Merchant Account and Credit Card Processing Advice and Information

‘Whatever the outcome, this battle is bound to benefit consumers and merchants. By providing new and cheaper alternatives to credit cards for buying items online, these and other new online payment services could give buyers more confidence in a wider range of e-commerce sites.

The battle to control your online wallet is about to get a lot bloodier. More than a year after search giant Google was rumored to be preparing an online payment service, GBuy finally looks set to launch in test mode as early as June 28.’

Read more at Google Set To Challenge PayPal

‘An independent consultant has created a new web site offering businesses a free analysis to determine if their credit card processing fees are too high.

“There are a variety of different credit card processing fees, and trying to figure them out is a difficult task for an untrained person,” explained Chris Enders, an independent merchant account consultant. “The merchant account companies purposely make their statements and fees difficult to understand, and that makes it hard for the average person to figure out if they can save money with a different company.”

Enders explained that any company can fax three months of credit card processing statements for a free analysis.’

Read more at New Web Site Offers Free Analysis to Find the Best Rates for Credit Card Merchant Account Processing

‘To an extent, the bank handling your merchant account is in the driver’s seat. For Visa to OK the change you are submitting, there are certain requirements that must be met. Look at the documents - available from Visa’s security Web site - that your bank should have provided to you. For lower level processing volumes, the requirements aren’t too bad. Most of what they are looking for should be a part of your network security procedures.

One thing that may be optional, depending on the volume of transactions, is a periodic scan of your network by a certified third party testing vendor approved by Visa. The more conservative your bank, the more likely they are to require that this be done, even though Visa itself doesn’t require it.,,,’

Read more at Discovering Visa’s security requirements

‘Clarksville-based StormPay.com issued a statement Tuesday night indicating it and another Internet company are working to resolve business disputes.

From New York to Chicago, across the West Coast and down to Atlanta — even to Malaysia and other points overseas, thousands of consumers have complained they could not access their StormPay accounts.

The Better Business Bureau alone has received nearly 19,000 complaints during the past week.

According to the statement, attorneys for LifeClicks — the owner of 12DailyPro.com — and StormPay have been negotiating the dispute.’

Read more at StormPay trying to resolve problem

‘Internet Credit Card Processing requires more security and aggressive fraud controls than retail credit card processing because the credit card cannot be verified by swiping the credit card like with a retail merchant account. For this reason it’s very important to deal with a company that specializes in internet transactions and Internet Merchant Accounts. An Internet Merchant Account does not require a shopper’s signature and has requirements beyond a typical card-not-present or retail merchant account.

Features that maintain security

Prevent Duplicate Transactions - This feature tracks recent transactions to ensure the same transaction is not authorized more than once. This eliminates problems due to “double clicking” the transaction submit button as well as duplicate submittal of batch transactions. Transactions are tracked for duplicates over a one hour time period.’

Read more at Internet credit card processing: aggressive fraud controls

‘A judge has asked Visa and MasterCard to disclose details about their relationship with CardSystems Solutions, the payment processor that was the subject of a high-profile data security breach.

The information, such as contracts between the companies, should help determine whether the credit card companies have responsibility under California law to notify consumers whose personal details were exposed in the CardSystems breach, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said Tuesday during a court hearing here.

Visa, MasterCard, Merrick Bank and CardSystems were sued in June on behalf of California credit card holders and card-accepting merchants. The suit seeks to test a state law that requires consumer notification after personal information stored on computers is lost, stolen or breached.’

Read more at Judge looks for links in credit card case

‘UK mortgage lending and approvals picked up in August, but credit card lending slumped, according to a new survey.

The survey, from the British Bankers Association, indicated that although the housing market is stabilising, consumer spending remains weak.’

Read more at UK mortgages up, credit cards down

‘Four merchant groups have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa USA, MasterCard Inc. and dozens of major banks, saying they colluded to set excessive credit card fees.

The plaintiffs estimate damages “will range in the tens of billions of dollars,” according to the 59-page class-action complaint, filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York.

Bank of America Corp. , Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. , the largest U.S. credit card issuers, are among the more than 40 defendants. MasterCard and Visa already face other retailer lawsuits accusing them of price fixing.’

Read more at Merchants sue Visa, MasterCard, banks

Sitepoint has a good article Reviewing 6 Payment Gateways Reviewed. They write - ‘So you’re starting your own ecommerce Website? Good for you! But you have many decisions to make. Do you write your own shopping cart or use an existing one? Who should be your merchant account provider? Who will deliver your goods? With so many decisions, you hardly have time to sort through all the information you’ll need to know in order to make the best choice for your business.

One of the most important decisions you’ll face is to choose a gateway to handle your credit card payments. The well-known Authorize.net may spring to mind, but is it really the best option for your business? In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at some of the popular gateways and explore the ins and outs of the services they provide….’

‘So, what is the sequence of events when a customer buys something from my online store?

“1. Customer visits your site 2. Customer clicks on a “buy me” button after reviewing sales copy 3. The selection is added to the shopping cart. 4. Once at the ‘checkout’, the customers’ personal and financial details are recorded via a secure form - well, it should be secure anyway :). 5. Details submitted from the form are transmitted to a payment gateway service, which is separate to the cart. The gateway service securely routes the information through the relevant financial networks. 6. If the transaction is successful, the customers’ credit card account is debited and your merchant account is credited. 7. Once all funds have cleared, you are then able to transfer money to your ordinary business checking account.” ‘

Read more at A Beginner’s Guide to Merchant Accounts