credit card minimums could be coming to a store near you.

July 20th, 2010

If you’re someone who likes to swipe your credit card for every purchase — to get those cash back card rewards or frequent flier miles — you’re going to be disappointed with a big change coming at many stores.

You may not be able to use your credit card for small purchases anymore, which means you may need to carry more cash with you soon.

The new financial reform law, just approved by Congress, allows stores and restaurants to do what’s been prohibited until now:

  • Post signs requiring a $10 minimum purchase to use a credit card. Debit cards will not be affected, however.
  • It will also allow stores to give a discount for using cash or debit cards.

This is big deviation from current law up until now.  Visa and Mastercard actually was able levy large fines for doing this in the past.  If you”re a merchant this is probably good news, if you are a consumer probably not so much.

Are you PCI Compliant? Don’t lease a new terminal to become compliant.

July 12th, 2010

PCI Compliance is a fairly broad security topic, but as it pertains to terminal processing PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations are designed to keep cardholder data safe from theft or tampering.  There have been a number of security breaches concerning thousands of consumer credit cards and this ongoing program was put into place to help monitor, and address these issues. There are a number of terminals that aren’t capable of meeting this new compliance standard.  A lot of merchant services companies are trying to capitalize on this by selling or leasing new terminals to their existing merchant base.  Our company, however, is able to provide one (1) free placement terminal to each physical dba location.  This, in itself, is a huge cost savings to merchants who have to make a change because of these new mandates.

Some of the older more popular terminals that aren’t PCI compliant are:

Tranz 330, Tranz 380, Tranz 460, Nurit 2085, Nurit 3010, Omni 3200, Omni 396, and the Hypercom T7 series of terminals.  The fact is that unless you’ve have a terminal manufactured after January 2009, it is most likely going to fall under the non compliant terminal list.

The actual website for the PCI Security Council is: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/index.shtml

We are now on Facebook!

June 16th, 2010

Merchant Payment Services is now on Facebook.  Come check out our Fan Page and keep up to date on what’s happening with our company.

Our Face Book Fan Page

We are now on Twitter!

June 16th, 2010

Merchant Payment Services, Inc. is now on Twitter.  We promise not to spam you, but give you informational updates about our company as they become available.  Thank you for your many years of loyal business.

Link to us on Twitter

Merchant Payment Services partners with local BBB

June 15th, 2010

Merchant Payment Services, Inc. is proud to have forged a new stronger partnership with the local Dayton chapter of the Better Business Bureau.  This has allowed us to offer our wide variety of products and services to their Accredited Businesses throughout the Miami Valley.  Our motto says it all:”Helping Merchants Make the Right Choice.” To that end we have taken special care to expand our product offerings to cover the extensive array of merchant needs.

By far the most needed service by merchants in today’s society is the ability to take and process credit/debit cards and other electronic forms of payment.  At Merchant Payment Services we offer our merchants five different ways to accomplish this.

Through the use of one of our wired, or wireless credit card terminals for those on the go, our merchants can handle credit/debit card payments with ease while enjoying low customized rate plans, unmatched quality of service, and superior response times. These types of terminals are great for any kind of small mom and pop shops to mid-sized retail establishments.  Any businesses that offer delivery services, or transportation services such as limousines, taxis,  and tow trucks will benefit greatly with the ability to swipe a customer’s card right on the spot with our wireless terminals.

Other growing segments of the business community are people with home based businesses and web based businesses.  So addition to the wired and wireless terminals that we offer, we have a couple of e-commerce solutions that we can offer.  This allows merchants to accept credit cards through website shopping carts, from the comfort of their home, or while lying out on a beautiful tropical beach sipping ice tea, or drinking ice cold lemonade.   You can’t get any better than that.

Both cash and cashless ATMs, through Merchant Payment Services, offer a merchant the flexibility to accept credit/debit cards while reducing bad check risks and eliminating your per transaction fees.  You can experience higher profits by sharing in the surcharge amount and increased customer traffic by giving our customers a “cash back” option.  We provide you with all the signage for maximum visibility, and will help ensure your ATM meets current compliance standards.

The Electronic Check Conversion program is a great way to convert paper checks into electronic payments that hit your account in 48 hours with funds fully guaranteed against NSF, stop payment, closed accounts, etc.  This is a worry free way to confidently accept paper checks from your customers without having to worry if the check is good.  By following this program, when you receive an approval through our equipment, you are guaranteed payment.

Finally, having a solid gift/loyalty card program in place many times helps ensure you of repeat business.  Loyalty cards are a great tool to encourage your customers to keep coming back.  Statistics show that 80% of the American public enjoys to be incentivized; just ask, Asa Candler, inventor of the coupon way back in 1895. Consumer Reports states that 60% of American consumers will spend almost $35 billion alone this year on gift cards, of which astoundingly one-third will never be claimed.  That’s almost $12 billion dollars given to merchants for free.  What better way to increase your bottom line.

To get more information about how we can help your business succeed please call us today at 1-800-454-3158.  You may also visit us on the web at www.merchantpaymentservices.com to get more information about our products and services.

PCI Compliance Standards

June 15th, 2010

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DDS) secures cardholder data that is stored, processed or transmitted by merchants and processors.  The deadline to be PCI Compliant is July 1st, 2010.