Friday, September 9th, 2011 | no comments | B.J. Kharrazi
1. Know your Business Type
Visa/Mastercard use pricing indicators or business types to apply discounts toyour rates. In the beginning, Visa/Mastercard used to charge one rate for everyindustry. Some industries refused to accept credit cards because they thoughtthe rates were to high and cut into too much profit margin. Supermarkets wereone of the biggest holdouts. So, Visa/Mastercard began offering discount ratesto specific industries, card types, and processing methods. This is why there are 440 different rate categories. These discounts paved the way for credit cardacceptance at supermarkets, gas stations and fast food restaurants.
Your business may qualify for one of Visa/Mastercards special programs.For example, if your business has an average transaction of less than $15, youmay qualify for the small ticket program. If you are paying 1.64% + $0.25 pertransaction now, then under the small ticket program you could get your rates aslow as 1.65% + $0.04. Now your processor will probably tack on another sixcents to cover its costs. Still, you would save fifteen cents a transaction or 1.5%on a $10 transaction.
Visa/Mastercard has programs for most industries like restaurant,B2B, MOTO,Quick serve restaurants, Convenience Store, Hotel, Gas Stations, Supermarkets,charities, insurance, utilities, government etc.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 | 2 comments | B.J. Kharrazi
Sources: Bloomberg News & Disinfo.com
Major cellphone carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are beta-testing new features intended to “supplant more than 1 billion plastic cards in American wallets” – by allowing subscribers make credit card buys using their mobile phones!
It’s already happening in Japan, Turkey and the U.K., with cellphones being waved over an in-store reader to consumate purchases. “This is definitely a game-changer,” an analyst told Bloomberg news, saying that already cellphone carriers are “the biggest recurring billers in every market. They are experts at processing payments.” And the concept is already being cheered on by retailers. “We have long argued that real competition is missing from today’s payments market,” one industry spokesperson added.
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 | no comments | B.J. Kharrazi
From American Banker June 24, 2010: With preferences for carrying and using cash continuing to drop, more consumers expect merchants to accept debit or credit cards for payment. But not all merchants do, especially those that lack physical storefronts. Some industry insiders believe mobile-based products might help encourage them to accept electronic payments.
Indeed – Judging from the discussions among peers at recent industry conferences and the spate of mobile-based products and services entering the market, the topic is on the minds of many in the industry as they consider their business plans.
Today, business owners on the go have more options, when it comes to processing credit card transactions, with smart-phone and cell phone credit card processing applications offering the potential for higher sales, faster collections and many fewer bad debts.
