It is the time of year when businesses start getting busy. Right before Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping rush begins. This includes both traditional retailers and online commerce as well. Do not let Christmas sneak up on you without ensuring that your business can handle the shopping increase.

What can you do to make sure you can handle increased credit card processing during the busy Christmas season? Do not forget to have your technology running as smoothly as possible. Make sure you can handle a big increase in traffic on your web site. If the customer orders do not make it through because you have not accounted for increased traffic, you will have a headache on your hands.

Make sure you have everything in stock. Because ecommerce sites can see an increase of up to 30% in their orders during the holiday shopping rush, your stock can drop dramatically. Remember that many shoppers wait until the last minute to do their shopping – even online! So be sure to cater to them as well as the early shoppers.

Make sure your web site is in tiptop shape. Can customers find stuff easily and quickly? It is important that they can, as many will be in a hurry when shopping. Make sure your order page works properly as you will see increased credit card processing. Also, make sure the search engine is working properly so customers can find things without difficulty. If you offer items such as DVD players, be sure to list DVD links on that page. Cross referencing items can lead to increased credit card processing. As for the page itself, using a festive design to celebrate the holidays can help bring in customers. The visual design of the page is not to be underestimated.

Finally, remember to thank your regular customers with a holiday card. It sounds a bit like a gimmick, but something as simple as this can bring them back in for more orders.

Labels: credit card processing, online shopping, online store security, preparing for the shopping rush

VerePay Technologies offers a secure browser based payment processing gateway for business merchants online. The virtual terminal acts as your POS (Point of Sale) terminal which replaces the credit card swipe machine.


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Labels: credit card processing, virtual terminal, virtual terminal transacations, virtual terminals

These fees are charged per single transaction, and are used to pay the credit card companies for their services. In most cases, these transaction rates are less expensive for the retail stores than they are for the internet stores. This is because internet business poses a higher risk, so the credit card processing transaction fees are typically higher in order to cover that risk. A transaction fee usually consists of a discount rate, which is a percentage of each transaction (usually ranging from 2.10% to 2.40%), as well as a per transaction fee. This fee is usually anywhere from $.25 to $.40 per transaction. All of these fees will be shown on the merchant’s monthly statement so they will be able to see and track their charges each month. While it may seem like this is a high price to pay, it is absolutely worth it for merchants to be able to easily accept credit cards as payment.

Get a free credit card processing rate analysis.

Labels: credit card processing, credit card processing fees, credit card transaction fees, credit card transactions, transaction fees

Visa® and MasterCard are both credit card companies that are governed by the rules and regulations of the banks unlike AMEX and Discover card, which are both privately owned credit card companies. Merchants must obtain a merchant account in order to accept these cards as payment. With this account there are several fees, including credit card processing statement fees, and credit card processing transaction fees. The statement fee is usually charged every month. This fee is exactly what it sounds like, a fee that is charged to cover the cost of maintaining and sending all merchants a statement each month of their transactions and charges. In most cases, the merchant service provider charges around $10 to $15 each month for credit card processing statement fees.

Labels: card transactions, credit card processing, credit card processing fees, credit card processor, credit card processors, credit card transaction fees, statement fees, transaction fees

For example, with American Express, the card itself has a 4 digit number above the credit card number to manually add before credit cards are processed. Using Visa, MasterCard or Discover? There is a 3 digit number that will need to be manually entered as well, ensuring that the credit card is real.

Some information to keep in mind about online credit card processors like PayPal and other companies is they have higher processing fees than most Credit Card Processors because they have a set amount per charge per processing fee, unlike Credit Card Processors that can some times negotiate the processing fees.

Most important to the merchant, make sure you research whom you are going through. There are a lot of flashing advertisements out there quoting a specific amount for processing. Make sure it is true. Most of those are for companies that have a very large processing amount. Or process a lot of cards. Protect your self and at the same time that will ensure security to the consumers that want to purchase the goods and services your company provides.

Request more information to start accepting credit cards today!

Labels: credit card processing, credit card processors, merchants, paypal, processing fees

For the merchant, having a credit card processor that will work with them whether they are mail order, online, wholesale or retail is very important. Being able to accept all major credit cards also depends on which credit card processor the merchant goes through. Not all processors provide services that can provide all major credit cards. Some do strictly Visa and MasterCard, and there are quite a few small businesses that use American Express for the small business benefits that card offers.

One of the most important requirements that a merchant wants with their credit card processor is a peace of mind when it comes to safety in their processing. By insuring a safe credit card processor to reduce the risk of fraudulent charges and also the risk of having their customer’s credit card numbers and information stolen due to the lack of security with a credit card processor, some things to look for are: Does the credit card processor use companies like Scan Alert or other types of PCI Compliant security scanning tools? Those companies use other Hacker Safe programs to ensure their software is not being compromised as well. That is one if the first steps to ensure safety in credit card processing.

Labels: accept credit cards today, accepting credit cards online, credit card processing

In this day and age most major stores you go into accepts credit cards. Many consumers today have ceased carrying cash. For most businesses it is almost imperitive that you accept credit cards in order to compete. In the past there was a stigma about how expensive it was for merchants to accept credit cards. However, if you are set up with the correct type of merchant account the cost associated with it is not really expensive. If you are able to save each sale that you have lost from not accepting credit cards, or from accepting a check against your better judgement your overall revenue would increase.

Some merchants have accepted credit cards in the past and felt that they paid way too many hidden costs. The best way to avoid this is to research the company that you are going to get a merchant account with. Make sure that you know how credit card processing works and why there are different fees. Do not be afraid to ask questions.

Examples of good questions to ask:

• How long will it take to get approved?
• How many days will it take to get paid for credit card transactions?
• How long is the contract, if any? If so how much is the cancellation fee?
• How do I get a machine (terminal) or website?
• Is there an annual fee?
• What happens to my merchant account if I close my business?

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Labels: accept credit cards today, credit card payments, credit card processing, online payment processing, virtual terminal transacations