Merchant Advocate

Small businesses are falling prey to cybercrime...

Last updated 5 days ago

Find out why in this CNNMoney article…http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/22/smallbusiness/small-business-cybercrime/index.html

Credit Card Processing Statement Messages

Last updated 7 days ago

Are you looking at your statement messages? Every month your credit card processing statement can have from one sentence to a full page of statement messages that range from trying to sell you additional products to vaguely hinting at fee increases that will line your processors pockets and take money from your bottom line. They can be densely written and sometimes seemingly purposefully misleading. We weed through the jargon to see what fees are increasing and whether or not it’s a true hard cost of processing credit cards or a pure profit for your processor. Visit us to learn more at merchantadvocate.com

Are you treating your employees with the respect you expect them to show your customers?

Last updated 12 days ago

article from The New York Times “You’re The Boss” column about the benefits of treating your employees well…http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/yes-you-treat-customers-well-but-how-do-you-treat-employees/?smid=pl-share

Interchange Increases

Last updated 15 days ago

Once or twice a year you may see notices referencing “interchange” increases. When it’s a true Interchange rate change, it’s a direct cost from Mastercard/Visa/Discover passed on to you. For example, in June this year, the NABU fee (Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage Fee) from Mastercard will increase from $0.0185 to $0.0195- if you review this fee on your statement you may notice it is already much higher than that. That’s because your processor is or sales rep has built in a small profit for themselves. It may not amount to a great deal of money each month for you, but consider when that is multiplied by how many merchants they process for… it adds up! This is some of the insider knowledge we use to analyze statements and make sure our merchants are getting pricing that’s as close to cost as possible. For more information visit us at merchantadvocate.com

Equipment traps!

Last updated 19 days ago

If you are leasing a POS system or credit card machine it can end up costing you ten times as much as if you purchased a unit. Leasing equipment can be a big money maker for your processor. Just make sure if you purchase a unit from someone other than your processor that you get one that is approved for use by your processor (some older models are no longer acceptable to process with because they no longer meet requirements). Most processors have a list of approved equipment that can be downloaded from their website or emailed or faxed to you if you call them. If your processing is offering you a "free" system, it usually means they are adding fees to your processing that will, over time, pay them back ten-fold for the unit they are giving you.