Credit Card Merchant Account



             


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Minimize Your Credit Card Transactions - Process ACH Transactions for Your Business Instead

What types of payments does your business currently accept? You?re probably saying cash, checks and credit cards ? why what else is there? Well have you heard of or though about accepting ACH transactions? If you?re wondering what ACH is and how to do it, continue reading this article and you will learn how processing ACH transactions will save your company time, money and simplify your business.

The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an electronic network for financial transactions. ACH processes large volumes of both credit and debit transactions which are originated in batches. Some of the most popular ACH payments include:

  • Direct Deposit of payroll, Social Security and other government benefits, and tax refunds
  • Direct Payment of consumer bills such as mortgages, loans, utility bills, insurance premiums, and other forms of online bills
  • Business-to-business payments
  • e-checks
  • e-commerce payments
  • Federal, state and local tax payments
Businesses are also increasingly using ACH to collect online payments from their customers, rather than accepting credit or debit cards. Now is the time to think about doing the same for your business. Over the next few years, ACH will become a popular method for businesses to accept payments from customers or make payments to vendors because it is much cheaper than the standard credit card transaction fees. As an example, let?s say you?re currently paying 2.5% and 15 cents per transaction to your credit card processing company. If your average ticket cost is $100, you would pay approximately $2.60 per each sale.

Now let?s say that you?ve implemented ACH for your business and you now accept e-checks and/or direct deposits from your customers. On the same $100 ticket item, you would pay anywhere from 20 ? 50 cents depending on your ACH processing company. That?s a cost savings of $2.10 per sale!

It gets even better than that ? let?s say your average transaction was $1000, surprisingly you would still pay the same 20 ? 50 cent fee. That?s the beauty of ACH - they do not care how large your transactions are.

You can also easily make payments to your vendors using your ACH solution. Simply add your vendors bank account/routing number, enter the payment amount, submit your batch and whalah? your vendor is paid. And it?s even cheaper and easier then sending a check in the mail!

There are many companies that offer ACH payment solutions but most are manual processes. If you?re looking for a fully automated ACH payment solution, Hudson Horizons has can integrate an ACH solution into your website or application in a matter of days. They can have you accepting real-time ACH transactions and saving your company time, money and streamlining your business. Their costs are extremely reasonable and the solution is fully automated. The last I heard, their costs are $15 per month and 39 cents per transaction.

So as you can see, ACH is definitely the way to go. You can potentially save your business hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every single month by integrating an ACH payment solution for your business.

At Hudson Horizons, we provide website design, development, content management, e-commerce integration, RSS content distribution, search engine optimization, e-marketing services and the development of custom applications such as blogs, newsletter systems, online ACH payment solutions and any other Web application that may be needed to help simplify your business.

Hudson Horizons is an e-business product, solution and marketing company specializing in creating highly sophisticated customized websites, web-based software applications and providing e-marketing and SEO services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Our vision and ultimate ambition as a company is to always strive to be "The New Light for e-Business." By offering new, innovative and extremely competitive products and solutions to our clients, we provide better ways to run and operate a business online.

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Ever Wonder How Credit Cards Are Made? - Manufacturing Credit Cards: Materials And Processes

The credit card is made of many plastic layers, laminated together. The center is commonly made from a plastic resin known as polyvinyl chloride acetate (PVCA). This resin is then mixed with other materials, such as dyes and plasticizers to give it the appropriate look and feel.

A variety of inks or dyes, in various colors, are also used for printing credit cards. These inks and dyes are especially made for use on plastic. Special magnetic ink is also available to print the magnetic stripe (magstripe) on the rear side of the card. The inks are made by dispersing metal oxide particles in the appropriate solvents. Card issuers, such as VISA, which have their own holograms, use additional special printing processes which are involved for cards, like VISA, with featured holograms.

The manufacturing of the credit card takes place in the following steps:

1. Plastic compounding and molding: The plastic for the core sheet is made my melting PVCA with other materials. This molten mixture is put in the appropriate molding equipment, and is flattened to the right thickness by passing it through rollers. This sheet is then allowed to cool down.

2. Printing: Each card sheet is then printed with text as well as graphics. Silk screening and magnetic ink printing are the processes used. The magnetic strip can also be created using hot stamping. Magnetic heads are used to code and decode the iron particles in the strip, so that relevant information can be stored in them. However, the magnetic particles can only be useful if they are on the surface of the card, therefore this step is performed after the lamination.

3. Lamination: Essentially, lamination protects the card, and improves its strength. Lamination is done on both sides of the card.

4. Cutting and Embossing: After lamination, each sheet is cut into a set of cards. Each sheet gives a yield of around 63 cards. The sheet is first cut into seven sections longitudinally, and then each of the seven sections is cut into nine cards. Each card is now a separate credit card, and will be embossed with account numbers, and other information. The cards are now ready for shipment to the cardholders! Each card has to be of the premium quality. Customers cannot be given cards which will break or be damaged after a certain period of time. Key quality issues are linked with the compounding of plastic and color matching of the inks. The American National Standards Institute has a standard for plastic raw materials (ANSI specification x4.16-1973). Ingredients have to be correctly weighed, mixed and blended under the proper temperatures and other manufacturing conditions. Similarly, the molding process must be scrutinized to avoid flaws and defects, which could cause the cards to crack or rupture. The final quality check is to make sure the right numbers are stamped on the cards through the embossing process.

The many evolving technologies in this area will help create the credit cards with better quality and make them more cost effective in terms of manufacturing. New generations of credit cards might carry integrated computer chips, containing a variety of valuable information, making the card more useful, as well as secure.

Richard Gilliland Provides Expert opinions and reviews to help you Compare and Apply for a Credit Card - Compare Credit Card Offers with Credit-Wisdom.com - Unraveling the best in credit cards.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Credit Cards: Answers To The Approval Process

Instant Approval, what does this mean?

This is where companies have already looked at your credit history before they have offered you a credit card. This means that you are in a position to accept their offer without having to go through the process.

Does this alter from an Instant Feedback Decision?

The fundamental difference between this and instant approval is that with instant approval they have already enquired about your credit history. With an instant decision this means they will get a decision out to you quickly.

How does instant credit relate to Instant Approval?

Instant credit means that you are able to go away and start making purchases straight away because the credit card has provided you with temporary account details. This is no longer a popular choice and the main reason for this is that it puts banks and credit card companies in a position where by they are vulnerable to credit card theft.

Are instant approvals safe?

Instant Approvals are safe because if you are visiting the website of a company that you have heard of, and the data being sent is encrypted then the risks are similar or less to using a postal service, however it is worthy of note that they are fundamentally different. To check if data is encrypted look in the address bar, and should this read https:// rather than http:// then your data will get to the intended recipient.

After instant approval, how long will it take to get my credit card?

On average this will be around one week or even less in some cases. We recommend that you visit the concerned website for more specific information from the provider that you have chosen to work with.

How should I use my credit card?

You should use your credit card as you deem appropriate, however we recommend that you follow a few basic ground rules. Firstly, never use your credit card for a purchase if you are not able to envisage where the money is going to come from to finance it. If for example, you are not able to increase your income or decrease your expenditure then you should probably consider alternative means of financing a purchase.

Should I use my credit card online?

Shopping with a credit card is probably the safest way to shop online. The reason for this is that when you shop with a debit card your bank will not cover any losses that you incur as a result of fraud or a lack of integrity on the part of the merchant. This is why you should always ensure that should you intend to complete a large scale online purchase or offline purchase for that matter, use a credit card rather than a debit card.

Devin Gilliland provides advice on how to apply for credit cards at Credit-Wisdom.com.

 

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Monday, March 24, 2008

How To Understand Credit Card Processing

Many people are aware that after they fill out a credit card application, it has to go through a few considerations on behalf of the credit card company, and that this is known as credit card processing. This process may seem to be a vague technicality for individuals who apply for a credit card, through which they will eventually learn if their application for the credit card will be approved or denied. By understanding specifically what happens during the credit card processing procedure, an individual can make sure that their information will be applied to a card that they will be more likely to get accepted when it comes to their application. If a person tries to apply for too many cards at once, they may be denied only on the basis that too many people or companies are accessing their credit file at that point in time. A person that applies to a bunch of credit cards all at once may be desperate about their financial situation and will apply for any and every credit card just to help ensure that they will be able to get some help. However, this approach may end up hurting the individual more than helping, and they may not be able to get any help from any of the credit card companies for which they apply. By understanding what is being looked at in the credit card processing state, an individual can more accurately ensure that they will be able to get a credit card by making sure that their personal information falls in line with what the credit card company is looking for in their candidates.

A credit score is a person?s rating based on the credit that they have accumulated over the years. The higher a person?s score is, the more likely they are to be considered a successful candidate for the credit card company and in return be issued a card. There are a number of things that will influence a person?s credit rating and even if a person does not know their exact credit score, they can generate a fairly accurate idea of what it would be by looking at the different things that generate the score. For example, making timely payments for other credit cards and bills will increase the rating. Missing payments will likely detract from the rating. Having more bills and credit cards and loans will make a person less likely to get another credit card, and this is especially the case when the individual has missed payments on any of these things within the last 12-24 months. There is one instance in the United States in which a person?s credit will not be affected. This is if a person misses a medical bill payment or has outstanding debt with a physician, hospital or other medical company.

The social security number will be needed as well. This is required to be valid and will be used in order to check the credit of the individual. Because of this, it is very important that the person be able to supply the correct and accurate social security number. If the name and social security number do not match up, the individual will not be able to get approved since the company will not be able to accurately research the individual.

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written many articles on various subjects. For more information on blue american express or to get a american express blue card checkout his websites.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

International Credit Card Processing

International credit card processing refers to the processing of multi-currency credit card payments. This enables one to offer products and services in over 169 different currencies and receive payment for them in over 29 remittance currencies. Business firms can thereby expand their business into new sales regions and offer a payment routine to customers from different regions of the world.

Banks and their subsidiaries are permitted to issue International Credit Cards. A single card issued would be valid in all countries where dollar transactions can be made. An international credit card helps one avail of services such as air ticket reservations, car rentals, and hotel reservations abroad. Credit card plans also include insurance coverage for theft and fraud.

Processing an international credit card involves authorizing credit cards, withdrawing funds and placing funds in the merchant?s bank account. For this processing, the merchant needs an international merchant account. The international merchant account is an agreement between a credit card processor and the merchant that establishes the rules for accepting credit card purchases and transferring funds. A description of how it works would be appropriate in this context. Imagine that a merchant in USA wants to sell products to a buyer in Europe. The merchant uses the credit card processing company for sale of pictures. The products are sold to the buyer for Euro and remittance will be made in dollars.

Some international credit cards are American Express, Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa, etc. Processing of credit cards is done automatically using appropriate software program. The service of an international credit card processing company can also be utilized for processing international credit cards. The credit card processor provides the expertise and merchant account to help businessmen accept credit cards from buyers of other countries. These companies provide Internet merchant account also so that the merchant can accept credit card online. There are several companies that offer credit card processing services anywhere in the world.

Credit Card Processing provides detailed information on Credit Card Processing, Online Credit Card Processing, Credit Card Processing Software, Wireless Credit Card Processing and more. Credit Card Processing is affiliated with Wireless Credit Card Terminals

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Top 7 2Checkout Credit Card Processing Advantages

Here are seven good reasons why you should consider 2Checkout.com (also known as 2CO) as your credit card processing solution and merchant account alternative.

1. Accept Credit Cards Without a Merchant Account

For an initial fee of $49.00, you can accept all major credit cards as well as online checks. Fees are 5.5% of sales and $0.45 per transaction.

2. Handle Both Intangible and Tangible Products

While ClickBank.com restricts itself to digital products, 2Checkout can handle both digital and physically shipped products.

3. Shopping Cart

Whereas ClickBank handles only single sales, with 2Checkout, you receive a shopping cart. Alternatively, many third-party shopping carts integrate with 2Checkout.

4. Integration With Third-Party Affiliate Programs

2Checkout integrates with third-party affiliate programs such as ClixGalore.

5. Eliminate Sales Tax Problems

Since you must agree to sell your product to 2Checkout for resale, 2Checkout becomes the retailer responsible for collecting sales taxes -- not you. This simplifies or eliminates sales tax administration for you.

6. Fraud Detection

With 2Checkout, you have to wait until they complete their fraud detection checks before you deliver the product. This protects the merchant as well as the customer.

7. Other Advantages

As well, 2Checkout features free on-line support, their own affiliate program, and more. Your products are also searchable from shopping center links on their website, thus giving you more exposure. 2Checkout also allows for multi-currency transactions which enable customers to buy in their own local currency. According to the 2Checkout.com website, this improves sales and reduces credit card disputes.

RESOURCE BOX:

J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.

To learn more about accepting credit cards, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/creditcards.html

For profitable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/

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