Small companies in the U.S. are missing an estimated $100 billion in lost sales each year, the survey shows. Just because they don’t accept credit cards.

Intuit estimates that each business not accepting plastic loses approximately $7,000 in sales per year, or more than $100 billion in collective lost revenue. This missed opportunity represents a combination of new sales and sales that go to other companies that do accept credit cards.

Accepting credit cards helps cash-flow, Intuit said. Small businesses that accept plastic make more sales and get paid quicker than those that don’t.

The survey also found that 83 percent of small companies that accept credit cards make more sales, 52 percent make at least $1,000 more per month, and 18 percent make over $20,000 more per month. On top of all that, 74 percent of those surveyed said they get paid faster and reduce bad debt by accepting credit cards.

To find out how to get set up fast with your own merchant account, visit; Total Merchant Services

or call 727-787-0026

By Paul Rhodes, CEO
South East Sales Division of Total Merchant Services
Paul Rhodes has over 20 years experience in the bankcard industry and has helped several Fortune 500 companies in recruiting and training National Sales Forces. Since teaming with Total Merchant Services, he has helped Thousands of merchants Nationwide in securing highly competitive credit card processing services.

According to a study done last February, online shopping grew another 15% to $186 Billion in 2012. The study, conducted by ComScore, a leader in data analysis, was paid for by United Parcel Service Inc. to improve its huge delivery service.

Online sales grew seven times that of in-store sales last year in the U.S. Seventy percent of more than 3,000 online shoppers surveyed said they preferred to shop their favorite retailer online. Half of smartphone owners in the group and about 60% of tablet owners use those mobile devices to make purchases.

Many of the findings in this study show us ways in which the shipping and delivery for online stores can be used to boost sales. Online shoppers want more choices, according to the survey, like factors related to shipping and delivery. Giving shoppers options like delivery times and store pickups or returns can improve customer satisfaction.

Other new findings include:

• Shoppers increasingly want retailers to allow them to combine online and brick and mortar browsing, shopping, ordering and returning in whatever combo they would like.
• 62% said they are more likely to choose to shop with a retailer that allows them to buy an item online and return it to a store.
• 44% said the opposite – that they are more likely to buy online if they can pick up at the store.
• While this saves them shipping costs, it is good for retailers; 38% buy extra items while in the store, according to the survey.

If you are not already selling products online, you may be missing out on a large share of your market. To find out more about this, contact Total Merchant Services at; 727-787-0026

All merchant accounts come with various fees that can be rather confusing. This article will go over all of the common ones and what they mean to you.

Authorization fee
An Authorization fee is actually an authorization request fee. It is charged each time a transaction is sent to the card-issuing bank to be authorized. The fee applies whether or not the request is approved. Note this is not the same as Transaction fee.

Transaction fee
The Transaction fee is charged when you accept your authorization. This fee only applies to an authorization that is accepted without error.

Statement fee
The statement fee is a monthly fee for the monthly statement that is sent to the merchant at the end of each processing cycle. This statement shows how much processing was done by the merchant during the month and what fees were incurred as a result. Many times, the statement fee is not directly linked to “paper” statements but rather general overhead. This means that a provider would not waive this fee if a merchant chose to have a “paperless” statement.

Monthly minimum fee
The monthly minimum fee is a way to ensure that merchants pay a minimum amount in fees each month to cover costs from the provider to maintain the account. If a merchant’s fees do not equal or exceed the monthly minimum they will be charged the difference up to the monthly minimum. Example: A merchant has signed a contract with a $25.00 monthly minimum fee. If all the fees for the most recent month of processing total (CLARITY: this is only for processing costs, so it does not include monthly fees, chargeback fees, etc.) only $15.00, this merchant will be charged an additional $10.00 to meet their monthly minimum requirements. Sometimes there are fees that are charged that are not a part of the monthly minimum, such as statement fees. It is industry standard to charge a monthly minimum, though not all acquirers charge this, nor do all that do charge it for every agreement.

Batch fee
A batch fee (also known as a batch header fee) can be charged to a merchant whenever the merchant “settles” their terminal. Settling a terminal, also known as “batching”, is when a merchant sends their completed transactions for the day to their acquiring bank for payment. Some providers perform this automatically. It is important to close a batch every 24 hours or a higher rate will be assessed by Visa, Discover or Mastercard. The term “batch header” originally came from processing pre-electronic terminal era, when each batch of credit card receipts was turned in to the merchant’s local bank for deposit. The batch header was a mini report summarizing those receipts bundled within.

Customer Service fee
The customer service fee (also known as a maintenance fee) can be charged by some providers to pay for the cost of customer service. Also referred to as a “merchant support fee”, “customer support fee”, or simply, “service fee” by some merchant providers.

Annual fee
The Annual fee can be charged by some providers to pay for costs of maintaining the merchant’s account. Sometimes these fees can be quarterly. The fee can be from $79–$399. (Total Merchant Services has no early termination fees.)

Early Termination fee
The early termination fee can be charged by some providers if the merchant ends the contract before the end of the contract term. While contract terms of 1–3 years are typical, some providers have terms of up to 5 years with a one year prior notice to cancel or the fee will be assessed. Some providers also assess all statement fees and monthly minimums remaining when the contract is terminated. Some providers may also assess a “lost profit” fee based on an assumption of profits they concluded they would have earned during the full term of the contract.  (Total Merchant Services has no annual fees.)

Chargeback fee
The chargeback is the largest risk that is presented to banks and providers. This is not to be confused with a refund, which is simply a merchant refunding a transaction. In the Visa, Discover, and Mastercard rules, the merchant’s processing bank is 100% responsible for all the transactions that the merchant performs. This can leave the provider open to millions of dollars of potential losses if the merchant operates in an illegal or risky manner and generates many chargebacks. The providers pass this cost on to the merchant, but if the merchant is fraudulent or simply does not have the money, the provider must pay all the costs to make the card holder whole. The chargeback risk is the largest part taken into consideration during the contract application and underwriting process. Some banks are much more stringent than others when assessing a merchant’s chargeback risk.

If a merchant encounters a chargeback they may be assessed a fee by their acquiring bank. A potential chargeback is presented on behalf of the card holder’s bank to the merchant’s credit card processing bank. A reason code is established by the card issuer to properly identify the type of potential chargeback based on the card holder’s complaint. The most common complaint is that the card holder can not remember the transaction. Usually, these potential chargebacks are corrected when the merchant’s processing bank sends over more details about the transaction. Some providers charge a fee for this service, known as a “Retrieval Request”. A chargeback can also be related to a fraud or similar dispute that the card holder is claiming to the merchant. This fee can be charged by some providers whether the chargeback is successful or not and is not dependent on the amount of the chargeback.

Currently both Visa and Mastercard require all merchants to maintain no more than 1% of dollar volume processed to be chargebacks. If the percentage goes above, there are fines starting at $5000 – $25,000 to the merchant’s processing bank and ultimately passed on to the merchant.

In all cases, a chargeback will cost the merchant the chargeback fee, typically $15–$30, plus the cost of the transaction and the amount processed.

For more information, or for a free analysis of your current fees -
contact Total Merchant Services 727-787-0026.

Have you ever wondered how it works when you buy something online? Although it seems simple enough, there are actually 9 different steps for each transaction on the web. Here they are:

1. You make online purchase providing your credit card information.
2. A shopping cart program on the web store’s Payment Page sends data to the Transaction Processor.
3. Transaction Processor connects to User’s account and verifies funds and identity.
4. Transaction Processor gets the results back.
5. Transaction Processor sends results to the webpage informing you that purchase is OK’ed or denied.
6. For OK’ed purchases only, Transaction Processor sends payment order to a Settlement Processor.
7. Settlement Processor sends authorization to your bank to pay for the purchase.
8. Your bank sends funds to the Merchant’s bank.
9. The Merchant receives funds and accounting details of the transaction.

In June 2013, Topcreditcardprocessors.com, the independent authority on credit card processing, announced the top 30 companies in PRWeb online news.

Total Merchant Services came in #11 in the nation as among the best credit card processors available.  Each month the best credit card processing companies are put through a meticulous evaluation process in order to determine the best overall services based on their key strengths and competitive advantages.

The 30 Best Credit Card Processors for June 2013 are:

1) Leaders Merchant Services
2) National Bankcard
3) National Processing
4) Electronic Transfer
5) Cornerstone Merchant Services
6) Credit Card Processing Specialists
7) Leap Payments
8) Merchants Bancard, Inc. (MBN)
9) Chase Paymentech
10) Yoozy
11) Total Merchant Services
12) Merchant Warehouse
13) TransFirst
14) A.V.P. Solutions
15) Green By Phone
16) NPC, a Vantiv Company
17) Global Payments, Inc.
18) Harbortouch
19) Heartland Payment Systems, Inc.
20) Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC.
21) PowerPay
22) Eat Commerce Solutions
23) Priority Payment Systems
24) Certified Payment Processing
25) Network Merchants, Inc (NMI)
26) National Transaction Corp
27) CyberSource Corp.
28) Govolution
29) Velocity Merchant Services (VMS)
30) Fiserv, Inc.

Topcreditcardprocessors.com is a research firm dedicated to identifying and ranking the best credit card processors in the United States. These payment service providers are able to provide national services with flexible payment terms and service offerings for your small, medium, or enterprise business.

See the full article at; www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10816377.htm

With so many companies to choose from when setting up a merchant account, it’s confusing. According to the experts, a business owner should shop around and check out any prospective companies to be sure they have a good track record. With this in mind, consider this -

Last year, the ETA (Electronic Transactions Association) voted Total Merchant Services as the “ISO of the Year” (Independent Sales Organization). Here’s the official news release;

Basalt, Col., May 3, 2012 – Total Merchant Services, an industry leader in credit card processing, and electronic payment services, is pleased to announce it has been selected as the 2012 ETA “ISO of the Year.”

This announcement came during the President’s Dinner on April 17th, during the 2012 Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

“Total Merchant Services has been a leader in our industry for the past 16 years by providing exceptional service at fair and transparent prices to both merchants and sales partners. The company has a strong, experienced management team that continues to innovate in many areas of our industry. For these reasons ETA is proud to name Total Merchant Services as the recipient of ETA’s 2012 ISO of the Year Award,” said Pamela Furneaux, interim CEO of the Electronic Transactions Association. Read More.

About Total Merchant Services
Total Merchant Services is a 16 year-old, Colorado-based ISO that offers innovative and cost-effective solutions currently to over 100,000 merchants who accept credit cards for the payment of their goods and services. Recently passing the $9 billion processing milestone, Total Merchant Services is one of the fastest growing credit card merchant account acquirers in the nation and adding over 4,000 new merchants to its roster each month. Its customers include retail storefronts, virtual storefronts, wireless terminal users and mail order/telephone/Internet-based merchants. Total Merchant Services also offers one of the most innovative free terminal programs and one of the most comprehensive compensation programs in the industry today.

For additional information, visit www.total-merchant-accounts.com.

In order to accept a credit card online, you will need a merchant account, where payments are deposited. To get a merchant account, you have two basic choices: you can use a merchant account service and set up your own merchant account, or you can use a third-party provider like PayPal.

The best option for your business depends on your sales volume. In general, businesses with low sales per month will pay less with a third-party provider, because they charge no monthly fees. However, they also have the longest wait times to receive funds. On the other hand, businesses with higher sales volumes will pay less with their own merchant account, since the fees per transaction are usually less than those offered by third party processing companies.

Another advantage of having your own merchant account is that when customers receive their credit card statements, your company’s name will appear beside the purchase. When you work with a third-party provider, the name of that provider will appear on the statement. Customers are less likely to recognize the third-party provider’s name, and often asked for the charge to be removed. This is known as a “charge-back” – an expensive, losing proposition for your business.

Creating a relationship with a merchant account provider also means that your processing limits are generally higher. Many third-party processing companies place a low ceiling on the monthly volume and highest “ticket” (amount of one sale) amount. As your business grows, you should expect a higher volume of sales. Low processing limits can stop you from accepting credit cards over a certain dollar amount and impede your company’s growth and cash flow.

In almost all cases, working through an independent merchant account provider is the best way to get a merchant account and be able to accept credit cards for your business, but this will depend on your specific circumstances.

Accepting Credit Card Payments

Once you have a merchant account, you will now need a way to actually accept the credit card payments. Here, too, you have some choices.

If your business has its own website, then setting up a shopping cart with an Internet gateway is one option. Utilizing a shopping cart, that includes the product catalog and purchasing interface, into your website provides the most convenience for your customers. It also results in fewer lost sales, since customers won’t be redirected to other sites for payment, during which time they may change their mind about their purchase decision.

If your business doesn’t have a website, you still have ways of accepting credit cards. One way is to use a “virtual terminal”, where you use a third-party website and enter your customers’ credit card information for payment authorization. Another way is to use a service like Dial Pay where you use a touch-tone phone to enter the credit card information and get immediate notification of sufficient funds.

Once you have a merchant account set up and a website with a shopping cart for processing payments, you are well on your way to being able to accept credit cards online for your business. Keep in mind that there are companies that specialize in business online merchant accounts that will do everything possible to help you accept credit card payments.

One of the largest, most experienced, and lowest cost companies in this industry is Total Merchant Services. They can usually get businesses setup for free for both in-store card processing terminals and online credit card processing.

For years, this fellow owns a small pizza joint in a small town, and he accepted nothing but cash. His thought was the potential improvement in sales would be offset by the cost and hassle of dealing with the credit card company.

But finally, he gave in and began taking credit cards. His sales have since jumped nearly 25% and all those problems he expected to see never actually happened.

An unexpected benefit of adding this form of payment is that it has increased his company’s credit rating. When he dealt in cash, he had no reason to interact with the credit industry.  He just made deposits at his bank. But now that he accepts credit cards, his business credit profile has greatly improved.

In fact, there are many reasons why you should contact a card credit processing service about accepting credit cards. It’s good for your business and business finances. Here’s why:

The most important reason to add credit cards is that it increases sales. Credit cards are easy and convenient to use, and so it makes sense that offering your customers that ease increases the likelihood that they will spend more. It’s a well established fact that offering customers the ability to pay by credit card increases both the overall sales, and the amount of each purchase.

With the ease of using credit cards, and the fact that they don’t involve the spending of cash, means that consumers are more likely to make that spontaneous, impulse buy.

Accepting credit cards requires that you have a merchant account, and one advantage of that is that the merchant account provider screens the credit card transactions for fraud. Not only does this help ensure proper payment to you, but because you’ll most likely be taking in fewer checks, you should also see a decrease in bad checks.

Also, by accepting credit cards, you will likely decrease the number of past-due accounts.  Since you’ll be able to offer these people the ability to pay by credit card, you won’t need to hear “the check is in the mail,” or “I don’t have it right now.” You’ll be able to answer, “I take credit cards now, so let’s handle it that way.”

Finally, just as people take a business a little more seriously when it has that “Inc” in the name, so too do they like it when they see that a merchant accepts name brand credit cards. Your card credit processing service makes you look more legitimate.

Overall, accepting credit cards saves you time, saves your customers time, increases your sales, and makes sales easier.  The effect on your business and financial situation is significant, by making this one small change.