Credit Cards

[Howard Barlow]

Glenn,

I haven't used Square, but they now say all swiped payments are available the next day. They also plainly say keyed in payment are 3.5%, plus 15¢, plus hold $1K+ for 30 days, as I stated above.

Where do you find they will hold bigger amounts? Have you experienced that?

"Third party processors will never beat (price or service) of the big bank merchant service providers." Not true. Bank of America called and wanted to compare with my provider, MTG. They couldn't touch the rates. The BA guy said, "No, I can't match that. You need to stay there."

Also, MTG does not charge anything for PCI compliance.

[XtremePhoto]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Glenn,

I haven't used Square, but they now say all swiped payments are available the next day. They also plainly say keyed in payment are 3.5%, plus 15¢, plus hold $1K+ for 30 days, as I stated above.

Where do you find they will hold bigger amounts? Have you experienced that?

"Third party processors will never beat (price or service) of the big bank merchant service providers." Not true. Bank of America called and wanted to compare with my provider, MTG. They couldn't touch the rates. The BA guy said, "No, I can't match that. You need to stay there."

Also, MTG does not charge anything for PCI compliance.

MTG isn't a small third party processor. And they DO charge you for PCI compliance, they just don't tell you where the rate increase is, but it IS built in to your fees, rate etc.

Yes, my observations on SquareUp is based on ACTUAL use. That is why there is a bunch of card readers sitting in my drawer in the office not being used.

-G-

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by XtremePhoto

MTG isn't a small third party processor. And they DO charge you for PCI compliance, they just don't tell you where the rate increase is, but it IS built in to your fees, rate etc.

Yes, my observations on SquareUp is based on ACTUAL use. That is why there is a bunch of card readers sitting in my drawer in the office not being used.

-G-

Well, if it is included, and I guess it may be, it ain't enough to detect.

Otoh, how long since you used Square? I wonder if they changed policies after you left, or they are lying on their page.

[XtremePhoto]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Well, if it is included, and I guess it may be, it ain't enough to detect.

Otoh, how long since you used Square? I wonder if they changed policies after you left, or they are lying on their page.

It hasn't been over three months. But we run well over 10K a month in Cards. That presents a great liability for SquareUp.

Front line card processors require a credit check on both the business entity and the principal(s) when opening an account for this very reason. They will require an up front escrow amount if your credit isn't impeccable. That is where SquareUp and these other companies come in. But they DO protect themselves from that liability in other ways.

You really need to read SquareUp's TOS and fine print and you can see they leave themselves PLENTY of wiggle room in there for liability prevention.

It isn't hard to slap a few fractions of a point on the interchange and get another 100.00 plus a year from you that will cover PCI compliance. (Which I think is a COMPLETE rip off.) PCI compliance was invented by the Card companies and is in part (hugely) owned by the card companies and is nothing more than another way they can get fees from you. But if you take payment by card, you are required to have it or they won't process for you.

It is just like this new requirement for the form 1099-K and reporting to the IRS...They want their money (IRS) and they are going to get it now. If you fail to report the 1099-K money and it doesn't match your reported income, well, get ready for an audit.

-G-

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by XtremePhoto

PCI compliance was invented by the Card companies and is in part (hugely) owned by the card companies and is nothing more than another way they can get fees from you.
G-

Otoh, the companies have done this to show accountability in protecting the consumer in an effort to prevent Gov.org from coming in and adding regs.

[XtremePhoto]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Otoh, the companies have done this to show accountability in protecting the consumer in an effort to prevent Gov.org from coming in and adding regs.

Not really. It just makes what you should be doing already punishable. If businesses that accept cards follow existing guidelines and do their 'due diligence' in preventing card information theft, this wouldn't be necessary in the first place. This happened because Gov.org DID start regulating what cards and banks can charge and now they intend to make it up somewhere else.

For us, processing so much a month, this has very little to no impact on our fees. Literally a couple of cents on each transaction. But it still costs and affects your bottom line.

-G-

[StevenGWebb]

Well I jumped on the Square Up bandwagon. While awaiting delivery of the iPad I went through the account set-up process. I don't mind saying that these folks can pick up on some pretty personal (though not private) information in an instant. I had to answer several multiple choice questions, some involved house numbers of old addresses and one involved a former spouses maiden name in a list of people I've known. I wish I knew as much about the company as they obviously know about me, and we've not even had a first kiss yet.

The iPad arrived a day early so we installed the app and set up the menu and prices. I like the interface. I've got buttons assigned to each item and a price associated with them. Sales tax can be switched on so that calculation is handled. Tap the button for each item, adjust quantities with the + or- or additional taps to the corresponding button and we get a subtotal, tax amount, and a grand total with the grand total displaying nice and large at the top of the screen. Tap cash and take the money; or; tap charge and swipe the card, have the customer sign the screen (I'll use a stylus), get either a mobile phone number or an email and send the receipt as an email or a txt message.

On the next business day the deposit should be made, for the sales amount(s) less the percentage of processing fees.

So far, so good. And the iPad, well it's a fun addition to the gear list. Makes for a pretty good GPS navigation device, might put a few pictures on it for a tidy little portfolio presenter and my significant other is already addicted to Angry Birds.

Steve