How many times have you been somewhere and then stopped unexpectedly at another place to find you did not have enough money on you?  Although, you do remember seeing and ATM machine on the way in and knew you could go back and get some.  When you go on vacation you normally plan on the money that you bring and then there are times when an unexpected expense will occur or you see that one thing you must have and you find you forgot your charge card but have your bank card on you and know it can be used in an ATM machine.

Have you noticed at many places now that there are independent ATM machines available for you to use?  ATM machines are now available when you go to places like a summer festival.  This would have something years ago that would have been unheard of and now you do not have to worry anymore.  The added conveniences are all around us.

In any town, that sets up their activities they should consider bringing in an ATM machine for everyone to use.  It is an extra way to ensure that your vendors have success at the summer festival.  It is another way for a business to make money as they get a fee from every transaction.  The ATM Machine will allow better concession sales especially when that is usually a cash only portion of business.  Consider it another customer convenience and a part of doing business if you are a company that travels.

Summer festivals are a place to have fun and they are a place where customers tend to impulse buy so having an ATM machine available is a way to increase your sales whether that customer needs that extra item to round off her purchase or finds that special piece that is unique and will make the best gift she has ever bought someone. 

As businesses at festivals try to cover all ends of processing credit card and debit card sales using a wireless terminal or hand held device not all businesses are equipped with wireless capabilities.  Having the ATM machine available should be a consideration for your next investment.  For more information on ATM machines and ATM processing please visit http://www.stradafee.com.

Before a merchant or acquirer ponders PCI compliance, it is important to understand which entities PCI compliance applies to. While it is very likely that for each merchant or acquirer, PCI compliance will be mandatory, it is important to remember that it is only required if you are receiving, storing or processing the Primary Account Number (PAN) or the main credit card number of the customer, which is usually no longer than 19 and no less than 16 digits in length.  In addition, a merchant or acquirer must remember that if a PAN is being stored or processed, the other information such as CVV/CVC and card holder information must be protected as well.

For a merchant to become PCI compliant, the merchant has to assess the merchant level relevant for the PCI guidelines, as each different merchant level will have different requirements. In addition, both VISA and MasterCard have certain PCI guidelines in addition to the PCI DSS standard, which need to be adhered to. Discover and American Express follow the PCI DSS standard in addition to a ‘good practices’ handbook, while there are no specific additional requirements. However, in general, the process will begin with the merchant or service provider assessing the validation level, as each different level will involve different audit, questionnaire and network scan requirements.

It would seem obvious that Level 1 merchants occupy the bulge bracket of hacker activity, but it’s actually Level 4, since there merchants tend to be smaller and occupy around 99% of the total market share of credit card transactions, as per estimates by VISA. These merchants tend to be more prone to hacker attacks primarily because they are small and usually do not possess the high end technical infrastructure as mandated by the PCI DSS. To that end, VISA requires that all Level 4 merchants submit a PCI compliance plan. In addition, the level 4 merchant must ensure that in case they are using a point of sale terminal, the terminal must be compatible with PABP and PIN requirements.

Validation levels apply to service providers as well. Service provider levels are categorized differently by MasterCard and Visa, though the emphasis in both cases is on the volume of transactions. For instance, for a Level 2 service provider, VISA prescribes the number of transactions transmitted as more than 100,000 annually, PLUS those who are not in Level 1. MasterCard simply prescribes that Service Providers who transmit on behalf of Level 1 merchants are Level 1 service providers.

The merchant or service provider must build an infrastructure in terms of firewalls, access control systems and data encryption that comply with the PCI DSS. The 1.1 standard issues the following directives for merchants to ensure that they are in compliance with the PCI standards<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–>:

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data.
2. Do not use vendor supplied defaults of system passwords and other security parameters
3. Protect stored cardholder data
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks.
5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software or programs
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications
7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know.
8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data
10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11. Regularly test security systems and processes
12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security for employees and contractors.

Once the technical infrastructure is in place, the merchant or service provider must locate an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV), who will conduct a network scan to ensure that the safety requirements highlighted above are actually functional and not just placeholders in the self-assessment questionnaire required for Level 2, 3 and 4 merchants and service providers. The purpose of the scan is to locate vulnerabilities in the system that can lead to data breaches and diagnose & recommend measures to fix these problems. The ASV submits a report to the PCI highlighting the potential security holes and the level of vulnerability from 1-5 (but this time, a Level 5 is the highest point of vulnerability). In case of a level 1 merchant, an on site assessment is also mandated by the PCI, to be conducted by a Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs).

Finally, a self-assessment questionnaire on a prescribed format needs to be submitted to the acquiring bank by the processor &/or merchant service provider, which acts as a checklist to ensure that the 12 requirements outlined above have been addressed and met. Some experts believe that PCI compliance has less to do with network and information security, than it has to do with compliance. For one thing, a merchant only needs to be 100% compliant at the time of the review- this loophole can make a merchant lax throughout the year, and only fix up the security holes during the time of the review or audit. That won’t solve any security crises, only make them worse.

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For more information on how to become PCI Compliant please vist http://www.stradafee.com!

First there was the internet, then ebay, then google; now Myspace is quickly becoming a gateway for many internet users simply as a navigation tool. Essentially, this type of generic purposeful use of a specific URL is the epitome of what businesses and website designers strive for as it brings together a large variety of people that probably wouldn’t have otherwise met. As we all know what Myspace is; the importance of Myspace as a networking tool is that the user controls their level of interaction, accessibility and level of contact with other users from very broad to very specific.

Myspace like a few other popular meeting and self promotional web venues started with the younger generation in mind as a way for youth to associate and identify themselves with others like them and those they like. As many sites develop, the profiles of their users change as well. Today, Myspace has effectively bridged the generation gap and proved itself to be a useful tool for families, friends and classmates to keep in contact with each other as well as communicate events and other news in their lives. The future of the website and others like it is for businesses to host their own promotional webpages for their customers to visit and as a way to attract new clientele. Like advertisers have purchased ad space on websites for years in an attempt to attract specific demographics, self advertising on Myspace and its competitors may prove to be networking goldmine with the result being, creating new customers for merchants through continuous education and communication by the business and perspective clientele. There are as many possibilities as virtual commerce has no boundaries; however time and participatory levels will eventually determine how fast and far these types of networks will succeed.

Examples of networking through Myspace or other like sites may be as simple as a small business owner hosting a page that lets its customers communicate with one another about their products, or a cheap but effective way to keep clients aware of company news and direction or even an upcoming sale. More complex pages may assist merchants actually perform transactions by posting pricing and availability of products or services and the customer actually being able to make a purchase in real time through payment portals set up on the page for payment by credit card or check. As simple as it sounds many small business owners either turn to their own website construction or may want to keep or set up a Myspace page for more simple interactions. Those that may choose to set up interactive pages may find a hurdle to overcome in setting up a portal for their credit card processing. While it’s not difficult to actually find a bank that will set you up with credit card processing capabilities, the challenge is in the shopping. Nearly all online credit card transactions are considered to be high risk by banks and processors, so the concern is that high rates and excessive fees may turn the lure of a low budget ecommerce venture into an expensive headache. This type of business development is very much on the radar merchant service providers. Merchant service brokers or providers foster relationships with numerous banks and processors, giving them options for their clients when it comes to the right fit for them and their business.

As networking through and setting up business contacts through Myspace type sites is geared toward new and budding businesses, consulting with a merchant service provider may be educational and ultimately beneficial for you.

For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit http://www.stradafee.com.

For most merchants, using their credit card merchant account has not only helped their business grow, but it has been the mainstay of their cash flow. For online merchants, not being able to accept credit cards is not an option. Another great option for merchants to electronically process consumer transactions is through ACH.

ACH is Automatic Clearing House and basically an electronic wire transfer system and the transactions are settled in much the same way that traditional paper check transactions are; meaning that the bank divides the batch submissions by the originator bank and sends them off to clear, and wit for the respective deposits. Unlike paper checks, ACH transactions are usually high dollar amounts and are popular with international merchants selling products or services to clients abroad. This usually works out well because of the time and risk involved with mailing funds. Internet merchants are believed to be particularly savvy when it comes to funds acceptance diversification. ACH has been around since the early 1970’s and has always been a risk for businesses to perform due to theft and fraud. Unfortunately criminals will always find a way into the most elaborate and secure funds transfer systems; however, this cannot stop merchants from looking forward to add ACH to their stable of acceptance venues.

When ACH was born, the US Federal Reserve offered help by way of offering electronics and computer systems to aid banking institutions deal with, organize and settle ACH transactions. In 1974 NACHA, which is the National Automatic Clearing House Association, to help establish rules and guidelines as well as regulate certain portions of the ACH industry. Today they operate and maintain their website which is www.nacha.org which offers news, information, resource links and statistics for merchants that are interested in ACH. Currently ACH transactions increase an average of about 15% each year, with a 13.4% volume increase in 2007. Due to the internet revolution, ACH has grown steadily and seems to show no slowdown in sight for the near future; however it is unclear today what the effects of a slow economy or recession will have on these transactions. It is possible that ACH transactions may spike in a slow economy because of the relative low cost of a per transaction fee, no discount rate and no chargeback risk. As with any avenue in business, industry professionals work to make their products and services more mainstream and a questionable economy just may be the way to accomplish that.

Setting up an ACH account is fairly simple. Many merchant service providers that set up and assist in the maintenance of merchant credit card accounts offer ACH set up services. This is great for one stop shoppers; however there are companies that specialize in ACH set up and servicing specifically ACH customers. The application process is very similar to credit card acceptance applications and there is usually a set up fee, monthly fee and transaction fee, which is the same for credit card accounts. A great money savings for merchants is that there is no discount rate involved. This means that there is no percentage of each dollar being processed taken out for the bank or processor. Transaction fees vary, but usually fall between $.25 and $1.00 per transaction. This can mean real dollars saved for certain industries, but it would be a hard sell for many merchants that benefit from the ease of credit cards and allot for those expenses. While it may not happen tomorrow, ACH is here to stay and enjoys steady growth in a fickle and ever changing marketplace. If you are interested in information on ACH accounts, checking with your merchant service provider is not a bad place to start.

For more information on credit card processing and check processing please visit http://www.stradafee.com.

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.

Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide online credit card processing. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.

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.

Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide online credit card processing. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.

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.

For more information on echeck processing, high risk merchant accounts and online credit card processing. please visit www.stradafee.com!

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.  Check your 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

For more information on echeck processing, high risk merchant accounts and online credit card processing. please visit www.stradafee.com!

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.

For more information on echeck processing, high risk merchant accounts and online credit card processing. please visit www.stradafee.com!

A merchant account handles credit card processing. This allows you to accept credit cards as payment. Statistics have shown people are more likely to purchase when shopping with credit cards instead of cash.

Selecting a merchant account provider can be confusing and time consuming. There are a number of factors to consider, such as credibility, reliability, fees, and customer service. The first step is to evaluate your business’s present and future needs. Will you require 24 hour uninterrupted service, international processing capabilities, or how about the turnaround time on transactions. What kind of customer service do they provide? All these services come at a cost. However, the fees associated with a merchant account shouldn’t be your exclusive deciding factor when choosing a provider. Here is a list and explanation of common fees charged by a merchant account provider.

Application Fee: This covers the costs of processing the “paper” work of an application. It is usually non-refundable.

Setup Fee: Fee for setting up the account once approved. This is usually a onetime flat rate fee.

Discount Rate: This is the percentage that the bank with holds from each transaction it processes.

Per transaction Fees: This is a small fee charged on every transaction the business does. It can range from as low as 15 cents, but may be as high as $1.00.

Monthly Maintenance Fee: This monthly fee charged for operating and providing access to the merchant account, and its services.

Monthly Minimum Fee: The minimum charged if you do not meet your minimum sales.

Annual Membership Fee: A flat rate fee that can be several hundred dollars to free.

Monthly Statement Fee: The cost of preparing your monthly statement is charged a flat rate usually around $10.

Customer Service Fee: A small amount between 10 and 20 cents charged each time you call customer service.

Gateway Monthly Fee: This applies to online merchants and is charged monthly for gateway processing services to the internet.

Chargeback Fees: A small amount charged for every outstanding transaction on your account that is disputed by the customer.

It may help to determine your business needs. You should know your product or service well and be able to estimate you monthly sales volume. Once you have narrowed down your selection list you can run a calculation to determine the cost the merchant account. By knowing the theoretical cost of the account you should be able to determine if the merchant account provider’s services are worth it.

For more information on echeck processing, high risk merchant accounts and online credit card processing. please visit www.stradafee.com!