Pricing, Funding, Billing

What is Interchange Plus Pricing?

Merchant accounts that operate on an interchange plus pricing structure may sound more intimidating, but they’re actually much more transparent. On an interchange plus pricing structure, merchants pay the exact interchange fee in addition to a flat markup to their merchant service provider.

When will I receive my funds?

The standard timeframe for money processed through your merchant account to be deposited directly into your business checking account is 48 hours. We also offer a Next Day finding option for select approved merchants. Please contact your service representative for more details and to see if you qualify.

How are monthly fees billed?

The monthly fees are debited between the 1st and the 5th day of the month, and will include fees that occurred in the month prior. For example, June’s statement fees will be debited between July 1st -5th.

Security

What steps can be taken to help prevent fraud on my merchant account?

For security and fraud control purposes, we evaluate merchant processing trends. If a sale is well over the projected average ticket amount, or the occasional high ticket amount, our risk department may call to verify the sale’s legitimacy. We also monitor and flag refunds that are greater than accumulated purchases for a cardholder, as well as monitor for potential duplicate transactions

What is PCI DSS?

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This standard (commonly known as ‘PCI’) represents a common set of security due diligence practices that help ensure the safe handling of payment card data. Created by the five major card companies (American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa), this standard comprises 12 distinct requirements that are designed to:

• Build and maintain a secure network
•  Maintain a vulnerability management program
• Regularly monitor and test your IT infrastructure
• Protect (cardholder) data in transit or at rest
• Implement strong access control measures
• Maintain an information security policy.

Support

What happens if I need technical support after regular business hours?

We have 24hour technical support for all of our merchant accounts, including weekends and holidays. If you are unable to process, or need immediate assistance, you can contact us directly at 877-455-7482.

About EMV / Chip Cards

What is an EMV/Chip Card?

EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) cards are credit and debit cards that include a microchip that’s visible on the front of the card, typically in the left hand corner. The EMV or “chip” cards provide additional security to consumers.

How do consumers use chip cards?

In face-to-face transactions, consumers insert the chip card into a specially designed payment terminal/card reader that reads the chip card. The reading device confirms the security of the card and transaction, which takes a few seconds longer than traditional “swipe-based” transactions. In telephone- or internet-based transactions, consumers would still type in their credit card numbers and other relevant data.

Most chip cards in the U.S. include both a chip and a magnetic stripe (on the back of the card), and most card reading devices accept both methods. If a merchant doesn’t yet accept chip cards, consumers can still swipe their cards. As more merchants install chip reading terminals, magnetic stripes could eventually be phased out.

In the future, chip cards may be accepted at contactless terminals, where consumers will be able to pay just by tapping their card against the payment terminal.

How do chip cards protect your information?

Chips are more secure than the magnetic stripes on credit cards. The chips generate unique transaction codes that are used to verify the cards’ authenticity. The transaction codes cannot be duplicated by hackers (unlike old credit card magnetic stripes), so even if hackers were to steal payment information, the information would be virtually worthless. If someone attempted to clone a chip card, any charges they tried to make would be denied.

Keep in mind that the true security of a chip card is only effective when the card is inserted (i.e. “dipped”) into a card reader, rather than being swiped.

Why are we switching to EMV/Chip cards?

Outside of the U.S., chip cards have been in use for about a decade. With credit card fraud an international concern, the credit card networks want to implement more secure payment processing technologies to protect both merchants and consumers.

Chip + Signature vs. Chip + PIN Cards

Chip cards are identified as either “chip and signature” or “chip and PIN.” With chip and signature card, consumers must provide a physical or electronic signature when they use their card in a face-to-face transaction. Most of the chip cards used in the U.S. feature chip and signature capabilities.

With chip and PIN, consumers enter a unique PIN number to complete their transactions, which is similar to making debit card purchases. In Europe, chip and PIN cards are more common, and many payment terminals do not accept chip and signature cards.