January 12 2009

Online Business Challenges

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Like any business, online commerce has its own obstacles. Though they may present themselves differently than a brick and mortar establishment, many of these challenges are rooted in the same fundamental issues of trust, communication, and convenience. Creating a profitable eCommerce business with a positive reputation depends on your ability to navigate these challenges and provide customers with the best online shopping experience available.

The first thing to realize as an online business owner is that the vast majority of visitors to your site will not trust what they see. Customers are unimpressed with stylish layouts and amazing graphics when it comes down actually spending money. Most people want to see legitimacy. This can be displayed in many ways. Start by including a physical address and phone number, along with several contact emails and company bios. These things can go a long way in establishing legitimacy, but don’t stop there. Partnering up with other valued websites and becoming a member of organizations such as the Better Business Bureau are other proven ways to build trust. Beyond that, you must be good at answering the phones and responding quickly to customer inquiries. Some customers will even call just to see how quickly you respond, looking for comfort in the fact that your business is active and on top of things.

Product presentation is the second most important obstacle to overcome in online business. Unlike in a real world store, customers cannot touch and feel the product under consideration, and for this reason, the level of product showcasing must be very high. Provide several image views, elaborate descriptions, customer reviews, as well as links for other information. Most successful ecommerce sites provide at least five pictures of each product. Descriptions should be unique to your business and as clear as possible. If you or your team is not comfortable writing attractive product descriptions, hiring a writer is well worth the expense.

The last major issue in online business is security. The security of your website determines a customer’s willingness to enter their personal payment information. Part of establishing trust in your security is in having an online merchant account. A credit card merchant account will allow you to accept card payments while keeping shoppers within your website. Moving from your site to a third party processor’s site can be quite unsettling for potential buyers and can also cause a host of other problems. Once a merchant account is in place, making sure your site has adequate encryption will also reassure your customers in the level of informational security employed by your business.

The challenges of online sales are easily overcome with the investment of some time and thought. Without tackling these obstacles, the probability of sales will be very low. Of course, it doesn’t stop there. There are an infinite number of improvements you should continue to make as your business grows and develops. These major obstacles are merely the roadblocks that have a tendency to shut businesses down before they even get started.

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

January 12 2009

Ecommerce: Avoiding Credit Card Chargebacks

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With all of the preparation, problem solving, and management involved in having an eCommerce store, there is one precaution that is grossly overlooked which has the potential of creating huge problems. Credit card chargebacks were created to protect cardholders from unauthorized transactions, and they make it possible for customers to refuse payment for goods or services based on the claim that the services were not received or goods were never delivered. Credit card institutions may also approve chargebacks based on damaged items and items that are not what they were claimed to be, even if the items were never returned to the vendor. As a result, a few customers regularly abuse the system in hopes of receiving products for free. Naturally, this greatly impacts those in the business of online sales by suddenly removing funds that are already collected, thus these entities must take care to utilize certain protocol to prevent as many chargebacks as possible.

It is extremely important for an eCommerce website to exercise extreme clarity in regards to shipping information, products, and checkout. It is imperative that the customer is aware of how the charge will appear on their card statement. Some customers mistakenly submit a fraudulent charge claim because they did not recognize the charge. Another way to prevent such confusion is to send automatic follow-up emails reminding customers that their card will be charged. These emails are also an appropriate time to reiterate to the customer that they are welcome to call you with any questions concerning this order. The business telephone number should appear clearly on the website as well as on the actual credit card charge. This allows customers to easily call to verify the charge without having to research what the charge might have been.

Pre-ordered items should not be charged to credit cards in advance. The time in which it takes to receive the item in stock may give the customer time to change their mind or simply claim a false charge on the grounds that no items were shipped. Instead, wait until the item is in stock and ready to be shipped before charging a customer’s credit card.

Getting rid of mistaken charges quickly is also a valuable policy for eCommerce. Not only does this avoid confusion and assure the customer that you will not be keeping the money, but it will also build your reputation as a professional and organized establishment. If a mistaken charge is not quickly voided, the customer is likely to take matters into their own hands by simply requesting a chargeback. If a customer reports a mistaken charge, you must never put off responding. It is imperative that you send an immediate response at least to let the customer know you are looking into the matter and will correct it as soon as possible.

The basic idea of preventing chargebacks is to have professional quality control and customer service policies that deal with the problem before a customer has time to consider disputing the charge with their credit card institution. It is much better to deal with these issues with customers directly, both for your future business and for your credit and legal integrity.

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

June 16 2008

How To Network On Myspace

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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.

June 03 2008

Merchant Accounts for Concrete Plants

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As the price of fuel continues to rise, just about everything in our lives are affected. The price of the food we eat is as high as ever, services we use every day are more expensive to the point that we find ways to do without them and eventually turn ourselves off to certain industries all together. As we all know, some industries are more of a necessity than a luxury; some of these businesses are not feeling the pinch as much, but are definitely seeing a slow go of things these days. The building trades feel the brunt of the “Big money” cut backs as regional and national economies pinch pennies I hopes that unspent development dollars will lead to surpluses, which may lead to less tax hike for the next year. While the theory seems to be sound, the long term effects will be felt by tax payers and their families for years to come. One industry that spans the construction, planning and development industries is the concrete business. Concrete is used in nearly every building project; it’s literally the foundation that all projects are built on. More than an optional building product, concrete is a staple that cannot be avoided; that is unless you want to see a sea of one story, new construction buildings for the rest of your natural lives?

The increase in fuel prices affects the pricing of concrete more than many raw products, as it’s a product in itself of many other industries whose existence supports the concrete industry. As concrete is made of stone, the production of concrete graded sand and stone that meets a particular specification relies on the fuel pricing to remain at a level low enough to let those businesses control their costs, while not passing them onto their customers as much as possible. Unfortunately for the aggregate industry, fuel pricing has forced them to either raise prices or go out of business. After the hits that the concrete business has taken and prices have been raised, the construction industry has beared just about as much as they can afford, in terms of cost increases; now the money is coming directly out of the profit that the plants take. In terms of cost saving measures, monitoring their credit card processing fees and rates has become a popular way of keeping them in the black. As a lot of concrete purchases are over the phone, many banks impose higher rates to plants because the chance of fraud and theft are higher, due to these “Card not present transactions.” Many merchant service providers specialize in obtaining merchant accounts for these types of businesses through processors and banks that offer low rates and reduced fees. If you’re in the concrete or aggregate business and are looking to better your processing capabilities, contact a merchant service provider today.

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

May 13 2008

Merchant Accounts for Skateboard shops

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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.

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

May 13 2008

Run for the Hills

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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. 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.

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

May 04 2008

Merchant Accounts for Organic Produce Vendors

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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.

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

April 28 2008

Affiliate Programs for Website Hosting Companies

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Today with E-banking and E-commerce becoming more mainstream; the services that banks, processors and their affiliates are able to offer make breaking the mold of local and domestic processing an easier and more seamless integration for merchants. This does not mean that domestic banks are suffering and local vendors will eventually stop using them. Web hosting companies are seeing a lot more businesses than usual come to them as vendors to either supplement their existing business or start up and maintain a new entity. Websites are funnels for advertisers, satellite industries and support businesses like banking and customer support. The hosting companies are really doing a lot of work for free so that not only their main client (the merchant) can do business, but also several other companies can make their money. This is fine, but what if you are a hosting company that sets up E-commerce websites for businesses every day only to send them packing off to a search engine to find credit card processing or can’t even answer the question?

Merchant service providers, processors and banks see the forest for the trees in that website hosting companies can be a great referral and affiliate source for them in ultimately obtaining new business. Why give the business away when you can refer it to a paying partner? Processors that deal with multiple banks naturally are able to achieve superior results through excellent rates, custom tailored processing solutions and services that customers may not have thought were available through their current or even any bank or processor. Processors are able to pay commissions to web hosting companies for the leads, and with website optimization becoming increasingly difficult; these fees often prove to be a more calculated expense with a higher rate of return than the processor or merchant service provider climbing the ladder to the first page of a search engine. Merchant service providers interact with several processors, who in turn interact with a number of banks. Likewise banks and merchant service providers foster relationships where the processor is the last piece of the puzzle when the deal comes together. As there are a number of scenarios, any one of these ultimately benefits merchants and the web hosting company that brought them to a processor or merchant service provider first. Merchant service providers typically are on the front line in the credit card processing battle. They deal with new customers every day and are able to gauge the ultimate success of the processing relationship and in turn match them with a processor and/ or bank that will foster the most seamless, quick and least cost intensive credit card processing solution for their customers. For web hosting companies flat rate referrals are only the beginning; high volume, high dollar merchants referred to merchant service providers often rate a percentage commission which can add up quickly. There are a lot of variables when it comes to these relationships, and for web hosting companies, researching the right merchant service provider will improve your customer relations and offer you a niche’ in the market.

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

April 20 2008

Merchant Accounts for Stone and Topsoil Companies

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The topsoil and stone business is more or less a necessity driven industry that is becoming harder and harder every day to maintain and for businesses to stay competitive. The reason behind the pinch is the increasing cost of fuel. The stone industry is separated into three categories, quarries, gravel pits and recyclables.

Quarries typically use measured and strategically placed charges to blast stone into workable sized pieces. Then the stone is either loaded into trucks and hauled to a stationary processing plant that crushes, screens and sometimes washes the stone with high pressure watering systems to clean off sand and fines. The end products are uniformly sized materials that are used for roads, parking lots, driveways and in the building process. The materials that quarries and gravel pits make are used to make concrete and asphalt, both of which are used to build the roads we drive, walk on, run on and bicycle on every day.

Gravel pits are similar to quarries in that the processes for crushing, screening and washing the products is much the same. To harvest the stone from a gravel pit doesn’t necessitate the use of explosives as the material can be excavated with heavy equipment due to the fact that gravel is a mixture of sand and natural stone that lays beneath most of the worlds geography that ledge stone (which is quarry rock) does not inhabit. Various regions of the world are known for different types of rocks; some are hard, some are soft and some are very abrasive.

As both quarries and gravel pits typically use off-road dump trucks to transport the feed product to the stationary plants, some operations are turning to mobile equipment to bring the plant to the pile. Today, with the cost of fuel being so high, eliminating machinery and manpower and maintenance is a much needed cost saving measure. What is happening is as the face of a quarry or gravel pit moves back, the machinery moves with it. This not only eliminated the costly haul trucks, but it increases cycle times as the material doesn’t have to travel long distances to the plant.

Recyclable stone products are typically concrete and asphalt that are the products of the demolition and road rebuilding process. In the past, these materials were hauled to landfills and buried; today, savvy contractors are purchasing and renting mobile rock crushers much like the ones used in quarries, to crush down their jobsite waste to be used back on that jobsite or sold to other contractors in that area. This can work well for other contractors as a quarry or gravel pit may be a far drive and the fuel costs for getting a product to them may be too expensive.

Topsoil companies or organics producers either purchase raw workable topsoil and other products that can be turned into topsoil, mulches for landscaping and highly enriched garden and potting materials. Many of these companies use their own trucks to deliver their products to customers, while others travel to jobsites to turn an unusable and unsalable material into a salable commodity.

Both the stone and topsoil industries are really feeling the pinch of high fuel prices and a soft economy. Increases in products make up for some of it to offset these circumstances, but to remain competitive, even more cost saving measures need to be implemented. As these businesses typically accept credit cards, many of the transactions are done over the telephone and a receipt is either printed to be signed by the customer on delivery, or an invoice is sent out. In most cases, the transactions are classified by banks as “Card not Present Transactions” and these businesses are placed in a high risk category without even knowing about it. Merchant service providers have a lot to offer these merchants in the stone and topsoil industry. They’re used to dealing with business owners that mainly run card not present transactions and they often deal with high volume high batch submissions. What they can offer are competitive rates, custom tailored services to various industries and low fees. Contact a merchant service provider today to find out more.

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

April 20 2008

Should I Have an ACH Account?

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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.