Questions
to ask the perspective provider before
committing. Each question is followed by a
comment to assist you in determining a
"satisfactory" answer.
Q:
Are there any application fees?
C: There should be none although some
providers charge up to $500.
Q:
Are there any installation or programming
fees?
C: There should be none although some
providers charge up to $100.
Q:
Are there any statement fees?
C: There should be none, although some banks
charge a monthly statement fee of up to
$10/month.
Q:
Is there a minimum account billing?
C: There should be none, although some banks
charge a monthly fee of up to $50 for accounts
that do not meet the minimum.
Q:
Is there a chargeback fee?
C: A chargeback occurs when a bankcard
customer has their account credited for a
prior purchase (i.e., merchandise returned
under a guarantee). There should be no fees to
you for this although some providers charge up
to $10.
Q:
Is there a voice authorization fee?
C: A voice authorization is utilized when your
terminal or software is not available. The
provider usually has a toll-free number to use
for this purpose. There should be no charge
but some will charge up to $1/call.
Q:
What are the transaction fees?
C: These fees are in addition to the discount
rate charge on each transaction. They can vary
depending on the form of the transaction and
in general bankcard numbers taken over the
telephone are slightly more expensive. A fair
fee is 20-cents per transaction.
Q:
Is there a bank setup fee?
C: This is typical of a fee you will not find
out about until the 11th hour unless you ask.
There should be no setup fee but some banks
charge up to $50.
Q:
Is there a daily close-out fee?
C: You will normally "close-out"
your transactions at the end of each business
day. This is done by a simple transmittal to
the provider via your software or terminal.
There should be no fees associated with this.
Q:
When is customer support available? Toll-free
number?
C: Support should be available to you via a
toll-free number during normal business hours.
Q:
Is a reserve account required?
C: Some banks will require that you maintain a
reserve account whose amount is determined by
your estimated sales receipts. You should not
deal with a bank that requires this reserve.
Q:
When will funds be available?
C: That is, what is the time delay between a
transaction and when the money is available in
the bank? It should not be longer than 3-days.
Q:
Is money deposited in my own local bank?
C: In some cases, the provider's bank will
require that funds be placed in their bank,
and not yours. If this is the case, you simply
move funds from their bank to yours a few
times a month.
Q:
What is the equipment warranty and what
assistance is available if the terminal
becomes defective?
C: Warranty should be at least a year and if
you are leasing, as long as the lease. A
'loaner' should be available if your terminal
requires repair. (Note: We strongly recommend
you do not lease. We didn't find a single
supplier who had lease terms we felt were
acceptable.)
Q:
What credit cards can be processed?
C: Visa and Mastercard are usually processed.
You can easily add Discover at no cost but
there are additional fees associated with
American Express.
Q:
Is a manual imprinter available?
C: This should be included at no charge.
All
the fees are negotiable. As a mail order
business you may not have much clout with
which to bargain, but the right provider will
charge few, if any of these fees. The only
charges you should incur are the normal
transaction fees and cost of equipment or
software.
Brought
to you by: World Wide Information Outlet -