Travel and Direct Sales Merchant Accounts - Lowest Rates - Fast Underwriting

  • Home
  • Apply
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Causes
  • More
    • Home
    • Apply
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
    • About
    • Causes
  • Home
  • Apply
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Causes

Credit Card FAQs

Find out more

What is an Interchange Fee?

An interchange fees are the charges that are levied on the merchant to cover the fees which are passed on from the merchant bank to the customers bank. They vary by bank, region, size of transaction, etc - Important credit card info

What is PCI Compliance?

The large processors including Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, and large banking institutions have protocols for securing customers information. Safeguarding client information is critical from a civil and regulatory basis. PCI compliance is the set of rules which lays out the rules governing your required steps and possible penalties for non compliance - Important credit card info

What is a Discount fee on business credit card statement?

The Discount fee is the charge by your bank or your ISO who facilitates your processing, billing, invoicing, and general servicing of your account. Discount fees vary by level of service, account risk type, number of transactions, and volume - Important credit card info

What is Virtual Terminal for merchant processing?

A virtual terminal is a turn key approach for your merchant account needs. It generally is a simple step account kick off which does not require any significant integrations to enable your pricessing capability - Credit card Faqs

What is Tokenization for credit cards?

Tokenization is a critical step in ECommerce as well as with recurring charges, It is the process of securing or "tokenizing" customer information maintained in a customer database. Tokenization is a PCI compliance required step to maintain a consumer account where the account information will be utilized in transactions post the initial transaction/payment - Credit card Faqs

Questions & answers

A wooden FAQ sign. Frequently asked questions related to merchant processing visa, master card

How do I handle recurring credit card and ach payments better?

One of the best parts of working with us is we offer consulting services at no cost to our customers. We will always help to identify the best platforms and processes to help you be successful - Credit card Faqs

Which POS system is best for my business? Important credit card info

Our current POS system of choice is Clover, the top system in the world and recognized by most lending insitutions. With us, your equipment is generally free including training on how to use it - Credit card Faqs

How much should I be paying for credit card merchant fees?

Merchant fees are based upon 2 basic factors  a) interchange fees, bank charges between the paying and the receiving lender for credit cards . b) your risk profile which we help try enhance utilizing underwriting best practices - Important credit card info

Should my business use Pay Pal?

Of course, you should have as many avenues to collecting fees as possible Important credit card info

How do know if I am a High Risk credit card business?

Any future dated product will be shown as high risk: Travel, Multi Level Marketing are our specialty.

Questions & Answers

question marks surrounding a placemat with a lightbulb in picture off center. www.merchantservicesma

I had a credit card merchant account canceled once, can I still qualify?

Of course. We will help identify the reasons for the past issue and work to insure that we choose a bank which understands and fits your business profile.

What is involved with establishing a new account?

It's simple: 1) send us three months statements to review and determine our ability to save you money . 2) once step 1 is complete, we gather basic information about your business. There is no cost to you for this process.

How long does it take to get a new cccount started?

Typically from three days to twenty ones days depending upon the level of risk - Credit card Faqs

How quickly do I receive my funds with my merchant account?

Typically daily unless there are other considerations related to product delivery.

What is ACH and how does it work? What are the fees for ACH?

Payments directly from your customers bank to your account. This is a terrific benefit at very low expense to your business. 

Payment Process outline from one of our processing companies

reprint from: www.cmsonline.com/knowledge-center

Payments Explained

How a Credit Card is ‘Processed’

What happens after a credit card is swiped or keyed? There are two main ‘processes’: Authorization and Settlement. Each function requires a series of communications between the Acquiring Bank and the Issuing Bank, (i.e., the bank that issued the customer’s credit card). This communication transmits via the card association’s‘ Interchange Network’ and is facilitated by a payment processor, (e.g. CMS).


Steps

  1. Customer presents method of payment to merchant.
  2. Merchant transmits information to CMS/ Acquiring Bank via their processing equipment, (e.g., credit card machine, software program or via a virtual terminal/ gateway).
  3. CMS transmits information to the customer’s card Issuing Bank via credit card Interchange Network.
  4. The Issuing Bank either approves or declines the authorization based on whether or not it’s a valid card number and whether sufficient funds are available.
  5. CMS/ Acquiring Bank will then forward the response, (i.e. authorization approval number or decline code) back to the merchant’s processing equipment.
  6. Receipt is printed and signed by customer or transmitted electronically to customer.


Settlement/ Funding Process

  1. To this point only data has been exchanged. The merchant must settle the transaction in order to receive the funds from the customer’s credit card Issuing Bank. Merchant’s typically settle all of their transactions once per day in a function called ‘batching out’.
  2. The merchant selects the ‘batch out’ function on his/her processing equipment which automates a settlement request to CMS. CMS/ Acquiring Bank will then convey the request to each Issuing Bank that generated a customer’s credit card authorization approval code within the batch.
  3. Each Issuing Bank sends a confirmation of the funds that are being transferred from each cardholder’s account to CMS/ Acquiring Banks master settlement account.
  4. CMS/ Acquiring Banks will then deposit the funds to the merchant’s bank account through the Federal Reserve’s Automated Clearing House (ACH), which is an electronic funds transfer system.
  5. Issuing Bank simultaneously posts the charge to the cardholder’s account which will show up on cardholder’s credit card statement.


Tips to Reduce Interchange Expense

  • Swipe cards instead of manually entering the card number during a face-to-face environment.
  • Utilize the Address Verification Service (AVS). By confirming the zip code; you reduce your fees, and this adds a layer of protection against accepting a stolen credit card.
  • Settle or close your transaction batch the same day the authorizations occur.

What is Downgrading?

Transactions are downgraded when they don’t meet interchange requirements, such as not capturing the correct card information at the point of sale, settling the transaction after a deadline has lapsed (typically 24 – 48 hours after the authorization) or manually entering rather than swiping a card. A downgraded transaction results in a higher cost for the merchant.


Chargeback Overview

A chargeback is a dispute between a merchant and its customer (who paid by credit card). The customer or cardholder tries to claim that their purchase wasn’t fulfilled by the merchant, etc. and the merchant tries to prove that they did adequately render service by providing a receipt, signed agreement, recorded conversation, etc. The cardholder typically has anywhere from 45 to 180 days to submit a chargeback after the date of purchase or service rendered.

The chargeback process of who wins and who loses is essentially a mediation between the cardholder’s bank and the acquiring bank (as a processor, we partner with acquiring banks). When a chargeback is received by an issuing bank from one of their disgruntled cardholders, the funds are immediately debited from the merchant’s account by the acquiring bank and placed in the consumer’s respective account while the dispute is decided. This mediation process is governed by Visa/ MasterCard chargeback rules and regulations. If the Issuing Bank and Acquiring Bank can’t come to an agreement, the chargeback will go to arbitration where a Visa or MasterCard rep (depending on the card) will ultimately decide who wins. If the chargeback is deemed valid, the consumer retains the funds. If the chargeback is deemed as invalid, the funds are again debited from the consumer and re-deposited to the merchant’s account - Important credit card info

white guy typing on a tablet computer entering a credit card number from his card.www.merchantservic

Proudly Serving Businesses from $2m to $250m in Annual Sales

Apply Now

Contact Us

Drop us a line!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Better yet, see us in person!

Important credit card info

Merchant Services Made Easy

150 Governors Square Fayetteville, GA 30215 US

(770) 486-1181

Hours

Mon

09:00 am – 05:00 pm

Tue

09:00 am – 05:00 pm

Wed

09:00 am – 05:00 pm

Thu

09:00 am – 05:00 pm

Fri

09:00 am – 05:00 pm

Sat

Closed

Sun

Closed

Copyright © 2019 Card Services Bank - All Rights Reserved. We are proud to provide multiple credit card processing options. We work directly with Licensed Banks, Lending Institutions and Licensed Credit Card Processors. We act on our clients behalf as an Independent Sales Organization dedicated to finding you the best opportunities for your business. 

Visa, Master Card, Amex, ACH

Best Merchant Rates Guaranteed

We Look forward to Serving Your Merchant Processing Needs. 

Learn more

Cookie Policy

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.

Accept & Close