In opening a merchant account you will come across certain fees that you need to pay on one-time, monthly, annual, and per transaction basis. These are application fee, setup fee, payment gateway fee, monthly statement fee, monthly minimum fee, discount rate, transaction fee, address verification service (AVS) fee, voice authorization fee, charge-back fee, annual fee, and termination fee.
If you want to accept credit cards and other electronic payment forms to increase your sales and profits, you need to open a merchant account. Applying for this type of account involves fees and charges in exchange for the service that merchant account providers give you. Although these costs vary among different providers, here are the common fees you encounter:
Application fee
As the name obviously states, this fee is asked for by the provider when you apply for a merchant account. A percentage of this fee and some other fees may go to the referrer, when applicable, as commission promised in a company’s merchant account affiliate program. Due to heavy competition among providers, most companies do not anymore charge application fees.
Setup fee
This is the initial cost that is asked by certain providers when your account is being set up. Just like the application key, setup fee is now usually very cheap or free for merchants.
Payment gateway fee
To make their package more attractive and less hassle for clients, some merchant account providers tie up with other companies needed by a business to accept credit card payments. An example is payment gateway facility providers. For online businesses, you make use of the payment gateway facility to approve and process credit card transactions over the Internet. If your payment gateway facility is part of your merchant account setup package, applicable fees will be charged by your merchant account provider. On the other hand, if it is separately acquired, fees will be charged directly by your gateway service provider.
Monthly statement fee
This fee is for the processing and preparation of monthly statements. It is fixed regardless of the number of credit card transactions you make in a month.
Monthly minimum fee
Merchant account providers set this minimum or floor amount for the total fees you need to pay monthly. For example, the monthly minimum fee is $30. If all your monthly processing fees, including gateway fee, statement fee, and more, sum up to $25 only, you need to pay additional $5 to reach the monthly minimum fee. If on the other hand your total monthly fee is $35, you do not need to pay additional fee.
Discount rate
This fee can be computed as a percentage of each approved credit card transaction. Usually rates are more expensive for online merchant accounts than retail, due to higher risk and more processes involved.
Transaction fee
Whether a credit card transaction has been approved or declined, merchant account providers charge you this fee for all transactions made. For the same reason as discount rate, transaction fees are higher for online merchants than retail merchants.
Address Verification Service (AVS) fee
Address verification services or AVS is when a credit card transaction is verified using your purchaser’s credit card number and mailing address. This will help you prevent fraudulent purchases when a credit card is not swiped as in a Mail Order or Telephone Order (MOTO), mobile, and online transactions. Because the amount charged is very minimal, some providers include AVS fee in the discount rate or transaction fee.
Voice authorization fee
In rare cases when your software or Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal is not functioning, you can still process credit card transactions by calling a toll-free number given by your merchant account provider to complete the transaction. The voice authorization fee charged to you will be computed per transaction.
Chargeback fee
Chargeback fee applies when a transaction is reversed and funds are returned to your client for some reason, such as wrong product or service delivered or someone else deceptively used the credit card. You should be able to receive a notification regarding the argument and should respond to it. Chargeback fees charged to you are for the handling of the dispute as well the additional process of returning funds to your clients.
Annual fee
Some providers charge annual fees to their merchant account holders. This is especially applicable with providers that have membership programs offering lower monthly fees, lower transaction fees, and other privileges.
Termination fee
Termination fee is a charge you need to pay when you decide to cancel your merchant account before your contract ends. This is usually fixed regardless of the number of months you have had business with your merchant account provider. This cancellation fee helps your provider recover the losses they might incur with the high initial costs for setting up a merchant account, which are given to you for free or at very low cost.
Aside from these fees, there are also other very minimal costs that merchant account providers require from you during the entire contract, such as daily batch fee and pin debit transactions for POS debit card transactions. Before you apply for a merchant account with a certain provider, always make sure that you know what fees will be charged to you for the specific services they offer at any given time within your contract. Make sure there are no hidden fees that come out after your application has been approved. Make sure you also know and understand what each fee means. There might be some fees that serve the same purpose but are listed separately by the provider to earn more profit from you.
A good way to choose the best merchant account provider is to compare providers with regards to services and fees, as well as customer credibility.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Euro May Fall to $1.25 by June Says Gray of Travelex
March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Anthony Gray, head of risk solutions at Travelex in Sydney, talks with Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin about his forecast for the euro and U.S. dollar. Gray also discusses the outlook for the Australian and Canadian dollars, and Federal Reserve and People's Bank of China monetary policies. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. Stocks Advance on Upgrades, Gains Trimmed on Korea
U.S. Stocks Advance on Upgrades, Gains Trimmed on Korea
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Courtney Donohoe reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks rose on analyst upgrades, takeover speculation and a European plan to help Greece avoid default before erasing most of the gain amid concern tension was escalating between North and South Korea. Bloomberg contributor Keith McCullough also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bob Chapman : Credit Crisis, Outrage, Far From Over
Bob Chapman
March 27 2010
Bernanke re-nominated, outrage at banks, insolvency the real state of banks, crime pays when you are at the top, sovereign debt crisis around the world, debt and derivatives products were all just a ponzi scheme, the problem wont go a way when the system is purged, PIMCO Bill Gross warns of inflation, big cutbacks in services...
The re-nomination of Ben Bernanke, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has to be one of the ultimate political insults, particularly coming from Republicans, as did his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, both have taken America and the world down the sewer. Ben Bernanke saved Wall Street, the banks, insurance companies and a myriad of other Illuminist firms.
This is the same Ben who refused to release records to uncover where $2 trillion had gone in the loan program that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This is an appellate defeat for the Fed. We would expect they will next appeal to the Supreme Court. This is important to the Fed, because a loss would not only expose which institutions were insolvent, US and foreign, but it would expose what collateral was accepted for these so-called loans, and have they been paid back?
The Fed and American and foreign bankers gambled and lost, so it was up to American taxpayers to bail them out. Needless to say, these actions were outrageous. The Fed not only had no authority to do what they did, but they did, but they also suborned perjury. We wonder how the Appeals Court missed that? The Fed has buried our country in debt, allowed unbelievable leverage and absolutely refuses to tell us what they are up too. Except for a few in Senate and House hearings, questioning is a total farce. The Fed has done as it pleases for 97 years and that has to stop. We cannot allow Ben Bernanke to lie before Congress and get away with it either. We also cannot allow any corporation or financial institution to keep two sets of books and not mark their investment to market.
Read entire article
March 27 2010
Bernanke re-nominated, outrage at banks, insolvency the real state of banks, crime pays when you are at the top, sovereign debt crisis around the world, debt and derivatives products were all just a ponzi scheme, the problem wont go a way when the system is purged, PIMCO Bill Gross warns of inflation, big cutbacks in services...
The re-nomination of Ben Bernanke, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has to be one of the ultimate political insults, particularly coming from Republicans, as did his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, both have taken America and the world down the sewer. Ben Bernanke saved Wall Street, the banks, insurance companies and a myriad of other Illuminist firms.
This is the same Ben who refused to release records to uncover where $2 trillion had gone in the loan program that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This is an appellate defeat for the Fed. We would expect they will next appeal to the Supreme Court. This is important to the Fed, because a loss would not only expose which institutions were insolvent, US and foreign, but it would expose what collateral was accepted for these so-called loans, and have they been paid back?
The Fed and American and foreign bankers gambled and lost, so it was up to American taxpayers to bail them out. Needless to say, these actions were outrageous. The Fed not only had no authority to do what they did, but they did, but they also suborned perjury. We wonder how the Appeals Court missed that? The Fed has buried our country in debt, allowed unbelievable leverage and absolutely refuses to tell us what they are up too. Except for a few in Senate and House hearings, questioning is a total farce. The Fed has done as it pleases for 97 years and that has to stop. We cannot allow Ben Bernanke to lie before Congress and get away with it either. We also cannot allow any corporation or financial institution to keep two sets of books and not mark their investment to market.
Read entire article
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