Credit Card Processing

What do I have to do to offer merchants credit card processing?

First you will need to help the merchant establish a merchant account with Merchant Service Center. This account is used for the settlement of credit card transactions processed by their company.

The funds derived from the merchant account will need to be deposited into a checking account belonging to any bank of your merchant's choice.

In order to establish an account you will need to obtain the following information:

• A business checking account or a personal account if you are a sole proprietorship
• A copy of a voided check
• Articles of incorporation, business license or reseller license
• A web site (if you are Internet based) or a retail storefront
• Provide 2 trade references
• A photocopy of your driver's license

You can then submit the application either online via our Auto-Approval system or on using the physical application and faxing, mailing, or emailing it into our processing department.

What charges are assessed to a merchant by accepting Credit Cards?

There are many fees to consider based on the type of business and volume of business they do. Many of the fees associated with credit cards are fairly standard in every business. Here is a small sample of the type of charges you will have the ability to offer:

Discount Rate:

The amount charged to a merchant for processing daily credit card transactions.

Transaction Fee:

A fee charged by a merchant account provider for each credit card transaction completed.

Chargeback Fee:

A credit card transaction that is billed back to the merchant after the sale has been settled. Chargebacks are initiated by the card issuer on behalf of the cardholder. Typical cardholder disputes involve product delivery failure or product/service dissatisfaction. Cardholders are urged to try to obtain satisfaction from the merchant before disputing the bill with the credit card issuer.

Non-Qualified Surcharge:

This surcharge applies to business and corporate cards as well as other downgrades, such as manual entry sales that do not pass Address Verification. A merchant's failure to batch out their point-of-sale device within the allotted 24-hour period can also cause additional processing fees to be assessed. When accepting credit cards, it is important to understand this fee. Please contact an agent support representative for more information.

Voice Authorization Fee:

This fee is charged only if a merchant calls in a credit card sale using our voice automated system. For instance, a merchant needs to accept credit cards off-site and does not have access to their point-of-sale device. The merchant can then call our 800 number to process the credit card transaction.

FIVE Great ways your merchants can accept credit cards in their business

1) Terminals:

Choose Your Terminal!

Merchant Service Center offers a wide variety of POS Terminals for businesses. The main two terminal type connections are POS and Wireless. By using these types of terminals merchants reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions since the customer's card is on location. Typically these terminals are used for swipe transactions. However, keyed transactions can also be submitted through these terminals. Read below for more details on each type of terminal.

POS Terminals

Point of Sale Terminals are the preferred way of processing credit cards, debit cards, checks, smart chip cards, electronic benefits transfer (EBT), and other electronically submitted transactions in a traditional retail environment. The terminals are used in "face-to-face" transactions. The merchant will swipe the customer's card through the terminal or key-in payment information and the terminal does the rest. These terminals usually connect to Merchant Service Center by using dial-up or an Ethernet connection.

Wireless Terminals

Wireless credit card processing increases sales, saves time, and reduces operating expenses. Here are just a few of the many benefits of using wireless:

• Wireless is small, lightweight, and portable. Can carry in your pocket!
• Can accept cards where it previously was impossible (in a parking lot, outside a sports event, etc.)
• No second phone line needed and no need to rent phone lines at tradeshows
• By swiping credit cards you get lower rates. This one feature alone can save you hundreds of dollars per month
• Reduces risk. Swiping reduces chance of fraudulent or a stolen card being used
• Increased security. Wireless processing reduces the amount of cash you and your staff handle

We offer a variety of wireless credit card processing solutions. This allows merchants to accept credit card transactions wherever they are, whenever they need it - without depending on the availability of phone lines.

2) Web Based Software

3) Secure Gateway

4) PC Software

5) Pay-By-Phone

MSC Value added products

MSC Shopping Cart

When merchants use Merchant Service Center's Shopping Cart on their website, their customers can purchase multiple items with a single payment, browse the merchant's entire selection, and view a consolidated list of all their items before purchasing. The MSC Shopping Cart is a low-cost way for a merchant to accept credit card and check card payments and can be fully integrated with their website in a few easy steps. The MSC Shopping Cart can be used in conjunction with the MSC Quickbooks Solution, too! This allows our merchants to accurately and easily track inventory in REAL TIME. Merchants can advance their company's productivity with this easy-to-implement shopping cart and improve their buyer's overall experience as well as your bottom line!

Start Offering Credit Card Processing NOW!

Call us at 1.800.747.1240. We will guide you through every step in the process and begin to show you how exceptional our Agent Support Representatives are.