Is Your POS Equipment Out of Date?
February 24, 2009 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
I was recently reading an article written by
Ellen talks about how she received a receipt from a business with her full credit card numbers on the bill which is now against Visa’s merchant account policies. This happened to Ellen early April 2007 and the new policy took effect April 1st 2007. What a lot folks did not know is that even though the new policies had arrived that many merchants still have out date equipment & software that still prints out the consumers full credit card number.
Well, it’s now Feb 2009 and there are still many, many Canadian businesses using this same old out of date equipment which is violates Visa and now also Mastercards policies.
This is a major issue and reason why is this important is because if the receipt gets into the wrong hands, identity thieves can run up big bills in your name.
No signature is required for online and telephone purchases. And, creeping into the market, chain stores won’t need signatures for transactions below $25 or $35. Just look at Tim Hortons. (Still can’t believe they only offer MC and not Visa & Debit – kinda 1/3 card processing, but there is not enough room about this in this post).
So who’s problem is this…?
I have a sneaky suspicion it will soon fall upon the merchants and small business owners. Just like a “Chargeback” it’s the merchants burden of proof that any disputed transaction is a real and legit transaction.
SIDENOTE: I’d be real curious to know what the percentage of merchant’s winning potential chargebacks versus not wining these disputes. I bet that merchants lose more than they win. I have nothing to back that up, but after being involved in the merchant account industry for about five years now I have noticed a trend that the credit card processing companies usually have their “butts” covered and if someone is going to pay more it’s usually the merchant/small biz owner.
So, that being said. A warning to all Canadian small business owners. Check your receipts to make sure they are blocking out part of the credit card number to protect your customers from potential fraud. If you notice that your POS terminal is still showing all the numbers then contact your payment processing provider and ask about an upgrade on new point-of-sale equipment or even better – call me! 
I’d more than happy to upgrade your equipment, I might even be able to lower your costs at the same time.
Retail Merchant Accounts
September 23, 2008 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
Retail Merchant Accounts are for brick-and-mortar types of businesses. They are systems that allow businesses to process credit and/or debit card transactions in real time with instantaneous approvals by swiping cards across the POS Terminal.
Traditionally, Point-of-Sale Terminals similar to the one shown at the side here are used. However, some businesses use a PC Software Solution that is installed on their existing PC Computer with a plug in “card swiper” or plug-in “PIN PAD” to enable the debit option.
Retail Merchant Account Hardware & Equipment Options:
- PC Software with plug in PIN PAD
- Dial-up Point-of-Sale Terminal
- IP Point-of-Sale Terminal
- Wireless/Cellular Point-of-Sale Terminal
Retail Merchant Account Rates
Traditionally, retail credit card processing rates are the lowest rates a business can qualify for, due to the fact that most transactions will be considered “card present” which enables the business to qualify for the “Qualified” credit card rates. These rates are referred to as “Discount Rates” in the industry.
Discount rates can vary from company to company; however most Canadian Retail rates range from 1.69% – 2.5% on a Qualified rate – any higher then that and you will want to get a rate review. On “Mid-” and “Non-” Qualified rates, the rates can vary from 2.0-4% on retail merchant accounts. Again, if you are paying any higher than that, you most likely want to get a rate review on your services.
Your merchant account rates are determined by:
- Average Ticket Price per customer
- Monthly Sales Volume purchased on credit cards
The lower your average ticket price, and the higher the monthly business volume the lower, the rate you will qualify for. What many merchants want to make sure they are asking is not only what the “Qualified” rate is, but as well what the “Mid-Qualified” & “Non-Qualified” rates are.
- Qualified means card present consumer card.
- Mid-Qualified and/or Near-Qualified means any cards that have a rewards plan attached to them.
- Non-Qualified means the credit card was keyed into the POS Terminal instead of being swiped (It doesn’t qualify because the card processing company cannot verify that the card was present, making it a higher risk transaction.)
It is very important that you know your percentage breakdown and understand what ALL your different discount rates/fees will be on your credit card processing before making an agreement. This is a common kiss of death for many merchants: not verifying all their potential charges and/or not fully understanding how their individual business processing will function.
To better understand the in’s and out’s of merchant account services in Canada, we highly suggest you read our free merchant account guide.
Dial-up Debit Machine
September 23, 2008 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
Dial-up Debit Machines connect via any working telephone line. Many merchants use their existing phone line or tap the terminal into their fax line to save additional costs, but if you have a busy location you may want to consider having a dedicated phone line for your Debit Machine.
The reason for this: if you choose to use your existing phone line, you will not be able to be on the phone at the same time you’re doing a transaction. Dial-up Debit Card Machines can take anywhere from 10-25 seconds per transaction to complete depending on the age of the hardware and software. So, basing it on that, you should probably be able to judge if you can afford to share your existing phone line with your POS Terminal or not…?
Our advice is: if your business does under 30 transactions a day and you find your phone line is not constantly ringing off the hook then sharing your existing phone line will not be a big deal. However, if you find your business requires full use of the phone and you do more then 30 transactions a day, then you may want to consider getting a dedicated phone line for your machine, or use an IP Credit Card Machine.
The real big appeal for merchants of a Dial-up unit is that they are usually less expensive than ALL other types of payment processing hardware.
We have been helping small businesses connect to service providers who:
- Provide guaranteed financing regardless personal credit score
- Provide leasing from as low as $29-$49/month (Depends on hardware, deposits, credit score, etc.)
- Provide ownership from as low as $999 (including lifetime warranties)
- Provide debit transaction fees from as low as 8 cents
- Provide Visa & MasterCard rates from as low as 1.69%
- Provide a lifetime warranty included on all hardware
- Can deposit into any Canadian business bank account
- Can implement gift & loyalty card services (Very important-the power of gift cards can produce huge profits for your business.)
- Provide quality Customer Support 365 days of year
- Provide a 24 hour replacement unit if the current unit stops working (For most major urban centres; if you live in a remote area add an extra day.)
- Provide free software upgrades
- Ensure that ALL terminals are PCI & EMV compliant (Very important-no point investing in a terminal that is already going to be obsolete.)
