Credit Card Processing

[River Valley Computer]

I hope that we are the only company using Elavon Credit Card Processing. OMG - what an experience.

We signed up with them January 2017 because our bank was not going to do credit card processing any longer. They recommended Elavon.

It was $10 per month with rate of 2.75% on all cards and $.09 per transaction. Not the best - not the worst.

In February2017 we did the STUPID PCI compliance survey.

The rest of the story is due to my stupidity of not looking at each month's Elavon statement on-line. In December they charged an account fee of $99.99 for the year. That was not in the contract that was signed. They said is was a fee they decided to charge in late 2017.

Also in March they started charging $44.00 per month for PCI NON Compliance because we didn't do the survey in February. (which was never mentioned during sign up)

OK - I bored everyone with this little story for only one reason. DON'T USE ELAVON - was what you are signing in the contract (but in this case it didn't matter). If they don't refund the $44X6 mo and the $99.99 the Arkansas Attorney General will be contacted. According the the representative that signed us up - she quit for these exact reasons.

I'm done!!!!

PS - to all the companies in the U.S. - who do you use. (Sapphirescales - you don't need to tell us who you use - we don't do $1,000,0000 per month like you do!)

 

[MichaelBits]

We use Repairshopr and went ahead and signed up with their partner one from the app center.
Called Vantiv I believe.

Actually had a better rate than we were using before, and allowed us to integrate payments into Repairshopr.

 

[Porthos]

The dreaded by some Pay Pal.

I use the reader in shop and I use the online portal to charge for remote jobs.

 

[HCHTech]

You are responsible for being PCI complaint regardless of which service you use. I imagine every vendor has extra fees for non-compliance. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think you brought that one on yourself.

 

[River Valley Computer]

You are responsible for being PCI complaint regardless of which service you use. I imagine every vendor has extra fees for non-compliance. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think you brought that one on yourself.

That is correct - they can charge what they want. I checked with several other processors and one didn't charge anything, another charged $5 which is what the PCI Committee charges, and another was $$5/mo and they would do the compliance survey.

 

[coffee]

When I first started my business I used some company out of Florida. I didnt know better. At about the same time I joined TN's. This credit card company was racking me over the coals!! I was losing hundreds of dollars and had not even ran a charge yet. I tried to cancel and they of course would not for one reason or another. It was a nightmare. So, I did some digging and found out they were actually licensed in Georgia State. I fired off a letter to the Attorney General of Georgia and it produced results. I do not think they are in business anymore.

You have to be really careful. I use Square. They treat me right and its not too bad of a deal.

 

[HCHTech]

That is correct - they can charge what they want. I checked with several other processors and one didn't charge anything, another charged $5 which is what the PCI Committee charges, and another was $$5/mo and they would do the compliance survey.

Yes, they charge different amounts, but the point here is that it is not a workable plan to remain non-compliant and just search for the vendor with the smallest fee for being non-compliant. This is not a voluntary thing. If you don't comply, eventually you will get audited and you surely won't like the result of that.

 

[mraikes]

I use Square. Supposedly PCI compliant: https://squareup.com/guides/pci-compliance

From Square's site:

Square takes care of PCI compliance for your business
Square complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) so you do not need to individually validate your state of compliance.

1. We provide PCI-compliant hardware and software at no additional cost—without monthly fees or annual assessment requirements. We maintain a PCI compliant platform at no additional cost to you, with no monthly contracts or long-term commitments. Providing you use Square for all storage, processing, and transmission of your customers’ card data, you don’t need to take any steps to validate your PCI compliance to Square, and you don’t need to pay any PCI-compliance fees.
   
   
2. Square is the merchant of record for every transaction. We deal with the banks on your behalf including PCI compliance, regulation, and processing. We advocate on your behalf to make sure that simple errors, honest mistakes, and disputes are resolved equitably.
   
   
3. Square’s technical approach to security is also designed to protect both you and your customers. We adhere to industry-leading PCI standards to manage our network, secure our web and client applications, and set policies across our organization. Square’s integrated payment system provides end-to-end encryption for every transaction at the point of swipe, dip, or tap and tokenizes data once it reaches our servers. Plus, we monitor every transaction from acceptance to payment, continuously innovate in fraud prevention, and protect your data like our business depends on it—because it does.
   

 

[HCHTech]

If Square's claim is true (I wonder if it has ever been tested), then I would imagine there would still be things you would have to be careful about - not storing any client's CC data, for example. How do you handle telephone payments by cc? Do you write down the information before you key it into their portal or however it works for them? If so, what do you do wth that piece of paper?

If Square's claim about PCI compliance is true, then I'd think that would be THE major selling point to SMBs. PCI stuff is a big thorn in my side, I'll tell you. How do their rates compare, how long from a scan to the deposit of funds into your account? Do their fees come out on the front end or back?

 

[Archon Prime]

I use Square as well. you can store the CC on file, the customer has to agree to it, we don't save it for them. Usually they get the option to save it to their profile when I send an invoice through square. Otherwise, if I take it over the phone for remote sessions, I key it directly into the app or the website. I don't leave any paper with important information lying around. I'm quite OCD when it comes to customer privacy and security.

I've had a good run with Square so far and quite pleased with the quick support if I ever have a question.

How do their rates compare, how long from a scan to the deposit of funds into your account? Do their fees come out on the front end or back?

 

[Porthos]

With Paypal I have a portal the client can key their own card data. I never have to write down or key the cc #. Orr I can send an invoice.

My account also issues a business Debit card that when used as a credit card I get 1% cash back back on purchases each month.
The money is instantly available for me to use.

 

[Diggs]

Being a QuickBooks user I use GoPayment. Keeps things simple and integrated.

 

[ChrisTech]

I had similar kind of annual charges with Worldpay. Luckily they decided to stop the pay-as-you-go facility and wanted a wad of cash for a new terminal, so I looked around.

I went with Square too - and haven't regretted it. I get my money quicker, lower charges and no hassle or charges for PCI compliance.

 

[fencepost]

We use Repairshopr and went ahead and signed up with their partner one from the app center.
Called Vantiv I believe.

Just as a note and I don't recall where I saw the discussion (/r/msp?), Vantiv's standard terms can apparently be troublesome - by signing up via RepairShopr you're avoiding many of the problem areas.

 

[calldrdave]

I'm a big Square fan. FWIW, if someone refers you we both get 1K in free processing (yes that is an affiliate link). The reason Square doesn't charge any PCI compliance fees is essentially they process the cards, not you. They take on the risk and liability. They store the credit cards, not you. Your customers are customers of Square, not you.

One feature of making your customers Square customers is they can help you market to those customers. Once someone pays any Square merchant and gives the email address, that email address is available to any merchant for marketing. You can send out marketing messages through the Square platform.

Since it has no monthly fees, it's nice to sign up and just keep it in reserve. If their main processor or POS system is down, this is always a backup.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Thanks for all the comments - it looks like Square is a very viable solution. We are in two communities that are blue-collar and most repairs are by cash or check. It is also a rather rural area also, thus there are very few businesses that are wanting MSP - we have about 20 but that's it. Most of our business is residential/single operator businesses (sorry Shapphirescales - you wouldn't survive here )

The only concern that we have is when customers pay with debit/credit the want a paper receipt - not just our invoice. Does Square produce a paper receipt? I've searched but can't find an answer. You can't see to be able to call Square either.

 

[fencepost]

Are you using any kind of ticketing/invoicing system like RepairShopr, PCRT, etc? If so, then the receipt would be what you produce out of that.

 

[ChrisTech]

Thanks for all the comments - it looks like Square is a very viable solution. We are in two communities that are blue-collar and most repairs are by cash or check. It is also a rather rural area also, thus there are very few businesses that are wanting MSP - we have about 20 but that's it. Most of our business is residential/single operator businesses (sorry Shapphirescales - you wouldn't survive here )

The only concern that we have is when customers pay with debit/credit the want a paper receipt - not just our invoice. Does Square produce a paper receipt? I've searched but can't find an answer. You can't see to be able to call Square either.

They do an email receipt facility. When taking the payment, just enter the customer's email address and it should pretty much come through straight away. If I remember correctly, there's also a facility to customise the receipt with your logo.

You can also take telephone payments with them, but obviously that is a little more expensive due to the higher risk.

Their email customer service was pretty quick when I didn't get the terminal (the courier lost it) - Square got another one to me the next day, so they seem to be efficient.

 

[nerd2u]

I was using square but their little mag stripe reader didn't work half the time.

I now use payd pro. I can do debit and credit have tap swipe and chip and pin.

My customers love it.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[ChrisTech]

I was using square but their little mag stripe reader didn't work half the time.

I now use payd pro. I can do debit and credit have tap swipe and chip and pin.

My customers love it.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Surprising - I've not had a problem at all.

I use the current white Contactless terminal that has a push in slot for chip cards and an insertable adapter for swiping (I tend not to swipe much these days).