of purchasers due to internet accessibility; more customers are available than would ever visit your “brick and mortar” storefront in the lifetime of your business. However, if you do not have a way for the would-be customers to make their payment in a secure and expedient fashion, your internet showings can be for “window shoppers” only, so considering how to accept payment is of the highest priority.

Though there exists a myriad of choices of individual companies that will help organize and authorize these prospective payments for your online venture, there are basically two types of internet merchant accounts to choose from: An individual, or personal merchant account and a third party merchant account. An internet merchant account allows you to accept online purchases in the name of your company, personally, and is difficult to obtain for most new businesses. It requires a large setup fee in part, due to the fact that these purchases are made in “card not present” transactions. Smaller companies that are just starting out and doubtful of high sales often do not qualify for personal merchant accounts because most banks and regular merchant account providers require that a monthly volume minimum be met; if sales do not meet or exceed this minimum, you might find your business penalized with extra fees to assure your online sales proceed uninterrupted. These smaller businesses possessing lower processing volumes (lower sales) have a more feasible option for handling credit card purchases. Third party merchant account providers allow smaller or less established businesses to come together under one merchant account. The third party provider bundles many smaller businesses together under one account, taking responsibility for handling the processing details, allowing new business owners to concentrate more on strategies to help their online business grow. Third party providers require low or no monthly purchase minimums, add less extra fees, and often require no setup fees at all. Third party merchant providers do levy handling fees for each purchase made, but are nonetheless a highly viable option for newer online retailers.

New business owners needing to enlist payment companies to help with their online processing needs should contact a reputable company like Stradafee Limited whose expertise can point them in the direction necessary for prosperity.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

Merchant Accounts for Sporting Goods Vendors

When it comes to sporting goods, we are all convinced that cutting edge gear will increase performance. Whether it’s true or not, that’s what we all believe but are not so willing to admit. We like others to think that it’s “All us” out there. The United States is the hub for the sporting goods industry; we manufacture more specialty products, create the hype through marketing them, are the testing grounds for them, we sell more within our market and export more abroad than we take in. I guess you can say that if the GDP was determined by athletic equipment then we’d be the US. Hmmm, ok… how about, the US a few years ago.

While local sporting goods stores, outlets and specialized boutique shops that cater to one or two sports can meet most everyday needs of today’s athlete; when it comes to big ticket purchases, everyone has to shop, and the easiest way to do all your pricing and product review research is on the internet. Walk-in stores will neverdie, some may go out of business, but there necessary. Personally, I like them for my peripheral purchases, footwear, workout clothing, bats and balls and small stuff. What’s happening today is that there are so many products coming out that stores cannot stock all of them. To add to the excitement, product designers and manufacturers are their own retailers, and they’re the only place you can buy that item.
More and more people are looking to the internet to buy these higher priced and hard to find items. While they’re paying for shipping, they also are buying all of those peripheral items which pulls dollars away from the local retailers. If you’re an online sporting goods retailer or even wholesaler, you know what I’m talking about.


The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Well, the good thing is that these E-commerce sites are killing it right now. They’re exporting to other countries, vendor distribution centers are accommodating to this industry and the profit margins can be good due to no floor planning and low overhead costs.
The downside of this is that there’s a lot of competition and pricing is slowly going down. While international exporting and high volume is good, profit margins have to be watched more closely and online vendors have to be ahead of their competition by optimizing websites, negotiating better deals with vendors and actually advertising.
Now the ugly; increasing cost of these businesses are their merchant account fees. It wasn’t so much of an issue when volume was lower and profit was high, but when you need to watch every penny, every one really counts, and you know it!

Due to these high volumes and increasing sales outside their domestic areas, banks are hiking up rates, adding to the woes of the merchant. This is just a product of getting big, fast. Merchant accounts come with rules and applications require business plans, and you all know that. Unfortunately, we had to leave out our real goal which was to make a lot of money in the shortest time possible. Your bank and/or processor may be charging you a higher discount rate and associating other fees to your account because you may be in a high risk category now. So many other merchants are in the same category and it’s not even similar to having a bad credit rating or being involved with gray market products or services, but banks assess risk and “Too big too fast” and doing volume sales outside your domestic area is high risk.

The solution may be to shop around for a new processor or bank. Give your current bank a shot, but if they’re not playing ball, don’t be afraid to stop processing through them. Personally, I wouldn’t close that merchant account, but just stop processing and leave it dormant once I got a new one. This whole process doesn’t take too long; search the internet for merchant service providers and find one that meets your needs. they’re not all the same. Some offer different services and some even specialize in specific types of industries. Ask about their portfolio and if they have experience in your type of business or industry; this means that they’ll be more in tune with your sales cycles and peak processing times. They’ll also be able to deal more effectively with your chargebacks. This can be worth its weight in gold down the line. What a lot of online merchants don’t know is that merchant service providers can provide services that you didn’t think you could get, at least without paying a lot for them; services like third-party fraud scrubbing, virtual terminals, 3 D secure processing and fraud protection. Just like your customers found value in a commitment to you, if you’re not totally satisfied with your current credit card processing solution, find value in your business and shop on the internet.


Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

Transitioning Your Business to the Internet

A lot of business owners suffer from the pain of loss of clients or customers (whichever you choose) to the internet. There’s really no need to continue pulling your hair out because someone stole business from you; it’s time to improvise, adapt and overcome! What’s your complaint, really? Losing business to the internet or not wanting to invest the time to transition your business when everyone else was. That’s right, at this point, everyone that is making it on the internet, formerly as a traditional business, started three to five years ago on their strategy for success in this market. All hope is not lost, all you need is a plan.

So you have a successful business that brings in enough money, but are losing business you should be getting to the internet. Maybe that’s the case, but maybe you, like a lot of smart merchants have a good location, product and support, but are doing the legwork for your virtual competitors. We’re all guilty of it, we stroke the sales staff at the local store, then buy online to save money. I talk with local vendors that cannot keep up, especially in specialty businesses like sporting goods and automotive. The pain isn’t so apparent right now, but in a couple years, their lack of action will drive them under. I guess, to end this article now, I’d just tell you to get a website and start uploading your inventory and services, but it’s a bit more involved. Start updating your infrastructure; not being able to keep up with orders when they come in unexpectedly will get you in more trouble than just shutting the doors and turning the phones off, and you know that. Contact your suppliers and work out a new deal, at least negotiate a new volume pricing schedule; while you may be blowing smoke, this happens everyday with manufacturers and distributors. Same thing with shipping; there’s nothing that irritates me more than when I buy a product online and they only offer one carrier. We all know there are differences and you need to be able to offer options, so get it set up. Forget about extra staff and office space, unless that’s absolutely necessary. Those things will drive up costs so high that you won’t be able to compete on price. If you need staff, get a temp or subcontract; you success may be short-lived, so don’t commit yet. Most importantly, if and when the orders come in, make sure you can accept payment. This means that your merchant account must be up to the task. Contact your bank or processor or merchant service provider to ensure that your limits and type of processing are in line with this possible transition. A lot of times they aren’t. Most banks look upon E-commerce business as high risk, paired with high volume, which in many cases is the only way to turn a good profit online, may be too much risk for a bank to bear and they may turn you off. First things first; read your merchant contract to see how your rates will change based on volume and type of transaction. Check your business plan and make sure it’s the one you submitted to the bank when you applied for your merchant account. Next, contact your bank, processor or merchant service provider to see what you need to do to ensure that you can accept funds, both high volume and high frequency. Do not take this aspect of your banking plan lightly. Unusually higher transaction amounts, high batch submissions and quick growth will throw up red flags with the banks and they will most likely flag your account and withhold the release of funds until an investigation is completed. The time this takes depends on the amount of work they have to do. Don’t get yourself into this situation at all costs; simple steps taken can avoid this; as well, investigations and variances in your account will drive up rates and/or ultimately have it suspended or terminated.

If the necessary parties are on board, you should be ok. If they’re not, or you don’t like what you are hearing from them, then contact a merchant service provider. Merchant service providers can shop your business around to banks that specialize in certain types of business. Some of them are domestic and some are international. International banks processing cards within the US is very mainstream and poses no threats to merchants. If you’re thinking of expanding your business online, keep in mind, move sowly and be prepared for an increase of business.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

AVS: A Necessity in Online Business

Online sales are becoming a greater part of retail business in the United States and abroad. For merchants to continue to be competitive in the local and global marketplace, a new focus is being taken on websites and online retail sales applications. In order for businesses to protect themselves against fraud by unseen purchasers, they must take advantage of AVS, the Address Verification System.

AVS helps merchants protect themselves against becoming prey to credit card and identity thieves by helping to ensure secure, valid payments through a rigorous verification process. AVS cross-references all the information given the merchant by the purchaser, making sure that billing and postal addresses match. This protects against millions of attempted fraudulent purchases levied against online and phone retailers every minute of every day. If information given does not match the information on file for a given credit card, the purchase is not validated or declined and AVS has successfully thwarted criminal efforts. Unfortunately, AVS is not a see all, and any hacker worth his or her salt will most likely have appropriated all necessary information belonging to their victim (i.e. credit card billing address, postal address, social security number, etc.). Merchants must be diligent and especially wary of foreign orders. There are other safeguards to consider that deal with the threat posed by illegitimate, out-of-country orders. Many merchants have elected to only honor foreign purchases made from more established email providers, refusing those made from free accounts such as yahoo. Many merchants require foreign purchasers provide a legitimate phone number, allowing a purchase only after a voice-authorized, often recorded conversation is complete. Multiple orders from the same foreign account can be a red flag indicating improper activity and should be carefully observed and noted; voice confirmation is a must in this event for merchant self-protection. Most credit card companies in today’s market place their own Card Verification Value Code, or CVV, on consumer credit cards. This three or four digit code helps provide an opportunity for a cryptographic check to be run against the information embossed on the card’s front, allowing for yet another step towards ensuring that all purchases are legitimate.

As a new web-based merchant entering the global marketplace, it is part of your due diligence in self-protection to associate yourself with a firm which protects your financial interests, allowing you to focus on making the best product and fulfilling your potential (legitimate) customers’ needs without having to worry about fraud. Electronic payment processing companies like Stradafee offer many options to choose from that are extremely beneficial and necessary to all online businesses. Merchants owe it to themselves to be successfully monitored in order to continue in financial success.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.

Industry Specific Merchant Accounts

Merchant solutions for vendors are not tailored to specific industries, but why can’t they be? If you look at the ways that the internet has offered customization and alternatives for consumers, and now days, some large industries, it’s only a matter of time before merchants have the same tailored banking options made available to them.

The way banks categorize merchants is by risk; the acceptable risk associated with processing credit cards and checks for them. While traditional brick and mortar businesses, where cards are processed in person usually pose less of a risk for banks than E-commerce, mail order, television and catalog sales are taxed a bit higher or sometimes not at all by banks that may see a huge risk in accepting credit cards from the public. While you, as business owners know all too well the stress and anxiety created by the banking industry when you cannot get paid for goods or services that you have already rendered, maybe something you don’t know is that there are merchant service providers that specialize in customizing merchant accounts to specific industries. It’s safe to say that completely card present vendors can, and most times do use a local bank for their card processing and a lot of high risk merchants need to go offshore for their needs; however, there are a lot of in between clients that fall through the cracks when it comes to merchant service providers that can get fill their individual needs. A common mistake processors and brokers make is turning down or not making a lot of time for medium size businesses. In the course of a busy day at the office, time spent on clients needs to be proportionate with the return for that time and quite simply, these merchants get lost in the shuffle, which is a shame and sooner rather than later, merchant service providers will specialize in servicing them.

Industry specific merchant service providers are becoming more common today, as many of them specialize in high risk or E-commerce and will shy away from smaller deals that take the same time and effort. However, industry specific merchants may be more of a help to businesses and specific industries that have fallen between the cracks. For example, a broker may have a portfolio that varies in industries that they know little or nothing about. Some people would argue that it really doesn’t matter, when it comes to banking and numbers, but this can hurt the broker’s bottom line as much as it is doing a disservice to their client. Chargeback’s hurt everyone and everyone dreads them and ultimately it causes problems down the road for merchants when they have a client that gets shut off by a bank and their merchant service provider has to scramble to set them up with a new bank. Knowing your clients business can and will help avoid pitfalls like chargeback’s and processing errors that slow or stop the bank funding them. This is also a big help for merchant providers in that even basic knowledge of their client’s industry and business can help them predict economic highs and lows for themselves and they can be prepared for potential issues that come up during certain times of the year. A good example of this is the Christmas holiday, when spending is up, chargeback’s are up and stress is up. What about springtime? For online sporting goods vendors and travel agencies, this is the time when they depend on an almost flawless sales cycle, because their customers will go somewhere else next year or in a few months when that next purchase is made. Not to mention that a dissatisfied customer usually lets everyone know via the internet.

If you’re a merchant service provider, now may be the time to look at specialization; if you’re a merchant, it may be the time to seek out a merchant service provider that specializes in your type of business and has other accounts that depend on them during the times of the year that you do. As sales cycles don’t change within industries, where the consumer makes the purchase often does and serving whole markets can enhance the consumer’s experience, ultimately making for a less stressful life for merchants and their banking partners.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

Why US Merchants May Need a High Risk Merchant Account

Are you having a hard time getting a domestic merchant account for your business? Is your credit in the subpar category?
You may have to think about getting a high risk merchant account. This type of account is somewhat self-explanatory (hint: high risk). If you do decide on a high risk merchant account, you should connect it with an offshore bank. People with lousy credit usually end up getting the high risk merchant account or go with a free merchant account. A free merchant account doesn’t check your credit status.
The benefit of having a high risk merchant account is that there are tax free benefits associated with it. Combined with an offshore bank, your business can receive more sales without the scrutiny of being targeted for limited use. The best way to get larger sales volumes is to let the customers pay by credit card.
There are other things you should know about having a high risk merchant account:

You will have to create a real identity for your high risk merchant account. With this account, you are not allowed to use an anonymous name. Be prepared if the merchant account provider or bank asks for pertinent documents or ID.

When you have a high risk merchant account, you will need to know how long it will take to receive the funds after the sale is made. You should also find out how often you will be paid by the bank. Some banks make payments for once a week. Others can have a delay of a few weeks. Or the merchant account provider may advise you to prove that you can make so much a month for a few months. Unless you are certain you can do this, don’t waste time by filling out an application.

If your company experiences chargebacks at a high rate, the merchant provider may decide to terminate your account. Charge backs cost them and you money. Before they put the ax on it, you may be able to sit down with your provider and work something out. At least you would have another chance to straighten it out.

When checking out merchant providers for your high risk merchant account, make sure your funds are being released during the schedule given. Or some so-called merchant providers will process the funds. These funds are put in what is called a charge holdback. The funds in this category are set and the so-called merchant providers keep them for a while instead of releasing them. Then they attempt to close your account after they’ve refused to release the funds. That extra money that belonged to you now is in the hands of the so-called merchant. That was money that they were sitting on being used for nothing.

With a high risk merchant account, you’ll want to find out what products and services the bank will allow. The offshore bank may not allow everything that you want to sell placed in the merchant account. The bank may feel it’s too risky to do it this way.

Believe it or not, you’re probably better off going with a high risk merchant account. You eliminate some of the hassles that you deal with when it comes to putting you funds in the right place.


Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

What To Look For In An Online Pharmacy

There is an increase of people that cannot make it to a traditional brick and mortar pharmacy to get their medicine. Either they are bedridden or don’t have reliable help to do it for them.

So what can you do if your faced with this dilemma?

The emergence of online pharmacies continues to grow. These places are trying to go where brick and mortar pharmacies cannot. Online pharmacies are striving to fill the medical needs of those who cannot get around.

Online pharmacies that lower prices and quick delivery as incentives to purchase medications from them. More and more people are looking to these venues as a way to get their medications. It is so easy for many to get online and order what they need.

Of course, these online ventures are not without their disadvantages. There are people setting up shop who are not licensed as pharmacists or doctors. The main purpose is to make a quick buck and get a piece of the pie. This can be dangerous because one might make the mistake of having the wrong medication delivered to someone.

The result of this can have someone seriously ill or worse, succumb from the effects of taking the incorrect medication. It’s important that people who order medication from online pharmacies select their online location carefully and with scrutiny.

There are ways that people can find out whether an online pharmacy is legal or not. If you purchase medication without checking it out first, you put yourself in harm’s way for receiving fake medication. The ethics for an online pharmacy involved in this are very low. All they want is the money.

When you buy medication from a real online pharmacy, you are assured of the best quality and service money can buy. You can also receive additional information on the medication you purchase if the online venue is legal. Legitimate online pharmacies have to abide by the rules set in place to maintain standards in the medical community.

Legitimate online pharmacies will be licensed and/or certified to operate as such. The license and/or certification will come from the persons in charge or verifying their legitimacy. If the online pharmacy is real, they will have documentation or narrative stating such on their website. They will also have a link to the people in charge of verifying them to do business online.

Customers should look for this prior to placing their order online. If they don’t find it, they should ask questions and refrain from purchasing anything until you find out if they’re legitimate or not.

The online pharmacy should also have contact information listed on their website. The contact information should include a physical address in the event someone wants to send them a letter via snail mail. In addition to that, there should also be a working phone number listed in case a customer or someone else wanted to call. If the online pharmacy is legitimate, they would not hesitate having this information listed on their website. If they want to stay in business, these online venues will be glad to take inquiries from customers.

Online pharmacies should have a valid prescription to go by to fill the order. The order should not be filled without one. Just like patients can’t go up to a pharmacist and say, “I want to get this drug” but yet don’t have a prescription, the same applies for online pharmacies. If you find any that engage in that kind of breach of ethics, steer clear and you should probably report them to the proper authorities.

Beware of those online pharmacies that promise quick results or magic cures from serious health issues. These are nothing more than a scam and should be avoided at all costs.

If after all of this, you’re still in doubt about online pharmacies, consult with you physician before buying medication online.



Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

The Difference Between a Free Merchant Account and a Paid Merchant Account

Are you a start-up business owner looking for a way to save money? Are your funds limited to where you can only buy so much right now? If you are an online business owner selling products and/or services it is imperative that you have some type of merchant account. Since you’re just starting out, you may want to go with a free merchant account. There are some advantages to having one.

First, you don’t have monthly or hidden fees. The free merchant account comes with software that you don’t have to pay extra for. Merchant accounts need software in order to function properly.

With a free merchant account, you are not required to submit to a credit check. You can just fill out the information online and in a matter of minutes; you’ll have your free merchant account up and running. With a free merchant account, there is a catch. Even though setting it up does not cost you initially, the merchant provider company will deduct fees from each transaction. They may be more or less than a paid merchant account. A free merchant account can’t be totally free because then the merchant provider company won’t make a profit. There is another catch to having a free merchant account. If the merchant provider feels like you’re generating too much money at one time, your merchant account can be temporarily disabled. They say this is for your benefit as well as theirs. It supposed to be a way to detect fraud. However, when people start making more money, the account will receive more funds. Speaking of funds, with a free merchant account, you have to wait at least three to four business days before the funds are deposited into your account. Unfortunately, if you’re just starting out and don’t have a record, you’ll have to be patient with a free merchant account.

On the other side is the paid merchant account. This type of account is for those who are making a lot of money and can afford having different fees taken out. Paid merchant accounts differ as far as what fees are taken out. The main thing is you will incur fees from a paid merchant accounts.

Here are some of the basic fees incurred with a paid merchant account: There is usually an application fee involved. The fee varies for each paid merchant account provider. There are some who may not charge a fee at all. The application fee is usually paid one time when you open the account. Like the application fee, the setup fee varies for each paid merchant account provider. The setup fee is for setting up your account and bank related issues. The setup fee is also incurred only once when you create your account. You may incur a monthly account fee. This fee is used for maintenance on your account. This fee can vary with each merchant account provider. Of course, this one is self explanatory being that the account fee is monthly. Every merchant account, whether free or paid, incurs transaction fees. Every time someone purchases something from your online business, you will incur a charge for each transaction. These fees are incurred for the actual processing of the transaction. If you get a paid merchant account, you generally come out better because the transaction fees are usually lower than free merchant accounts.

With paid merchant accounts, you can get your money quicker than you would with a free merchant account. Limiting of transactions is also rare. The companies want to make money, not restrict you from making money. If they did that, they may not have many customers. The old saying, “You pay for convenience” is true. So in essence, you have to outweigh the costs. Is it worth it to keep a free merchant account, knowing that there are limitations or eventually get a paid merchant account, where you can afford the fees and get your money quickly? If you want to have a profitable online business, you’ll have to make that choice.


Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

Is There Such a Thing as a Free Merchant Account?

Do you really think that you can get things for free? Did you know that when you get free things, they come with a price or a catch attached to them?

Take for instance, the free merchant account. It’s been advertised as free, but believe it or not, there are a few costs associated with it:

* You will incur a fee for each transaction that is processed to your account. The transaction fee is for the processing of the transaction.
* If your business gets hundreds or even thousands of sales for your online business at one setting, your free merchant service provider may want to put up a red flag and set up temporary hol of funds. They say it’s to protect you as well as themselves.
* You’ll have to wait at least three to four business days after the transactions before you can access your funds.
* You may not be able to accept currency from several countries due to restrictions placed on them by governmental entities.

The good thing about a free merchant account is that if the brand is well known, it can be used anywhere at any time.

If your merchant account was totally free, you would:

* Not be incurring transaction fees for every transaction that comes in.
* Not having to be concerned about limitations put on your merchant account due to high profit volumes within a matter of a day or two.
* Have access to your funds sooner than three to four business days.
* Be able to accept more currency from other countries to purchase from you.

Free merchant account providers have customer service facilities. However, it seems like you have to wait a long time to speak with a representative. Then they’ll tell you what you think you want to hear. When they give you information about a problem, you expect the problem to be solved. However, that’s not the case and you end up calling them back again. Everytime you get some information from them for your problem, it’s not the right remedy to your issue. Going back and forth with them can be a nightmare, especially if they don’t know what they’re talking about.
There are a few things that are free when you set up your merchant account. One of them is you don’t have to get your credit checked for a free merchant account. You can sign up for one at anytime.

Sometimes, having a free merchant account may be the best thing for you at the time. This is especially true if you’re just starting out with an online business. You will at least be able to learn the basics of having a merchant account, whether it’s paid or not.

It’s important that you keep abreast of the fees that the free merchant account provider takes deducts from your transactions. So the question is asked again, “Is There Such a Thing as a Free Merchant Account”? After reading this article people may beg to differ.


Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

How To Start An Online Business

Your job does not pay you enough for you to live comfortably. You barely have enough to pay your bills. You’re living from paycheck to paycheck. Now, you’ve realized it’s time to increase your income.

You could do MLM, but that can take up a lot of time and resources. Besides, you have to be extremely motivated to keep your downline from quitting. It’s not to say that it couldn’t happen, but sometimes, it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it. You can always go out in search of customers who will buy cosmetics from you. That is also time consuming.

What if you had a business where you don’t have to dish out a lot of money upfront and could be making money within a few weeks? You can do that with an online business. It doesn’t require hundreds of dollars up front and it can be done from the comfort of your own home. The only reason you would have to use gas for your vehicle is when you need supplies for your computer and printer. Of course, you must have a valid business license.

First, you must decide what your online business will consist of. You would have to do research on whatever you plan to base your online business on. You can do this by doing an online search with Google. Or you can use software to do a keyword search. You will be able to tell what subjects are profitable and ones that have potential to make a profit.

Once you’ve decided on a subject, create a website. If you can’t create one, see if you can get someone to do it on the cheap. If you can’t do that, try bartering with someone in exchange for their services. You will also need hosting. Hosting is what maintains the website coming up everytime someone puts your website name in the browser. The cost for hosting can vary. Most of the hosting companies charge monthly, while others incorporate it into a package deal with a membership.

You will also need to get what is called an auto responder. This software is used to correspond with people who will sign up to your newsletter. Yes, just about every or at least most online business owners maintain contact with what is called a list. A list is created when you advertise your online business and people come to sign up. Depending on how you advertise your online business, it can take a matter of days or weeks before people sign up.

There are different ways you can advertise your online business. If you’re just starting out, you could advertise by submitting articles. It may not be the fastest route to take, but you won’t find yourself in the hole. Unless you have a surplus of funds available, article marketing is the way to go. However, if you are sitting on a monetary gold mine, then you can try pay-per-click or PPC as it is commonly referred to. This method involves paying for advertising to get traffic and visitors to your online business. If you’ve never ventured into the latter, it may be best if you got some information first. You don’t want to blow all of your money and have nothing to show for it.

As you correspond with your list on a regular basis, they will get to know you and you will get to know them. As the relationship progresses, they will feel comfortable enough to purchase products from you. Then you will be on your way to making money.

You can duplicate this process as many times as you want with different subjects or niches as they’re referred to. The more you duplicate, the more money you’ll make. Before you know it, you’ll be rocking with plenty of money in your own online business.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

How To Get A Merchant Account For Your Online Business

You’re looking to create an online business. You have all the paperwork you need to start it and all of the materials. Do you know how you’re going to receive your funds? You could do it the old fashioned way by snail mail, but that would take too long. You want to get your money right away. Besides, this is the era of convenience.

To make your business even more convenient for you, you will need to get a merchant account. A merchant account is what you’ll need to collect the funds from products or services that people purchased from you.

Before you decide on one, go online and check out some of them. Or, get recommendations from others who use or have used them. Usually, recommendations are your best bet.

Sometimes, when people get recommendations from others, the ones who recommended them get a percentage from the company for acting as an affiliate. Even though you get recommendations, you should still select a merchant account that will best suit your business needs.

There are several advantages to having a merchant account for your online business:

* You can have different ways of receiving payments: credit cards, checks, charge
cards and debit cards.

* You don’t have to wait to see whether or not a check will clear; credit and charge
cards take only a few minutes for payment authorization.

* You don’t have to wait for a check or money order to come in the mail. Sometimes
mail service can be slow.

Just as there are advantages to having a merchant account, there are also disadvantages:

* You have to be sure that the merchant account system you have has a very secure
system. Having this is important so that your customer’s personal information
won’t be compromised.

* You will incur fees when using a merchant account; yes, even a free merchant
account incurs fees.

* If you get a free merchant account, you may have limits imposed on your account
due to high volumes of funds.


There are other ways to get a merchant account. If you can’t find one on your own or don’t like the recommendations, you can inquire at major banks in your area. You can also inquire with the company that hosts your websites. Some of them offer deals with merchant accounts.

Some paid merchant account providers check your credit before allowing you to have a merchant account. If you don’t initially qualify, you may have to settle for a free merchant account or possibly an offshore merchant account. With the latter, you’ll probably end up incurring more fees because it would be based outside of your area.

When looking for a merchant account, ask plenty of questions. You need to know which merchant account system is going to work the best for your business. When you get one that is a good fit, be sure to read the agreement in its entirety, whether it’s online or on paper. Make sure you know what fees you will be incurring, whether it’s a one-time fee or monthly.

If you do these things, then you will have no problem having a successful online business.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

How To Set Up A Canadian Merchant Account

Obviously, having an online business in Canada is not the same as having one in the United States. Not only are they two different countries, setting up a business is different for each one.

If you’re in Canada and you want to start an online business, there are some things you must know so you won’t get frustrated. One of the things you will need is a merchant account. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time selling products and you’ll have a hard time getting paid. As with setting up anything for a business, there are rules you must follow in order to get your merchant account in Canada.

Here are some of the things you need to know in order to get your Canadian merchant account:

* Merchant account providers want to know what type of products and/or services you are selling to the public. Since a bank is involved, there are some things that they’re not willing to take a risk on.

* They are in the business of making money, not losing it. If the bank finds out that some of the stuff you want to sell has been denied before, rest assured, your products will be denied as well. It’s better to advise them up front prior to applying for a Canadian merchant account.

* With the setup fee, most merchants account providers in Canada have them set up as non-refundable. You as a prospective merchant should seek alternatives in the event this doesn’t work out for you.

* You should provide the merchant account provider with enough information for them to base their decision on. Any little thing that you leave out can cause your merchant account to be denied.

Each bank is different as far as what products and services they accept and what they don’t accept. This is because some of these products and services are riskier than others. Each bank will be able to supply you with information regarding this.
This is a tricky situation because even though some banks favor some over others, in Canada, all transactions conducted online and considered to be high risk. That is the way the Canadian banks operate.

Here is a list of a few products and services the mass majority of Canadian banks will decline:

* Digital Downloads
* Online Prescriptions
* Money services
* Third party provider systems

There is a silver lining with selling products and services online in Canada. There are some things most if not all of the Canadian banks will probably take a chance on:

* Tourism
* Computers/software
* Jewelry
* Auctions
* Electronics purchased by consumers

If you do decide any of these things listed in Canada, the bank may require you to deposit additional funds in a security deposit or reserve. The bank also has the right to charge you higher rates. Since they feel they’re taking a high risk on you, if the business should happen to fail, they would still have their security deposit.

You should consult with the bank and make sure that you understand everything about getting a Canadian merchant account before you sign up.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and ecommerce payment processing provider specializing in international and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers check processing, high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

How To Accept Credit Cards Over The Phone

Have you ever thought about other ways to accept credit cards besides the computer and the internet? What if you have a glitch while placing your order online?

If you want to increase your business, you may want to consider accepting credit cards over the phone. A lot of businesses have incorporated this, and they have seen an increase in their business and their profits. Doing it this way just gives an added touch to what you already have. Customers want to be able to pick up the phone and place their order without having to leave home. They don’t have to put on special clothes; they don’t even have to wear shoes to do this. All it takes is a touch of the fingertips. Customers don’t have to stop at an automated teller machine to get money out to pay for what they want. A phone and a credit card is all they need to make the purchase. If you want to implement this in your business, you will have to get a merchant account. The merchant account provides a financial covering for your business in the way of collecting and accepting credit card payments from customers. This financial covering will process the credit card payment as long as the money is there.

When the payment is accepted, the funds go into your account for quick availability. As with anything that involves convenience, there is a fee involved for each transaction. A lot of business owners aren’t fazed by the transaction fees. They know that eventually their business will grow and they’ll eventually see an increase in profits. You can find a financial covering at a bank or similar facility that deals with merchant accounts and money. Check around to see what you can find to get the best deal for your business.

After your merchant account has been approved, you have a choice of digital phone services that are designed to accept credit cards over the phone. You will have different options on how you want it set up. You can have your service set up for certain hours of the day and/or night, or you can set it up for 24 hours a day every day. Or you can set it up for 24 hours a day during the week and limited hours on the weekends. You can also have it set up where you have a customer service representative available during certain hours.

Make sure your phone connection is working properly. With the phone option, you can choose whether to have your customers key in the numbers or have a voice activated response system. You will also want to think about having automated confirmation numbers set up. This way, after the customers place their order, they can have something to go by in the event they don’t get their order. Using phones for credit card transactions is increasing. Business owners don’t mind paying extra for a convenience that they know will ultimately increase their business and profits in the long run.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and electronic payments provider specializing in ecommerce and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.

Don’t Be Taken By Merchant Account Scams – What To Look For

You’ve had your own internet business for several months. By now, you thought you would have made some money, at least a few thousand dollars. Instead, your profits show you increasingly in the financial hole.

Have you thought that maybe the reason is because you don’t have a legitimate merchant account? There are many people who try to take advantage of those who are starting a business by offering them merchant accounts.

As a start-up business owner, it is imperative that you do your homework before selecting a merchant account. You must read thoroughly through all of the requirements and any fine print. There are so many scammers out there who will try and sell you a piece of junk.

The scammers will try to trick you by advertising their supposedly reasonable monthly rates for getting one of their merchant accounts. They make you think that you’re getting a steal with the so-called “low rates”. However, that is far from it.

They do not make mention of any “additional” fees and start-up costs. After the business owner signs up with them, they’re hit with all kinds of unknown and unnecessary costs.

A few of the additional or hidden fees include:

* Chargeback fees
* Termination fees
* Bank setup fees
* Unknown setup fees
* Software fees
* Annual fees
* Credit/charge card setup fees

There are plenty more, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll stick to a few. The scammers will try to brainwash the business owner to believe that these fees are justified and therefore, the business owner is forced to accept them.

If you fail to read the fine print on the contract prior to signing, you can be in for some surprises. You can also call the merchant provider to ask if there are additional fees or charges you need to know about before you make your decision.

Don’t be apprehensive about calling them. This is your business and the reason you started it was to make a profit, not to be in the red. If the merchant provider can’t or won’t answer your concerns to your satisfaction, then you should take your business elsewhere.

These so-called merchant providers try to make themselves look good with deceptive ads, but most of them are just regular sales people trying to get that next commission.

Here are examples of some of the deceptive ads merchant providers use:

* Free Merchant Account (there’s some hidden fee(s) somewhere
* We Approve 100% of our Applications (that’s too much of a danger for them to take * on, they wouldn’t last very long)
* Instant Activation (check their stipulations and restrictions)

Also note that the merchant provider is legally responsible for letting you know which bank is sponsoring them if they advertise Visa and MasterCard on their website.

If you find that the merchant provider is charging excessive fees, then move on to the next one. It’s not worth losing your sanity over after you have signed the contract and they start draining your bank account. After all, those hefty fees they charge you are for their benefit. It helps them cover the cost of their marketing tactics.

Learning to be cognizant of what you need for a merchant account will help you keep money in your pocket.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and electronic payments provider specializing in ecommerce and Internet merchant account solutions. Stradafee also offers high risk merchant accounts and offshore merchant account options. Stradafee can help businesses of all industries and sizes. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.

Check Your Processing Statements Before Spring

As we come into the spring season, thoughts of warm weather, yard work and spring cleaning tend to overpower our instincts to tackle indoor projects, interior and desk house cleaning. Stradafee Limited would just like to remind our customers and friends to check their processing statements from the past four to six months. This is sometimes the most overlooked part of your business and one that if not analyzed, can cost you money and aggravation down the road. With the holidays far behind us, and your Christmas statements probably stuffed in a drawer we’d like to remind you to dig them out and look at them, it will only take a minute. Depending on where you are in the country, your lives are getting busy right now and chances are you won’t get a chance to breathe for about the next eight months or so, so get it out of the way. Your bank doesn’t count on the fact that merchants will scrutinize charges and fees associated with their credit card processing during this time of year, so it is a good time to get your statements in order. Nothing can make a busy sales season more stressful and costly than dealing with housekeeping issues that you could have taken care of in the months prior. As you’re looking through your statements, pay special attention to chargebacks, a high amount of non-qualifying rates and annual fees. If everything is in order, good for you, if not and you would like to talk to someone about alternative processing solutions, call Stradafee or visit our website at Stradafee.com

About the Author: Jennifer Loganthan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is an electronic payments company as well as eCommerce and merchant account provider. For more information on credit card processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

Stradafee Domestic Credit Card Processing Expansion

As we move toward the end of the first quarter of 2008, we at Stradafee Limited would like to share with you what we’ve been working towards this winter to prepare ourselves for the second quarter. As many of you already know, we are a merchant service provider that has specialized in obtaining merchant accounts and check processing services for our clients. As we’ve been concentrating our efforts on our E-commerce and high volume clients, we have seen a slight decline in domestic brick and mortar business. During the first quarter Stradafee has done extensive research on targeting local and domestic business. While these types of customers won’t do high volumes of business, we feel that there’s a gap between the kinds of services they need and want and actually are getting from their banks. Sourcing credit card banking solutions for all types of clients is what we do every day and we have built solid relationships with both, domestic US and Western European banks as well as banks in Australia and South America. It’s our relationships with these banks and knowledge of their types of services and quality of delivery on them that makes us confident that we can do business with a local vendor in our hometown. Stradafee Limited’s portfolio is quite diverse; however, with the addition of a several types of domestic brick and mortar storefront businesses, we can complete our vision for the next couple years and grow their businesses and at the same time, grow our infrastructure.

About the Author: Jennifer Loganthan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is an electronic payments company as well as eCommerce and merchant account provider. For more information on credit card processing please visit www.stradafee.com.

What’s The Deal With Third Party and Free Merchant Accounts?

Typically, businesses that have a need for a merchant account are large, utilize multiple processing venues and/or need high volume credit card processing capabilities continuously. Today, medium and small businesses commonly get merchant accounts as a staple of their business. Many people seem to think that a merchant account is necessary if you’re small, but nothing can be farther from the truth. Today, a lot of merchants are relying on free and third party merchant accounts for various reasons and as every business has different needs, a cookie cutter credit card solution may not be the answer.

What is a free merchant account? Basically, it’s a merchant account owned by a third party merchant provider or processor to process credit cards and route the money to your bank account. With E-commerce so prevalent today, this type of transaction is easy for merchants and not difficult to establish. A lot of small vendors, like Ebay merchants use these types of merchant services due to ease. Some of the nice features of these types of accounts are that there is little background investigation, little paperwork and almost no real application process. Really, you can accept credit cards within a couple hours of applying. There really is no application fees, no virtual terminals and related programs and software, so the ease of set up, monitoring and maintenance is minimal. If you operate a brick and mortar business, there is really no reason to have one of these types of account services, and if you process credit cards more than once a day, then this really is not for you. The down side to free merchant accounts is that even though the upfront costs are low or nil, and the ease of operation is simple; they offer limiting services and become increasingly expensive to use, the more you use them. The way they make their money is by charging a portion of each transaction, often times up to 10%, which is a lot more than 2.5-4% that you would pay for a typical E-commerce merchant account. As well, it is not uncommon for them to hold funds for security against chargebacks and processing errors. This isn’t untypical with regular merchant accounts, but isn’t as common. For example, if you’re volume spikes legitimately, due to an increase in your business, this may throw up a red flag for a processing agency to hold your funds until your volume goes back down. This is looked upon by banks as a higher risk of chargebacks.

Third party merchant accounts are similar, in that your business will be processed under someone else’s merchant account. Often times, established businesses with high volume capable merchant accounts will offer processing to like merchants within their industry or a similar industry with similar types of transaction volume and consistency. This can help a merchant who is temporarily experiencing low volume in their business to keep their rates low, as well they may offer lower rates to you than a merchant processor offering a free merchant account. Like free merchant accounts, there is no payment infrastructure, maintenance, minimal background checking and set up fees. However, you will have high rates, longer processing times and possibly security fees for impending chargebacks.

With both free merchant account services and third party merchant accounts you will run the risk of not getting paid at all, as they may be processing multiple businesses under one account and may get shut off by a bank, leaving you and everyone else unpaid indefinitely or until they get it straightened out. In today’s economy, and with international banks looking to gain US and Western European market share, small and medium size merchants are not only obtaining merchant accounts for themselves, but they’re getting great rates, specialized services like multi-currency processing, their own virtual terminals and third-party fraud scrubbing. Today’s merchant service provider is armed with a lot of ammo with banks around the world; a lot of these banks specialize in E-commerce and high volume merchant accounts. Many banks also offer great rates for high risk customers. With a little homework, merchants are going to find that start up and maintenance fees are lower than they think, operating and tracking their credit card business is not only fairly simple but they sleep better at night and ultimately they’re profit margins are larger.

About the Author: Jennifer Loganthan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is an electronic payments company as well as eCommerce and merchant account provider. For more information on credit card processing please visit www.stradafee.com.