The Banking Industry Tightens Up

It is no secret that the banking industry is clamming up in the soft economy we live in today. It’s not hard for most Americans to point the finger at what or who is responsible for the shift in procedures and the banks willingness to do business with people and businesses. Today, we consumers and businesses encounter a mixed bag of reactions from the banking industry when going about our daily business; whether it’s shopping new car rates or going through the mortgage application process, or even making a capital gains purchase for our business. In all these scenarios and numerous other ones, banks have changed the rules. Some of the most common examples of this can be seen in low or zero percent interest rates on automobile loans contrasting to stringent regulations on first mortgages and home equity loans. Like any business, a bank has a memory and a lot of business is trial and error. Banks tried to be lenient with home loans for a few years and now we’re in the biggest housing market crunch in American history. Why? They took too many risks lending money to people they shouldn’t have. Not to sound mean, because we’ve heard the stories and all of them are sad; however, it’s not the banks fault that a customer willingly signs on for an adjustable rate mortgage, or sees a rate drop and immediately swings for the fences on his or her first mortgage, only to find out that they’ll have to feed their family macaroni and cheese and bologna sandwiches for the next thirty years while eating on patio furniture in their dining room. Don’t laugh! Truth is, they got sick of bologna sandwiches; not the banks fault. The fallout from a lot of this is that banks are scrutinizing every deal that comes across their desks and are forced to walk the line on qualifying criteria for loans. As well, they have been forced to lay off staff and find themselves making increasingly difficult decisions on, “the American dream” with little sleep and in a hurry.

Automobile industry, same thing; after September eleventh you could take your pick of just about any car or truck you wanted for zero percent financing for up to seventy two months. That was great for a while, but what about in 2005 and 2006, when it came time for those car owners to trade them in? What most Americans were met with is low trade in values due to low used car prices because of the huge inventory of used cars hitting the market all at once. This was not bad for banks; now they could raise rates on used cars because the prices were low and the best play the auto industry had was to lower rates on new cars. Sorry, they already played that card, so now what? Here’s an idea, source parts for American cars from China to lower costs, close American factories and bring the new car rate back down to zero percent.

The upside is that business and capital gains loans are accessible and banks are making an attempt to fix the problems created over the last six or seven years from the bottom up. Merchants and small businesses have been affected as well; banks are imposing higher discount rates and fees associated with merchant’s credit card processing capabilities to the point that some businesses are turning to merchant service providers to source them banks outside the United States for cheaper, less restrictive credit card processing. In all, we know banks aren’t perfect; however, they are taking the right steps today to ensure we have a tomorrow that is better than it was before the banking industry had to tighten 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.

Merchant Accounts for Skateboard shops

Skateboarding is not an afterthought. For the last few years boarding has lost its skates in the public eye. Skateboarding is not a dead art; in fact it’s more popular than ever. Skaters have new things to do as well. Since surfers that needed something to do when the waves weren’t breaking or the weather was bad turned to “concrete surfing”, the basics of balance, skill and committing to a risk in a moment have been and hopefully will be the ethos that boarding enthusiasts will continue to live by. Today, as many skaters surf, so many snowboard and wake board as well. Its natural progression and the future will bring out crazier and more extremes of board sports for the new breed of athletes who are looking for more than a stick and ball experience. When I was growing up, if you didn’t want to be on the team, whether it was softball, soccer or whatever sport kids and young adults were taking part in at the time, you turned to an individualistic sport. As options were limited, tennis, track and skiing made up the short list. In a nation that has bread teamwork and forced social skill sets, the paradigm has changed and changed in a way that has created different values, goals and interactions for our kids while they grow up. Skateboarding and alternative sports may in fact be a metaphor for the new generation of a progressive society. Participation in individual sports is not for everyone; as there is no set practice to be late for, you really need to get out there and practice and be involved. From there, advancing your skills is mainly up to you and for that reason, the learning curve is what you make of it. Skateboarders and other one-participant sports love that aspect of these activities which leaves them in charge of their own future. Studies have shown that kids growing up without team related activities, who take part in sports like skateboarding, surfing and motocross were more likely to lead and less likely to succumb to peer pressures.

Like all sports, gear is essential and to think that a skateboard is a piece of wood with some wheels on it is just going to piss off skateboarders. If you’re a skateboarder, you know what I mean. As with all industries, skateboard manufacturers spend lots of time and money researching and developing new ways to make boards, trucks and wheels more durable, lighter and less expensive, in an attempt to increase their performance and help riders further the sport. Skateboard shops are not such fringe retailers anymore. Today the sale of boards and accessories still makes up a good portion of their revenues; however, many are expanding their product lines to include other extreme sports that are loosely linked to the skate scene. It’s not uncommon to see snowboards, bmx bikes and wakeboard equipment next to decks and trucks when you walk into your local shop anymore. Merchants see the trends and are preparing themselves for the next new rage. Remember, you used to buy your skateboards in a surf shop. Skateboarding is not going anywhere; however skateboarding is a sensation activity and skaters will look outside skating for a new rush. Consequently, skaters who haven’t picked it up as quickly or get sick of skating will try the next like sport quickly, and repeat until they find one that works for their lifestyle and natural ability. Shop owners need to be ready for everything. Their shops operate mainly on a walk-in basis; however, many operate websites to serve customers worldwide. A merchant account is a necessary evil, or is it. The terms that banks offer merchants is often an unreasonable proposition that they deal with but don’t have to. Merchant service providers can help small shop owners like skate shops and the like to better their situation. Getting good discount rates on credit card processing is available if you look for it. A good place to start is online. Look up merchant service provider if you’re interested.


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.

Run for the Hills

We don’t mean that literally or even that you should be watching The Hills on MTV, but let’s just talk about your money or lack of it in today’s economy. It’s hard to find a starting point and even harder to pinpoint where the end to our fiscal woes is going to be and when. The sad state of affairs we call our economy probably started after September eleventh, unfortunately. This isn’t intended to unite, divide or cause alarm to anyone, but every now and then, we need to put back into perspective what our wants and needs are in reference to the dollars that we do have. As I’m no economist, I can only offer an objective view on what I do see every day and what I see on the news; sometimes these two views of American life contrast sharply.

Today, we all pay more for the things we need as well as the things we want. Not a winning proposition; in fact that is the heart of our frustration. Essentially, our wants are drowned out by the need to partake in crazy activities like driving to work and school and eating food. A lot of this is created by the rise in oil prices. When it costs a manufacturer more to produce goods and deliver them to you, they’re going to tax you on it, end of story. We’ll work backwards from here. Increased manufacturing and transportation prices are more of a result of our weak economy. Being in a recession, everyone cuts back, consumers are fickle which makes it difficult for manufacturers and retailers to predict what it is that they are going to buy. What makes it almost funny is that as Americans, we tend to buy things we want and skimp on, borrow or neglect purchasing the things we need. That’s why, when they say that consumer confidence is low, it’s almost all our fault. Another factor that is interchangeable with consumer confidence and increased prices on goods and services is unemployment. With manufacturing costs being high in America, manufacturers have turned to Asia, namely China to produce whole products or some of the parts that make up “American Made” products, putting Americans out of work. It’s easy to see the next step backwards is that those people with no or limited income, feel the crunch more than everyone. Before all of this started, the housing crunch began. This was a result of people taking full advantage of their bank prequalification letters, in my opinion. You all know what I mean, for years prequalification letters gave home buyers an estimate on what they could afford based on their credit score and debt to income ratio; for a while approvals were fast and loose on those guidelines. Yes, the catch was that they had to take an adjustable rate mortgage. Who’s to blame? Is the banking industry to blame for creating such a financial product or consumers for agreeing to pay massive mortgage payments? Looking back further, I find it comical to think that those people just needed a nice house with a nice driveway to park their nice car in that they could afford only because they got it at zero percent interest. Why did that happen? I remember about seven years ago, no one spent a dime; in fact we all thought the sky was falling and hoarded our money. That was until we could buy a turbo diesel one ton pick-up truck for $450 a month. I guess we can’t blame the auto industry for our woes, but taking our current situation into consideration, it’s really clear that (and I’m sorry to say) many of the issues we fact today, we have indirectly created for ourselves by making poor and hasty purchasing decisions in our past.


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.

Stradafee offers High Volume Merchant Accounts

Stradafee Limited is proud to be a sourcing agent for domestic and international merchants that would like to obtain a merchant account or have one and would like to better their situation. Merchants have a tough enough time today, obtaining merchant accounts. The process is similar to a credit application and in some cases, personal guarantees need to be supplied in order for a merchant to secure a credit card processing account. Online merchants and businesses that process large quantities or high dollar charges over the telephone or over the internet see increased fees and higher discount rates. Most of these merchants are placed in the “high risk” category, where the specific type of business they operate is considered an increased risk due to the fact that the charge is made where the actual card is not present. Most domestic banks place these merchants in a general category and won’t budge even over time, where a steady processing history is established and the merchants have kept their chargebacks to a minimum.

While domestic banks see these high volume and high risk merchants as a bad risk for them; international banks see things differently. Today, high risk is not linked with illicit or illegal activities as it was before. To be considered high risk, you simply may be a merchant that accepts credit cards over the internet. Globally, banks have a lot of experience over the years in processing high volume, card not present transactions and most welcome the business. Stradafee Limited has had good success sourcing banks for their high volume customers. While Stradafee doesn’t specialize in high risk and/ or specifically high volume merchants; they do make up a certain portion of our portfolio which will continue for years to come. As a merchant service provider, a diverse portfolio full of a variety of clients and industries is the key when considering new opportunities where the margin for error is extremely small. When it matters the most, high volume merchant accounts tend to need more intricate banking solutions. Stradafee can custom tailor a processing solution to any type of industry or size of business. We can offer a secure processing environment for our clients as well as services such as third party fraud scrubbing, virtual terminals and multi currency processing; all of which may not be offered by domestic banks even with a fee attached. As well as sourcing banks for their current and new clients, Stradafee also can offer processing packages for web hosting companies, where links are established through their customer’s websites so that they can accept cards. More than a one dimensional organization, Stradafee Limited is constantly looking for new ways to serve their clients and gain more experience in new markets where opportunities for new and existing clients loom. If you are a merchant and would like more information on Stradafee Limited; please visit us on our website at www.stradafee.com. We know you have many options when it comes to your credit card processing solutions, thank you for considering us.


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.

Merchant Accounts for Organic Produce Vendors

Organic produce has worked its way from a nonsensical luxury to a fringe health craze to the mainstay of the fruit and vegetable industry. Once, when farms were being forced to shut down, the farmers chose to grow organic produce to supplement their incomes. In rural areas, farmers offered co-op markets where mostly local residents could pay an annual upfront fee and visit the market once or twice a week to pick up a predetermined amount of organic produce for their families. In many cases this type of business became more than a supplement than a sideline; farmers were now able to forecast crops, have working capital to run their farms and even grow the size of their farms which in most cases makes them more competitive in terms of harvest size which can lower their market price, bring a quality product, organic or non-organic to consumers in the super market and make room for new types of crops.

Today, the produce section at the super market is comprised of twenty to thirty percent organic fruits and vegetables. The pricing is becoming more in line with non-organic produce; as well, the selection and quality is much better than it was even a couple years ago. With the supermarkets purchasing organic produce in mass quantities, some farms are converting all of their crops and facilities to strictly organic. Like most good ideas whose time has come, small farmers markets, roadside stands and co-ops have all but disappeared, and it’s easy to see the reason the minute you walk into your local grocery store. Bringing products, especially produce to market is becoming harder than ever; with the cost of fuel ever on the rise, farmers can only afford to produce in mass quantities. To add insult to injury, the pricing is not in line with the buying in mass quantity school of thought that we are used to when making a purchase. Super markets prices are through the roof totally defeating the purpose of farmers increasing production and to bring their products to market cheaper. In reality, the only people winning at this game are trucking companies, if they can win at anything these days? We all know that truckers are bearing the brunt of the oil crisis in America; what we mean is that perishable items need to be replenished which fosters a need to keep the trucks running, that is all.

What is a farmer to do? Do they increase crop sizes, lower costs of harvest and eventually go out of business, while large super market chains and pessimistic futures investors systematically grease the pole that farm owners are sliding down? Some farm owners are getting back to basics or downsizing crops and reopening their roadside markets and co-ops. What they’ve found is that this doesn’t cut into their newly grown business and reinvigorates the local need for quality produce. Co-ops, farmers markets and corner produce stands have always been a cash business. Maybe some people like it that way, but today, Americans are carrying around a lot less cash. Even, for a farmer to have a merchant account so that they could accept credit cards at their stands can help grow their business more. Naturally, credit cards create a buy now pay later mind set; while it’s not always an ideal way to live, it tends to bridge the gap between consumers and consumables. For farmers or operators of farm markets, this can be the difference between a ten dollar sale and forty dollar sale. For small businesses like them, merchant service providers can be most helpful. Dealing with small businesses and being in touch with those new to processing is what sets them apart from the rest of the pack. If you don’t know to get in touch with a merchant service provider, you can find one 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.

Getting A Merchant Account For The Travel Industry

The Travel Industry is a very lucrative business. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get a merchant account for this business. There are a few merchant account providers that will take a chance, but for the most part, the majority is not interested. Getting a merchant account for this category is considered high risk.

When you do find a merchant account that will cater to you, they probably will have restrictions on what they will do for your business. For instance, the ones that will work with you will only approve charges for commissions, car rentals and hotel stays. They won’t approve charges for cruises, tours or airplane tickets.

The unfortunate part about this is that you may not find out that the latter isn’t covered until some of your customers notice and start to complain because the funds are being held up. That’s not a good way for providers to do business. Merchants should know up front what they’re going to pay for.

Prior to a transaction, the merchant should be approved for the amount specified. There are some providers who will approve the merchant, but the catch is there is a limit to the amount merchants can get.

When getting a merchant account in the travel industry, merchants find out after the fact about hidden fees. These fees include monthly gateway fees, annual fees, batch fees and other fees that are not listed until such time.

Another downside is that if the merchant does not meet the minimum amount of monthly sales each month, they’re subject to a service fee.

Beware of merchant providers trying to sell you merchandise that you don’t need. They’ll try to sell merchants expensive equipment or a lease that you can’t cancel after you’ve signed on the dotted line. Since the more legitimate merchant providers do their business over the phone, the equipment is nothing but a waste and not needed.

There is also something called “teaser rates”. Some merchant account providers will offer special rates in order to get merchants to sign up with their company, only to raise the price again after a few months. Offers like these usually have another catch. Since the rates initially offered are supposedly low, look out for any penalties that may be attached to the offer.

Hidden fees alone can cost merchants from three to four digits in any given period. This usually happens when a merchant account provider omits certain fees. Check this out before you sign on the dotted line.

Merchants should also check out their customer service. Merchants should see how they operate and how they treat them. Merchants should look and see if they do what they say they’re going to do.

When looking for a merchant account provider, they should be able to provide great service. After all, merchants do paying money to them for assistance. If they can’t provide or do the work, then it’s time to look for someone else.

Merchants need to remember to be prudent when looking for merchant providers that will meet their needs.

Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited an international merchant service provider. Stradafee is a retail and an electronic payments company specializing in global eCommerce and Internet merchant accounts. Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide credit card processing for card present and card-not-present transactions. For more information on credit card processing visit http://www.stradafee.com