Building a business requires a huge learning curve. And its not the big things that weigh you down; it’s the small things you know little about yet takes a tremendous amount of research to decide the right course of action.

To have the most successful business possible, you need the ability to accept credit card payments. Consumers enjoy the use of “plastic” to take care of the purchases. Without the ability to accept credit card payments, you may lose a large customer base.

To accept credit card payments, you need the right equipment to process the payments, including a credit card terminal. One of the key choices you must make when choosing a credit card terminal is whether you should buy or lease the equipment.

Buying or leasing a credit card terminal depends on several factors.

Available money – if you have limited funds available, you may want to consider leasing a credit card terminal. Terminals can be pricy upfront.

Tax purposes – both leasing and buying a credit card terminal have different tax benefits. When you lease, you can deduct interest from your taxable income each year. When you buy, you can take an annual depreciation deduction.

Technology – technology changes all the time. What may be sophisticated today may be obsolete in a few months. If your business is changing and utilizing new technology, such as mobile devices, a lease may be able to keep you up to date without the heavy investment of purchasing.

Warranties – warranties can vary, depending on if you are buying or leasing the equipment. Make sure you understand the finer points of the warranty for buying and leasing before you make your final decision.

One of the main reasons why you might consider buying a credit card terminal instead of leasing it is the final cost. When you buy the equipment outright, yes, you are shelling out several hundred dollars at one time – but the purchase is final and the terminal is yours. When you lease the terminal, you will be paying monthly payments for several years – your final cost could be triple the amount you would have spent if you had simply bought the terminal. Weigh your options carefully and make the best choice for your business and your budget.

As a smart business owner in today’s technology driven environment, its important to give customers flexibility when purchasing from you. Credit cards are an easy way to allow people to buy whenever they choose. But if you’re ready to take it to the next level, you may wish to include gift cards as well.

In today’s electronic age, gift cards have become quite the popular gift. Gift cards allow the recipient to choose the items they want from a store, rather than being stuck with something they do not like and must return. Gift cards are easy to use, easy to buy and convenient for both the giver and the receiver.

As a business owner, having gift cards available for purchase is practically a must – you want your customers to encourage their friends and family to shop at your store and gift cards make it easy. If you have decided to utilize gift cards, here are a few things you need to know.

The gift card process is easy – your customer buys the gift card using cash or another means of purchase. The card is activated and loaded by the cashier. The customer can give the card to anyone (or use it themselves) for purchases. Some gift cards can be reloaded as many times as the customer needs. The customer can see the remaining balance after every purchase or call a number on the back of the card for automated information.

Your merchant reports will include a variety of information, including activations, deactivations and purchases. You can use the internet to access various reports, including total and individual transactions. Fraud controls are easy to use and built into the gift card programs.

The benefits of gift cards include:

• customers with gift cards often return to your store and purchase more than the amount of the gift card, thereby increasing your sales;

• about 20 percent of customers will not spend the entire amount of their gift card – but the remaining portion still adds to your profits;

• gift cards are more secure than paper gift certificates;

• gift cards are convenient and serve as constant advertising – every time a customer opens his/her wallet, the card bearing your store’s name will be visible.

Accepting credit cards for payment is essential to the success of your business. More and more customers are turning to “plastic” to pay for their purchases. If your business cannot accept credit card payments, you run the risk of losing out on potential profits. Customers will take their business elsewhere if they are unable to use their preferred method of payment.

If you want to accept credit card payments, you will need a merchant account. The following six questions will help you find the perfect merchant account for your business.

1.    What is a merchant account? A merchant account is an account that lets you accept credit card payments.

2.    Who offers merchant accounts and services? Companies that specialize in merchant services offer merchant accounts and related services. These companies are called merchant service providers. Independent organizations can also offer these services, as well as banks and other financial institutions.

3.    Which provider is the best choice for my business? Your choice of merchant service provider depends on your personal preferences, as well as your particular business. For instance, a new business may not be able to qualify for a merchant account from a bank – but an independent organization could be willing to help. Weigh your options with care and pay attention to the fine print before signing any contracts.

4.    Must I have a merchant account of my own to accept credit card payments? No. While having your own merchant account will give you speedier access to funds (usually within two or three days), you can opt to contract with a third-party payment processor to accept payments on your behalf. Keep in mind that the fees will be higher than if you have your own merchant account. In addition, you may not be able to access funds more than a few times a month with a third-party processor. Again, it depends on the needs of your business.

5.    What do I need to start accepting online payments? You will need a merchant service account, a secure server, an order form, a gateway, and a shopping cart.

6.    Are there other ways to accept credit cards for payment? Different businesses have different needs. If you run a retail location, you may need a terminal in place to handle your daily transactions. If you are a service business, you may need a remote terminal to take along with you on the road – mobile technology may be just what you need. And if you have online sales, gateways and shopping carts are in order.

Its important to remember that no two businesses are the same. Instead of trying to take the do-it-yourself road and choose something you assume you need, choose to talk with an expert that can help you choose the best solutions for your needs. He may be able to provide things you’ve never thought of before.

If you own and operate a non-profit or a charity, its easier than ever to have your followers donate funds online. With a credit card in hand, people can quickly help you fund your latest cause. Yet there are rules to follow to help make your site more accessible – more trustable – and therefore receive even more.

Make the donation process quick and easy

Instead of leaving a blank space for people to choose how much to donate, suggest an amount instead. Three or four numbers in a drop down box can actually entice people to giving more than they otherwise would.

Provide adequate support to build trust

While long term followers may donate frequently, as you attract new donors, its important to provide enough support to let them know you are a legitimate organization. Let them know if you are a 501 ©(3) and if the donation will be tax-deductible – a good sign of a legitimate organization.

Make it affordable

Instead of a one time $100 donation, why not break it up into monthly donations? While a larger donation may be difficult for some of your followers, a small amount every month that equates to a cup of coffee may be easier to handle. Offer both options on your site for even more potential.

Offer receipts

Credit card donations are tax deductible for qualified charitable contributions in the year of the donation. While a person can use their credit card statement as proof, you can also give them an added bonus of a printable donation receipt to keep for their records. It also gives them something to look at around tax time the next year – which may spawn a new donation.

Change your website and run specials

With a small charity, its easy to put up a site and let it go. Yet if you change your site frequently, offer new target goals or campaigns, or work to tell stories throughout the year, you’ll be more likely to keep a visitors attention – and keep the donations coming in.

Running a non-profit, charitable website can be easy and profitable – with the right merchant account. We specialize in helping non-profits and charitable organizations achieve results online. Give us a call today.

Different businesses have different needs. If you run a service business with one or two transactions a day, you’ll require different processing and equipment than a retail location that runs hundreds of transactions a day.

If your business falls into the high volume category, here are six areas that require special attention.

1. Room for growth. High volume merchants will very likely have peaks and valleys in their business model. Seasons, days of the week and times of the year can all play into overall sales. And because a high volume merchant may increase business quickly, they must have a merchant account that can add additional services and resources quickly, such as increasing bandwidth or system memory.

2. Processing speed. With a long line of customers waiting to check out, the last thing your business needs is a slow processor. To achieve sufficient processing speed, make sure your business can dedicate resources to real-time transactions, followed by daily batch settlement processing and other functions during the slower or down times.

3. Security. While every dollar is important to a business owner, the higher the volume, the greater your risk. Customer data needs to be protected from hackers by using a variety of preventative steps, including virus detection, storage encryption, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and audit logs. You should also secure your data from physical harm such as theft and fire.

4. Uninterrupted service. While speed is important, the risk of downtime during your busiest timeframes can be an even greater factor in the success of your business. The higher your volume, the more need you will have to avoid interruptions due to external causes, such as software and hardware failures.

5. Lowering your fraud risk. Thieves and hackers target high volume accounts because of the bigger potential reward. The provider you choose should be well versed in fraud protection and reduction, and have many systems in place to avoid theft through a variety of means, including employee, purchasing and online risks.

6. Customer support. When you have a security issue, you need immediate help. If you detect a problem on Saturday afternoon, you can’t leave yourself exposed until Monday morning. The more customers you have, the more customer service you will need. And if you are receiving questions from your customers, chances are you will need the support of your merchant account. Verify you will have access 24/7 – during the times you need it the most.

If you are in the market for a merchant account, you may be wondering what some of the technical terms mean. If you don’t know, you may find yourself scratching your head in confusion when you read agreements and speak with representatives. The following list includes common terms that your merchant account may use – providing you with the knowledge you need to make informed choices.

Real-time processing – when a customer visits your site and makes a transaction, the credit card purchase is completed during the visit – in “real time”

Merchant account – a bank account that receives the proceeds from credit card transactions. When a customer makes a purchase, the amount is debited from their credit card and deposited into the merchant account for the merchant to use

EFT  – electronic funds transfer that is made through a credit card terminal, phone or computer

Cardholder – the person to whom a bank issues a credit card, also includes authorized users of the card

Issuing bank – the bank that issues a credit card to an individual/business, this bank debits the cardholder’s card for a purchase and moves funds to a merchant’s account

Merchant – business that accepts credit cards for purchases

Merchant bank – the bank that provides the merchant (business) with a merchant account to receive credit card payments

SSL – secure socket layer, which is internet protocol that ensures the security of the customer’s information during credit card transactions

Merchant provider – a company that help merchants find and establish merchant accounts; these providers normally conduct business with more than one issuing bank

Payment processor – company that processes the credit card transactions

Debit card – a card used to withdraw funds from an account for purchases

Authorization – the process of approval of a credit card transaction by the bank that issued the credit card to the cardholder

Credit card terminals have not had a long existence. Many of the terminals used today utilize technology that is a mere 20 years old. This modern convenience, while not having a long history, has a rich history behind it. There are several types of credit card terminals that have found their way into the merchant market.

Manual imprinters were the first type of terminals used for credit card transactions. These terminals took an imprint of the credit card used for the purchase. The merchant would then mail the imprints to their bank for processing. Processing of the imprints took time – not like the instant transfers of today. However, manual imprinters are still used today because of their reliability. If your modern credit card terminal is out of service, you can imprint a card in a flash.

Electronic authorizations were first utilized for large transactions. This is because the first electronic authorizations had to be completed over the phone. This could be a lengthy process, often taking longer than five minutes to complete. At the time that electronic authorizations began to be used, merchants had only two choices: an over-the-phone authorization that was time consuming or a manual imprint.

In 1979, Visa introduced the first point of sale terminal. This was a notable time in the history of credit card terminals because this is the same type of technology used today. The year 1979 also saw the addition of magnetic strips to credit cards to allow them to be “swiped” through the point of sale terminals. These terminals made the processing time much faster.

From 1979 to today, credit card terminals have only improved. Security and reliability are the two biggest concerns when it comes to electronic transfers of funds, so we can expect even better options in the future. Mobile options, including smart phone technology and running your business through tablets will also allow you to take your business anywhere, any time.

In today’s tough economic times and soaring unemployment, some people aren’t going back to their career choice; instead they are turning to self employment as a way to subsidize their lifestyles. Statistics show there are as many as 38 million home based businesses in the US today. And if you are thinking of starting up your own business or have recently done so, one of the many things to add to your to-do list is to think about credit card processing.

At first, credit card processing may be something that seems to be farther down the road. If  you have a simple product or service, do you really need to accept credit cards? Isn’t cash and checks “good enough” until the business grows a bit more?

Technology has make it easier than ever for small businesses to compete in today’s marketplace. When people find a unique product or service and decide to make a purchase, they want to do it quickly. Spur of the moment decisions create the majority of all sales. Yet people can’t make quick purchases with cash if they don’t have it on hand, or a check if their checkbook is at home. While cash and checks are disappearing, credit cards are the handy way of moving around in our busy lives. We never leave home without our ID, phone and credit card, so its imperative to accept them if you want your home based business to succeed.

Credit card processing pays off in additional ways for home based business owners as well. When you swipe a credit card, you’ll know within seconds if the customer has the money and is authorized for the payment. Not so with a check, which can take days to learn, and many more days or weeks to collect on in case of non sufficient funds. Plus accepting credit cards can completely do away with your billing functions as all transactions are handled immediately – and no collections.

Depending on your specific situation, credit card processing can be handled in different ways. If you run all credit cards at a retail location, you’ll have different needs than someone who needs a mobile payment system for meeting with clients on the road, or card not present transactions for items purchased by phone or your website.

While all of this may seem confusing when you are still deciding on a logo and how to set up your business, it doesn’t have to be. A professional merchant services representative can talk with you about your needs and make the right suggestions for you.

One more check off your to-do list.

As a merchant, the ability to accept credit cards for payments is important to the overall success of your business. Millions of people pay for their transactions with the use of “plastic”. If you are unable to accept credit cards, you run the risk of losing out on thousands of dollars in profit.

However, as a merchant, accepting credit card payments also means having to pay processing fees for each purchase. One way that merchants can help their bottom line is to set a minimum purchase amount for credit card transactions.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act gives merchants the power to impose minimum credit card purchase amounts. The act went into effect in 2010 and with it came the right for you to set a minimum purchase amount of no more than $10. The act also allows for this $10 minimum to be raised in the future, if the Federal Reserve Board decides it should be raised.

You may be wondering what this means for you, as a merchant. It means that you can help offset processing fees. For example, if the processing fees for a credit card transaction cost you $5 per transaction, small transactions are, essentially, costing you money. If a customer uses their credit card for a $3 transaction, you lose $2. The minimum purchase amount ensures that you do not have to lose money on small transactions.

On the other hand, you could also lose customers if you impose a minimum purchase amount. Customers enjoy the convenience of paying with a credit card and may not want to worry about whether they are buying enough to use their plastic. Some customers may even take their business elsewhere if they feel imposed upon by minimum purchase amounts.

It is up to you to decide if you want to use a minimum purchase – weigh your options carefully and make the choice that is best for your business.

As a business owner, you already understand the importance of having the ability to accept credit card payments. Without accepting credit card payments, you run the risk of losing thousands of dollars in profit from customers that shop only with credit cards. If you have a website for your business, accepting credit cards is equally necessary – otherwise, you will not be able to make online sales.

One of the most important aspects of ecommerce is security – your customers expect their credit card information to be safe and secure. It is your job to ensure it. Here are a few tips to determine if you have everything in place necessary to keep your clients safe.

Your web host must have firewall protection. Not only must your host provide traditional firewalls, they also need web application firewalls. These firewalls protect your website applications – for instance, your site contact forms – from hackers trying to invade your site through these applications.

Your web host must also make use of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) virtual private network. This provides remote users a secure connection to your website.

Vulnerability monitoring does just that – monitors your site for potential weaknesses. When a problem is found, you are notified right away so you can take immediate action. Having this type of 24-hour monitoring is important – think of it as a watchful eye on your site, even when you are sleeping.

Two-factor authentication requires site administrators to go through two layers of security before they are can reach the hosting environment.  This protects against the most common source of data theft – leaked passwords.

Your web host should also provide antivirus protection. This form of security is not the same as the antivirus you run on your computer. This protection scans files and services that are stored on your server, making certain everything is virus-free and safe.

Providing a secure site for your customers is vital to a successful business. Without security, your customers will not shop on your site. And don’t think they won’t know; with social media, people talk about everything online.

Make sure you provide your customers with the highest level of security and you will earn their business time and time again.