Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Wave of UFOs Sightings Above Lake Erie

A strange light over Lake Erie has Cleveland residents nervously eyeing the sky.

For more than a week, a mysterious pulsating light has been appearing nightly over Lake Erie east of downtown Cleveland — showing up at approximately 7:30 pm and zipping around in the darkness for about two hours before disappearing — reports MSNBC. Captured on film from various angles, it's now drawing nightly crowds at the lakefront. While Nick Pope, former chief UFO investigator at the British defense ministry, calls it a "significant sighting," some of the UFO's fans do not exactly inspire faith: "I have absolutely no expertise in this field, but I can guarantee you that it is not human!" says Eugene Erlich, a local college student who has been videotaping the lights.
March 13 2010: Msnbc's Alex Witt talks to a man who claims that a UFO has been spotted in Cleveland for ten straight nights. Wave of UFO Sightings over Cleveland (March 2010)-
An Ohio man claims he spotted a UFO over Lake Erie and he captured video of it. WJW's Mark Zinni reports.
Fox news reports on the wave of nightly UFO sightings over Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio USA.

Costs of a Merchant Payment Setup and a PayPal Setup for Average Websites

Costs of a Merchant Payment Setup and a PayPal Setup for Average Websites

The cost of an average website with merchant payment setup and PayPal setup will range from $50 up to $250 conditional on the expectations that you need to meet.

First timers in the online business department who would wish to setup a merchant account and PayPal on his website would probably be tiring and mind-numbing. What follows is a guide to be familiar with the process and especially the payment processing. So before acquiring a merchant account and PayPal for your e-business, get to learn how much money is to be left aside for these.

Merchant account and its cost

A merchant account is utilized by most online business stores to widen their capacity to receive payment through debit and credit card transactions. This is made possible through creating a payment gateway which serves as the storage space for credit card information and data needed when collecting such charges and payments from customers. These fees will then be credited to your merchant account. Merchant accounts could be free of charge when it only offers the basic services.

Certain merchant accounts are free of charge but then again, there are others which have cutting-edge and more professional features that range from $100 to $200 setup cost. It only takes a week of waiting for the approval after enrolling your e-biz and processing period when you set up for a free merchant account. After which, you can now format the recently acquired merchant account to your website and attach your payment gateway for the credit card processing. This is a fine method of tracking payment transactions for it directly debits from your client’s account and credits that expenditure to your merchant account. It only requires the personal data and information from your customer’s credit card and right after that, it is validated and then redirected to the monetary establishment or to the bank.

PayPal and its cost

PayPal is one of the leading Internet businesses that cater to permitting transactions and money transfers made via the World Wide Web. It is an automated substitute to customary paper methods, that is to say, checks and money orders. This payment processing system is manageable even to the first-timers in online buying and selling. PayPal is an exceptional tool intended for credit card processing since it is trustworthy and has a clean and thriving name in the industry. One thing that makes it so well-liked and accepted because of the fact that their online processor is compatible to e-commerce of all varieties.

Its normal asking price is about $50 for the overall arrangement and 1.5% per transaction charge. PayPal occasionally holds promos where you can get excellent discounts and maybe by the stroke of luck, you can acquire their services free of charge providing that you are a prospective user of PayPal.

Setting up a merchant account and PayPal for your average-class Internet business is one way of excelling in your chosen field of enterprise. In connection with that, being aware of the expected fees to be paid is a notable way to get started.

3 Simple Stages Involved in Credit Card Transactions Making It More Convenient and Profitable to Do Business

When your customer purchases something from your store using a credit card, the information and money involved follows a certain process technically called an interchange. It consists of three basic stages including verification and authorization; reporting, settlement, and billing; and funding. It also involves another process in case a chargeback is claimed.

Credit card payment process sure does sound complicated, especially with the different parties involved and the different channels consumers can make use of to pay using their credit cards. The process is technically the same, varying only during verification and authorization process as different terminals are used to do this, such as point-of-sale (POS) or virtual terminal. Here are the stages by which credit payments go through from the moment a purchase has been made to the moment funds are sent as payment to your merchant account:

Verification and authorization

This is the first step in credit card transaction by which your client or the cardholder decides to make a purchase using his credit card. In retail stores, a client's credit card is swiped on the point-of-sale (POS) terminal, while online stores use virtual terminals wherein confidential credit card information are inputted by a client through a secure website. Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) and mobile credit card transactions may be done either by installing a POS terminal on the merchant's computer or using a virtual terminal. The card information is then transmitted to the credit card processor, who in turn relays it for verification to card issuing companies like HSBC, Capital One, and Citi Cards through credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard. Once information and amount have been verified, the transaction, whether rejected or approved, is reverted to the credit card processor, who also gives response to you about the authorization of the transaction. Once approved, the POS terminal will generate charge slips, which need to be signed by the cardholder. The client keeps the customer copy, while you keep the merchant copy and retain the bank copy if there is any. For virtual terminals, a notice will appear on the customer's screen that the transaction has been completed, as well as the corresponding reference number. A record of approved transactions will also be automatically recorded in your integrated system. This stage in credit card transaction, regardless of the terminal used, is done almost instantly, making it very convenient for you and your customers.

Reporting, settlement, and billing

So how do you collect from your clients? First of all, you do not directly collect from your customers. What happens is that you generate a report of your daily credit card transactions in a batch and send it to your credit card processor. Otherwise known as batching, this report is usually done at the end of the day. Your credit card processor forwards the batch to the credit card network, who collects the funds from card issuing companies. These issuing companies are the ones who collect payments from your customers through the monthly statements of account they generate. The credit card processor then receives payments usually the next banking day.

Funding

Once funds are already credited or paid to your credit card processors, you are now ready receive the payment in the merchant account you opened. The amount you will receive is usually net of the discount rate, which you pay your processor for every credit card transaction processed. Other fees are deducted either annually or monthly from your merchant account. Do care to know about the costs involved and the payment scheme before entering into a contract with a credit card processor. In as fast as two to three days, you are now now ready to use the funds from your credit cards sales.

These three are the basic stages that a credit card transaction normally goes through. However, you also need to know that a further process also applies as to handling chargebacks. A chargeback occurs when a customer who has been billed or has already paid for his purchase disputes the transaction made. One of the most common reasons for such dispute is that the customer is dissatisfied of your product or service. There is also a possibility that the product he received was not the one described or he has not received any item at all. Here's how it goes:

  • First, the customer formally makes a complaint to his credit card issuer. If the issuer finds it invalid, the complaint will be declined; otherwise a provisionary refund will be given to the customer.

  • If the refund is granted, the issuer then claims credit from your credit card processor who in turn relays the complaint to you through a mail notification.

  • Your processor deducts applicable amount from your merchant account, including chargeback fees.

  • If you find the dispute untrue, you may send a rebuttal together with supporting documents and send it to your credit card processor. Normally, you are given at least ten days from receipt notification to respond to such chargebacks. If you find the dispute valid, there is no need for a rebuttal.

  • If your credit card processor finds your rebuttal valid, it will forward your response to the credit card issuing company and reclaims the funds for you.

  • The credit card issuing company will then refund the amount and lets the customer repay for the transaction.

  • The amount will then be credited back to your merchant account.


Knowing the process by which every credit card transaction goes through is important for you understand how client information as well as funds are coursed through. In cases problems arise, you would know who to address your concerns to. It will also help you understand the nature of some costs that go with credit card processing. Finally, it will help you realize how the ease and security of the payment process can help make doing business more convenient for you and your customers, resulting to a more profitable business.
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