How to Choose Credit Cards

Credit cards can sometimes be a life saver, but unless you only use them in an emergency, they can really put you into a world of debt. When it comes to choosing the right credit cards you need to be sure to read the fine print. Some credit card companies have some hidden fees or outrageous over the limit fees. Credit cards have many little hidden tricks to get you to stay and also for them to get your money. Credit cards are well known to have those late charge fees.

Everyone has seen those credit cards that offer tons of frequent-flier miles. Those all sound great on the outside, but once you get involved with that card and you purchase all your favorite merchandise on it, and then you end up with lots of frequent-flier miles that you are just dying to use on that fabulous vacation. Those frequent-flier miles may not even be useable when you want to cash in on them.

Does the cash advance on your credit cards sound good? Well, that's all that is really good about it; the sound. Be sure to read the fine print on your statement and see the interest rate of a cash advance. It is much higher than the interest rate of regular merchandise purchases and there is no grace period like there is for purchases. Cash advances also require you to pay a fee which is usually anywhere from two to four percent of the amount you have taken off the card. Beware on all of those hidden credit card fees on any credit card you get.

Source: http://credit.syndic8.com/article2.html

What Are Credit Reports and How Do They Affect You

Credit reports are a detailed record of all of your credit activities from how many credit card accounts you have, how many loans you may have taken out, and it shows whether you are paying your monthly payments on time or have a lot of unpaid bills. If you have a lot of negativity on your credit reports, you will not be able to apply for a loan, buy a house, or even apply for a credit card. Sometimes you are even unable to get a checking account if you have a very negative credit report.

Credit reports come from a consumer reporting agency (CRA) that gathers and then sells your credit information to creditors who may be considering granting you credit, government agencies, or anyone who has a legitimate business that needs your credit report information such as a landlord before they will approve you to move in.

There are different types of information on credit reports such as your full name, current and previous home address, your social security number, date of birth, information on your spouse and your current and past employers. Credit reports also include previous and current financial accounts you have had or now hold such as bank accounts, retailers, credit card, utility companies, loans, mortgages, any co-signers and your repayment pattern over the past two years.

Credit reports also include public record information such as whether you have had a bankruptcy, tax liens, or any monetary judgments. It also includes recent inquiries on your credit report. It list the names of anyone who has obtained copies of your credit report whether it be for a loan you are applying for or a checking account over the past year.

A good standing credit report can make it very easy to obtain a much needed loan if you are planning on going to college or purchasing a car or house. Keeping your credit up to par is very important and can bring you great things in the future.

Credit card traps

Don’t apply for a card unless or until they tell you what your actual rate will be. This is hard because most of them are not set up to tell you. Generally you will need to know your credit scores and have a copy of your credit report handy. Even then you are unlikely to find someone through their telephone maze that will or can actually answer your question. Try to find a card that gives you a confirmed rate before you apply. A reliable company will first request a copy of your credit report from one of the credit bureaus before quoting you a rate. Often smaller banks and companies offer better deals and are not as strict or hard to deal with. Check with your local banks also. At least with a locally issued credit card "you know where they live".Check your statement each month to be sure you are still at the interest rate you signed up for. If your rate has been increased, look for a late payment fee, or some other reason for the increase. Call the company and ask them why they increased your rate.

Source:http://www.simplejoe.com

Internet Merchant Accounts

Typically, Internet merchant accounts are provided through an acquiring bank (or acquirer) that lets you accept credit cards, and sometimes other types of payments, online. As is the case with any business decision, there are advantages and disadvantages to online payment systems and other types of credit card processors. In general, advantages tend to revolve around having direct control of the payment processing system. Disadvantages tend to revolve around mechanics, security, and logistics of being responsible for the entire payment process.

Advantages of Merchant Accounts and Other Online Payment Systems

Merchant accounts and third party payment processors provide needed online services. Advantages include:

· Customer convenience - Online merchant accounts save site visitors the extra step of writing and sending a check or calling in an order.
· Increased functionality - Internet processors also enable Web sites to be direct sales generators rather than simply lead generators or online brochures.
· Additional direct sales channel - Credit card processors help you add Internet sales as a revenue stream.
· Immediate authorization - With automation, you know immediately if an Internet payment is valid. No waiting for checks to clear.
· Streamline payment process - With Internet merchant accounts and other payment providers, there are fewer steps necessary to assure valid payment as compared to less automated processes.

Disadvantages of Internet Merchant Accounts

Like any other technology, there are disadvantages to online payment systems. Some of the disadvantages of having your own Internet merchant account include:

· You are responsible - With your own Internet merchant account, it is your responsibility to maintain site function, resolve field service issues, etc.
· Fees - Various monthly fees are associated with Internet merchant accounts.
· Fraud - As a merchant, you may have to directly deal with credit card fraud.
· Security issues - Internet merchant accounts are only one piece of a reliable, secure payment system. Private, sensitive information such as credit card numbers can be stolen or altered; system integrity can be breached; and Web site spoofing are all risks with weak security systems.
· Agreements - Internet merchant accounts come with long agreements. Often, you are committed to minimum time frames and/or dollar minimums.

Source:
http://www.take-paymentsonline.com/InternetMerchantAccount.html

Credit card processing introduction

When Western Union first gave charge cards to their best customers in 1914, no one would have guessed that over $2 trillion would be charged in 2003. As ubiquitous as credit cards are, their use is still growing. So the need for providing credit card processing facilities to business has increased. The exploding world of online commerce is playing a part, as is the increasing usage of credit cards in business-to-business transactions. While some businesses could not open their doors without a credit card processing service, it is more of a question for others.

The world of merchant services can be confusing, especially for small businesses who have never accepted credit cards before. This buying guide is designed to help you choose a merchant account provider for your company, as well as avoid some common bait-and-switch tactics that can cost you much more than you expect

Choosing a merchant service

Obviously price is an important factor in choosing a provider - but it should not be the only factor. We at

· Customer support can be essential - problems in credit card processing can quickly impact your bottom line. The best way to learn about a provider's level of customer service is to obtain customer referrals from current clients. Request referrals to merchants that are comparable to your company in size and industry. Then ask these important questions: do they have to wait several minutes before reaching a customer support rep? Are their needs serviced quickly? How does the provider deal with chargebacks? Also ask the provider about their level of support - do they have phones staffed 24 x 7? Do they charge per incident? At Paynet Systems, providing quality support for our customers is a top priority. Regardless of time zone, you will have 24-7 access to technical support.

· Get yourself approved in 24 Hrs

· We at Paynetsystems provide Wholesale Equipment Prices

· No Monthly Minimum Fees

· No Annual Costs/fee

· No Long Term Contracts.

· Finally, if you are not using a bank or financial company you recognize, make sure you verify that the company you are investigating is legitimate - there are con artists and scammers who set up fake processing companies just to collect setup fees then vanish. Contact the Better Business Bureau to check the company's status if you are unsure, and if you find a provider on the Web, make sure you get a physical address and phone number. Which we at www.paynetsystems.com definitely provide.

Merchant services buying tips

Learn how long it takes for funds to be transferred
Providers differ on how long it takes for funds to be deposited to your account. You will want to specify whether it is a retail or MOTO transaction, since MOTO transactions usually take substantially longer to clear. It takes 24-48 hrs if you have availed our Merchant Service

Compare variable fees
Check on fees that tend to vary between providers and may be negotiable. Such fees include set-up, cancellation, and monthly minimum.

Get the complete picture
Once you know all the fees a provider will charge you, figure out what your total cost would be based on your best and worst recent months.

Read the contract
Make sure to read the contract in detail to understand all fees, minimum charges, the term of the agreement, and termination clauses.

We at paynetsystems simplify the procedure for businessmen to go for merchant accounts .Not only this we provide after sales support and replacements ( conditions apply) to our customers.Because “In business time is money” and we understand the value of time and money .You can visit our site www.paynetsystems.com for all your query.

Source : http://businessweek.buyerzone.com

CREDIT CARD SYSTEM

A credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that the credit card issuer loans the consumer money rather than having the money removed from an account. Most credit cards are the same shape and size, as specified by the ISO 7810 standard.

CREDIT CARD SYSTEM:
A credit card user is issued the card after approval from a provider (often a general bank, but sometimes from a captive bank created to issue a particular brand of credit card, such as American Express Centurion Bank), in which they will be able to make purchases from merchants supporting that credit card up to a prenegotiated credit limit. When a purchase is made, the credit card user indicates their consent to pay, usually by signing a receipt with a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid. More recently, electronic verification systems have allowed merchants (using a strip of magnetized material on the card holding information in a similar manner to magnetic tape or a floppy disk) to verify that the card is valid and the credit card customer has sufficient credit to cover the purchase in a few seconds, allowing the verification to happen at time of purchase. Some services can be paid for over the telephone by credit card merely by quoting the number embossed onto the card (the credit card number), and they can be used in a similar manner to pay for purchases from online vendors.

Each month, the credit card user is sent a statement indicating the purchases undertaken with the card, and the total amount owing. The cardholder must then pay a minimum proportion of the bill by a due date, and may choose to pay more or indeed pay the entire amount Typically, credit card issuers will waive interest charges if the balance is paid in full each month, which allows the credit card to serve as a form of revolving credit.

CREDIT CARD PROCESSING. There are several factors to consider when setting up a credit card processing system for a new retail or internet business. The first step is to set up a merchant account via a merchant account service. Such services act as intermediaries between you and the credit card companies. If you are a retail business, you will need to purchase a processing terminal through which credit cards will be physically swiped. Such terminals can cost anywhere from $100-$1000, and can be purchased via merchant account services or else independently. We at paynetsystems provide these terminals and other equipments depending upon specific business needs. Finally, you will need to be sure that your POS (Point of Sale) system is properly set up to interact with the credit card terminal. User manuals or else your merchant account service can usually help with this.

TRANSACTION RATES. Keep in mind that each time a purchase is made; there is a cost to you, the retailer. Rates for internet transactions are generally in the 2-3% range, while brick and morter transactions carry a small per purchase fee and rates in the 1-2% range. If you chose to accept debit cards, this will save both you and the consumer, as these rates are lower still. .But we at www.paynetsystems.com have a transaction fee which is unbeatable
· Retail Merchant Accounts Transaction Fee $.24
· Mail / Phone Order & Home Based Business Transaction Fee $0.25
· Wireless fess Transaction Fee $0.24
· eCommerce & Internet Merchant Accounts Transaction Fee $0.25


MERCHANT ACCOUNTS: A merchant account is a bank account established by a merchant to receive the proceeds of credit card purchases. By establishing a merchant account, the merchant bank agrees to pay the merchant for valid credit card purchases in exchange for the right to collect on the debt owed by the consumer. We at www.paynetsystems.com offer all the above type of merchant accounts depending upon specific business needs

Source: http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/c/r/Credit_card.html

Seven Low-Cost Marketing Ideas

Growing companies trying to figure out how to make a place in the market sometimes, pay consultants thousands of dollars for advice on the subject.

The following are some of the ideas for marketing –

1) Press Releases - Write and distribute press releases that are newsworthy, and send them to newspapers, magazines, and television and radio stations. Design the headline to grab readers' attention in as few words as possible. Get to the point quickly, with a lead sentence that will draw the reader into a convincing piece.

2) Trade Shows - Renting space at a trade show can be expensive, but the best shows are a great way to build your business. Have plenty of promotional materials ready to hand out to interested people. Call your leads in order of importance, but get in touch with all of them .

3) The Internet - Establishing a home page for your business is relatively inexpensive and can reach many people. Use newsgroups that focus on areas similar to your line of business to draw attention to the site. Always include a phone number or email address so that interested visitors can contact you.
4) Direct Mail - Direct mail results depend largely upon how much you're willing to spend on finding your target market and delivering quality materials to them. The per-customer cost is much higher than you'll pay for print ads, but if you create a finely tuned list of recipients, you will reach more highly qualified prospects.

5) Yellow Pages – The Consumers generally hang onto the yellow pages all year and remember to cross-reference your listing. If you do yard work, for instance, list your business under landscaping, maintenance and home improvements etc.

6) Public Service. This is a great chance to do well by doing good. Donate your product to local charities or speak to students at area schools about your business. All of these are terrific ways to position your company in a positive light in your community.

7) Games and Premiums. Periodic prize drawings can help create interest in a retail store or other business. Promotional materials like T-shirts, coffee mugs or pens emblazoned with your logo also help spread the word.

Source -
http://www.allbusiness.com/articles/StartingBusiness/868-25-1840.html

Venture Capital Financing

Venture capitalists have strict investment criteria and specialize in very specific high-growth industries. Venture capital is a broad term, meaning investment funds, partnerships, and divisions of large corporations whose focus is on investing in emerging and promising young companies.

Venture capitalists generally take preferred stock in a corporation in exchange for their investment, and typically expect to receive certain rights regarding their investment, including the right to elect one or more directors to the corporation's Board of Directors; the right to receive financial and other corporate reports and information; priority over common shareholders; and more.

Most companies seek to raise venture capital to support or stimulate economic growth. Other companies raise venture funding to establish credibility or to access resource networks which their venture capital partners have developed through years of experience. Certainly, venture capital financing is not a prerequisite for success.

Today's global business environment is increasingly competitive requiring decisiveness, broader relationship networks, abundant financial resources, and a global presence in order to compete effectively. The venture capital relationship can often bring that exact mix of support in addition to financial funding.

Venture capitalists generally hope to cash out in three to five years and rarely invest less than several million dollars at a time. Also in contrast with angel investors, venture capitalists often take an active role on the boards of companies in which they invest, which may result in loss of independence and control by the owners of those companies.

When a deal has been struck with venture capitalists, the terms of the venture capital investment are typically first memorialized in a Term Sheet, with full-blown legal documents subsequently embodied in a Stock Purchase Agreement. The Stock Purchase Agreement tends to be a fairly complicated document and is generally drafted by the venture capitalists' attorneys

Finding A Venture Capital Firm
The world of venture capital firms is very small. Once you are able to tap into that world, you should be able to find the firm that best suits your corporation's needs. You should start by asking your securities lawyer and accountant. You will want to speak with any colleagues who have experience working with a venture capital firm to raise money for their own ventures. There are publications and journals for venture capitalists that should be available in any public library. Another way to find a venture capital firm is to perform a web search on search engine .

For those companies which do not seek or are unable to attract venture funding, many alternatives exist:
1) Boot Strap
2) Angels
3) Private Placement
4) Initial Public Offering

Sources -
http://www.allbusiness.com/articles/content/585-25-1792.html
http://www.morebusiness.com/

Angel Financing

Angel investors are individuals who are interested in investing in early stage or start-up companies in exchange for an equity ownership interest. Angel investors are likely to invest only upon seeing a business plan for a business with clear potential for profit and growth. These investors are often willing to invest in ventures that are too risky for banks or not enough profit for venture capitalists; nevertheless, angel investors are primarily motivated by a return on their investments. Another reason it makes sense to seek out angel investors is they may be willing to invest smaller amounts of money than other financing resources such as venture capitalists.

Angel investors can be a good source of advice, guidance, networking opportunities, and other financing resources, in addition to their own angel financing. Angel investors tend to invest in businesses they are interested in, or in which they have experience. Angel investors are also typically more interested in a business's founders and management team than other investors. Although angel investors expect to cash out of their investment at some point, they may invest for five or seven years, which is longer than many other types of investors.

Finding angel Investors

Angel investors can be found by asking your colleagues, accountant, lawyer, and friends and family. In some communities, there are specific angel networks, which networks can be found by contacting your local chamber of commerce or looking in the telephone book. Another way to find an angel investor is to perform a web search on www.google.com or any search engine , for angel networks or angel investors.

Source -
http://www.allbusiness.com/

Kind of Equipment you’ll need to process credit card payments.

To compete in an online environment, you need a fast, secure transaction processor you can trust. To process your transactions safely, securely, quickly and affordably, you need the virtual (i.e., not physical) equivalents of point-of-sale hardware and software to process credit card and check transactions in a non-face-to-face environment, such as in cyberspace or over the telephone. You need to be sure your transaction processor provides you with the right products and services to conduct business online:


a) A secure payment gateway enables you to accept credit cards, purchasing cards and checks electronically, safely and securely and translates the information from your Web site into a format that can be read by an electronic processing system. Be sure your transaction processor offers a secure, fast and reliable e-commerce software package. A secure payment gateway supports all your sales, returns, real-time authorizations, captures, batch settlement processing and refunds. State-of-the-art technology provides you with numerous benefits, including fraud screening of every transaction you submit and real-time reporting via your Web browser.

b) A Virtual terminal enables you to process transactions from any Internet-ready PC. It eliminates the need for point-of-sale hardware at your site, and it provides you with a convenient, easy-to-use Web-payment interface.

There are other payment-posting tools for more sophisticated Web sites to enable them to conduct e-commerce. These tools integrate quickly and easily into your Web site, with a full range of payment options and compliance elements (i.e., to help you comply with MasterCard and Visa rules and regulations).

a) A shopping cart or the ability to integrate with an online shopping cart allows customers to shop on your Web site electronically, usually with an online catalog or listed product choices. Items selected are gathered into a shopping cart—which is actually a temporary database—where the costs are collected and tabulated. The virtual shopping cart is an electronic form of the physical shopping cart found in a grocery store.

b) Customer support 24/7, preferably in multiple languages, provides the ability to serve diverse merchants and businesses. Be sure to look for a transaction processor that offers you both telephone and e-mail support. Many secure payment gateways offer only e-mail support. A gateway such as the Link Point Secure Payment Gateway offers all its merchants 24/7 telephone and e-mail support.

c) Secure encryption technology ensures the safety of your transactions. Look for a processor that supports card verification and validation—CVV2/CVC2 are applications that protect MasterCard and Visa transactions—and provides address verification for further security. Today's sophisticated encryption technology provides safe, convenient, cost-effective and rapid payments between consumers, merchants and their banks over the Internet. Be sure your processor uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a protocol designed by Netscape Communications that allows encrypted, authenticated communications to travel across the Internet. Web site addresses that begin with https indicate that an SSL connection will be used. SSL provides you with three important elements: privacy, authentication and message integrity.

d) Virtual check capabilities allow you to accept checks electronically over the Internet as a payment option for your customers' purchases.

e) Wireless terminals provide mobile merchants, such as taxi drivers, transportation and delivery services and merchants who sell at trade shows, sporting events, swap meets or other mobile venues with a mobile commerce payment solution. Be sure your transaction processor offers merchants on the go secure, reliable transaction processing with a top-quality wireless point-of-sale terminal or specialized payment software used with a PDA or other handheld device.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/

This article is sponsored by Paynetsystems Inc, a Merchant account Provider.

What is a Merchant Account

Let’s start with the basics. A Merchant account, which is setup through a merchant account provider, will allow your business to accept credit cards. Merchant account providers also can provide electronic debit, check, and gift card services for retail and online businesses, but this article will focus on credit card acceptance. There are literally thousands of merchant account providers in the US. Many of these companies operate legitimate businesses that are looking to form a long-term relationship, or more appropriately a partnership with your business. But, there are also a lot of businesses that are only looking to make a quick dollar and are trying to scam unsuspecting businesses out of their money.

When you process a credit card, the merchant account provider, gets a very small percentage of the transaction. The remainder of the transaction goes to the card issuing bank (Chase, Bank of America, etc) the card issuer (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, etc), and the processing bank (FDMS, NOVA, VITAL, etc). The processing bank is the company with all of the electronics and software that processes the credit card transaction. The processing bank is not the merchant service provider, but the merchant service provider is an authorized distributor for the processing bank. The merchant service provider gets a very small percentage of each transaction, usually less than .20%. This means that on a $1000.00 sale the merchant account provider may only get $2.00 of the total transaction fee. For this reason, it is important to select a provider with a good reputation that is not going to try and scam you out of your money. Small undeveloped merchant account providers will try to get as much up front as possible, because they don't have a large enough client list to support their operation.

There are two types of merchant account providers that you will come in contact with. The first is the actual provider. This company will be sponsored by a FDIC insured processing bank, or several banks. The second is an independent sales representative. This is a reseller for the merchant service provider. Since the reseller gets a price from the actual provider, the reseller has to mark up the fees, so his price will be slightly higher than the provider's. The reseller is also usually unable to provide technical support and your business will be referred to the main office for support. A merchant service provider should have 24-hour technical support, and a good warranty policy for their equipment. You should also never have any problem talking to a real person if you try and call them. If you can’t get a human on the phone during normal business hours, then find another company. Where will they be if something goes wrong and your account needs immediate assistance?

Merchant account type

Retail Merchant Account - This type of retail, free merchant account applies to credit card transactions where the customer is present. Perfect for retail storefronts, restaurants, hotel & motel, malls and kiosks, service businesses & more.

Keyed Merchant Account - Keyed credit card transactions are those orders via phone, mail, fax, or internet.

Wireless Merchant Account - Using the Comstar Mobile Merchant, you will qualify for card-present transaction fees by processing your transactions via a wireless connection, similiar to your cellular phone. Great for flea markets, service businesses and trade shows.

Internet Merchant Account - Card not-present transactions processed in real-time via an Internet Payment Gateway and/or Internet Virtual Terminal.

Source: http://www.simplejoe.com/

10 ways to save money on Credit Card Processing

Managing your business finances is your responsibility. This applies to every aspect of the business and one often-overlooked area is the payment processing that your company pays for every month. It is very common for a business to accept the first or second offer they receive when initially setting up your business' merchant account. It is even more common for a business to stay with a company even though they could be saving money, often in the thousands of dollars a year, by occasionally shopping around or calling their provider to see if their rates can be lowered.

Setup right from the start: Chances are that when you first registered your business you were barraged with a multitude of calls from merchant service providers offering you the ability to accept credit cards and other electronic payments. If you took one of these offers without investigating your other options, you are probably paying much more than you need to be for credit card processing. The best solution for any business, existing or startup, is to shop around for the best deal possible. The best place to start shopping is the internet.

Don't lease Processing Equipment: Purchase your processing equipment outright. Despite beliefs, processing equipment isn't as expensive as many people think, and you will pay many times more for leasing than you will for purchasing. Many businesses have been sold very expensive equipment by the same companies that solicited to their businesses over the phone when they started up. Equipment costs from about $200 for a basic terminal up to $1000 for a high-end wireless terminal, with most common terminals falling into the $250 - $350 range. If you are offered a much higher price, then you are essentially being scammed. Look around on the internet for prices on the terminal you are being offered, you will probably find a better deal and a better company.

Find out if your rates can be lowered: I don't suggest to immediately go out and find a new merchant service company. It takes work on your part and on your provider's part to setup your merchant account. Most of the time your provider will review your current rates and try their best to lower them if you request it. If they refuse to review your rates, you should find another provider. It is not always possible to get your rates lowered, but a company that will not even do a rate review, is doing bad business.

Be wary of too good to be true offers: So many times, merchants are pulled away from their existing providers by rates that seem so much better that what they currently have. Later they find hidden and extra fees riddled throughout their merchant account contract. If the rate you are being offered is considerably lower than any others you have hear or you are offered no transaction fees, you should be wary of the offer. Merchant account providers all have a very similar buy cost on merchant account fees. If one provider seems to be much lower than the others, then they are going to make the money up somewhere else.

Know your business accountant: It is very common for accountants to have personal relationships with payment processing companies, especially if the accountant manages multiple businesses. Often accountants are given bonuses for referring new merchants and for keeping their businesses with the merchant service company. Your business may be paying more because your accountant is getting a kickback from a merchant service provider.

Stay away from the bank: Banks provide merchant services. Yes, this is true but all but a few very large banks sign their customers with a private merchant service provider. Banks that do not provide their own merchant services, mark up fees from a merchant service provider, so they can also make money on your business. You are basically paying extra for a middle person when you don't have to be. Those banks that do provide their own merchant accounts have much higher fees and poor customer service when compared to merchant service providers.

If you are a retail business, get setup with signature and pin debit: Signature debit is a relatively new system that gives a much lower processing fee to debit transactions verses credit transactions. A signature debit transaction is when a customer runs their check card like a credit card. Pin debit is where a customer enters their pin number into a pinpad to process the transaction. You will need a pinpad or credit card terminal with an internal pinpad to use pin debit, but you will eliminate your processing fee completely and have a flat rate transaction fee for every pin debit transaction. Studies have shown that about 50% of all plastic transaction are Pin or Signature debit. This means that you can save on 50% of your customer's transactions. The price of a pinpad can be quickly paid for in the fees that you save using pin debit.

Fixed Rates: Make sure when you sign up that your provider will not raise your rates. The only time that you should see a rate change is when Visa or MasterCard raises the processing interchange rate. This means that Visa or MasterCard raises the amount that they collect from each transaction. Your rate will go up proportionally because the entire industry has to pay this extra amount. No company anywhere is excluded from an interchange increase.

Bundled Rates: Another very common pitfall is for a business to accept a bundled rate offer. These offers have a very low or zero transaction fee, and an increased processing percentage. If you have a history of processing and statements, a bundled rate 'can' save you money, but if you are a new business you will almost always pay more with a bundled rate. Bundled rates are based solely from your average ticket size. If you have a highly variable ticket size or you are a new business stay away from bundled rates.

Trust your own feelings: If a company makes you feel uneasy or you feel like they aren't being honest with you, you should trust your instinct. Shop around and investigate the company. There are hundreds of providers out there, so if a company brings up questions, find someone else.

Source: http://www.merchantequip.com/10-ways-to-save.php

6 Essential Questions for Selecting Merchant Services

All small businesses require some form of payment processing. Understanding how to select merchant services can impact your sales revenue and profit. Learn the essential 6 questions of merchant services, and the hidden rules of the merchant account game.

1: What are merchant services: - Merchant services enable you to process credit card payments from your customers. It’s a special account tied to a credit card processor that works with your customer's bank to help route payments into your bank account.

2: Who offers merchant services: - Merchant services are provided by specialized companies called merchant service providers or independent sales organizations that offer payment processing. Another source for setting up merchant accounts are financial institutions

3: Which type of company is best for a small business owner: - It depends on your business situation. A home-based business owner may be turned down from a bank since their business is less established. Merchant service providers and independent sales organizations can be more flexible. While one person may feel comfortable dealing with their local bank, another might prefer a credit card processor who offers low rates. Choose what is important to your business.

4: Is a merchant account required to accept credit cards:- No. One option is to contract with companies providing payment processing on your behalf. Their prices are higher from taking a larger percentage of the ticket price. All credit card providers charge your small business a percentage of each credit card payment received. If you are considering selling on the Internet, a merchant account provides a better professional image. If you allow a third party company to process your payments, you have to put your order form on the payment processing site. You may only be able to get your funds two or three times a month, limiting cash flow. With your own merchant account, expect to receive those funds in less than three days from the time of the transaction.

5: What is required to begin payment processing online:- To begin payment processing you need the following: a) Secure Server with Certification:

a)When your customer enters their credit card information, it is sent in unencrypted text form to the server hosting the website. To prevent data interception use SSL encryption ensuring no unauthorized decoding can occur.

b) Order Form: Your customers need a place to input personal and banking information. The order form must be on a secure server.

c) Gateway: This is the "tunnel" which allows for the authorization, processing, and management of the merchant services. It is the mechanism transferring your customer's vital information to the processor so you can get paid.

d) Shopping Cart: A shopping cart is software allowing your small business to have an e-commerce store where purchases are automatically calculated for you. Ensure the gateway is compatible with the shopping cart.

e) Merchant Service Account: You can have a secure server with certification, an order form, shopping cart and a gateway, but real-time processing cannot take place without establishing a merchant account. The merchant account provides access to a processor able to authorize, capture, and settle credit card transactions.

6: What are other ways to accept credit card payments:- One method is to outsource merchant service to a third party. The third party collects your customers' data and does all the work to process payments for your small business. Another way to collect credit card payments on the web is called deferred payment processing. The customer inputs all data and you receive the data manually. With deferred processing, the data does not go through the gateway. One advantage to deferred processing is the ability to inspect all orders and correct them. Deferred payment processing can be time-consuming especially if you have hundreds of orders per day. Finding the best merchant service option can be overwhelming.

Review your options and make the decision based on what your customers would prefer and your small business can afford.

Source:- http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/technology/a/paymt.htm

Choosing An Internet Merchant Account

The term merchant account enables you to accept the credit cards over the internet. A merchant account is a special account that is setup for the purpose of business to process the orders received online. It involves a special type of arrangement with the banks that allow to process payments in a bank account and passes the results to this account if the transaction is succeeded

Merchant Account is the most cost effective way of accepting payment by credit card. i.e refers to accepting the credit cards online. With this account, we will be to accept credit card numbers on the site, and then receive any payments due to this.

How It Works - Accepting credit card payments through your web site actually requires multiple components. Between a paying customer and your bank account, three layers exist:
Payment Gateway - This is the code that will transmit a customer's order to and from an internet merchant account provider. The payment gateway provides you the ability to accept customer billing information (credit card number, credit card type, expiration date, and payment amount) and the necessary validation steps that must be followed before the credit card is actually billed.

Internet Merchant Account - A Merchant Account is an account with a financial institution or bank, which enables you to accept credit card payments from your clients. The payment gateway actually transmits the billing information to the internet merchant account provider.The main reason why most local financial institutions or banks do not want to provide online merchant accounts is because transactions conducted over the Internet are totally different from face to face transactions where a signature is required to authorize the purchase. This makes online transactions prone to credit card fraud.

Web Site - Regardless of which merchant provider and gateway service you choose, your web site will need to integrate with your service providers. Most providers include detailed web integration instructions.

Typically, an internet merchant account will have following types of costs:

Up Front Application Fees
On Going Fixed Fee
Discount Rate
Fixed Transaction Fee
Termination Fees
Miscellaneous Fees

Source - http://www.findmyhosting.com/web-resources/Articles/internet-merchant.htm

10 Ways to Grow Your Home based Business

A home based business owner needs to determine the various steps that can take his company to the next level of growth and profitability. A large number of entrepreneurs with great ideas are establishing home offices everywhere. This is due to the fact that the home office solution is becoming an increasingly feasible option for motivated individuals in a variety of business fields. Fortunately, there are some ways to take your home based business to new heights without sacrificing your business's profitability.

Follow these 10 steps to grow your home based business:

1. Focus on a single product or service, and then market it, sell it, promote it—do everything to increase sales of that product or service.

2) Expand your product line to offer complementary products or services.

3. Find ways to increase sales to your existing customers.

4. Hire someone to help you out, may be an employee, an intern or an independent contractor.

5. Create a Web site to advertise your company or sell products online.

6. Join forces with another business to promote your company.

7. Target other markets.

8. Find new and different ways to market your business through e-mail newsletters etc.

9. Expand to another location.

10. Make plan about turning your business into a franchise or business opportunity.

Source -
http://www.businessweek.com/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/

The 7 Habits of Business Success

1) Cultivate Inner Networks: Entrepreneurs generally know the power of networks to practice the art of business success. They need the time to identify and build relationships with key peers and advisors. The inner network provides support, direction, and an increased number of people to assist. Having an inner network of people allows to grow the network exponentially.

2) Customer Centric: The success of every business depends on the best customer relations. Business success requires a firm to the customer. This commitment includes a mindset of understanding the customers' world. Understanding the customer’s wants and needs provides the business with a greater opportunity to earn a loyal customer base.

3) Humble Honesty: A successful business requires the ability to know your strengths and weaknesses. You need to be open and honest about yourself and your business that creates growth as an individual and as a company. Find the weak areas enabling you to focus on strengths too.

4) Adaptability: Each and every business must be adaptable to different situations. The success of the business entirely depends on the ability to adapt to changing situations. The world of business is full of surprises and unforeseen events. Using the habit of adaptability allows business owners to respond to circumstances with the ability to change course and act without complete information.

5) Opportunity Focused: Problems are a general and regular part of business life. Staff issues, customer misunderstandings, cash crunches and many more- the endless list .We need to look at both sides of the coin in order to achieve business success. Being opportunity focused makes the game of business fun and energizing.

6) Finding A Better Way: Productivity is the cornerstone of business success. The habit of finding a better way must be formulated in order to make business more productive. This will create more time to focus on the critical issues that drive sales and profit. It can be enhanced by technology, automation, outsourcing, and improving business processes.

7) Balanced Lifestyle Management: A business consumes an owner's time and energy. Business success requires the habit of balancing all aspects of your life. Separating time for daily business tasks, profit driven tasks, and free time is a habit that will make business and life more enjoyable.

Source - http://sbinformation.about.com

Avoiding Credit Card Fraud on Your Small Business Web Site

If you do business on the Web, you should be concerned about credit card fraud. With identity and credit card theft running rampant, you need to assure your customers that you are committed to protecting them from fraudulent transactions.

1. Require a credit card verification number on all purchases. Also referred to as a CVV (card verification value) or CVV2, this three-digit number is located on the back of every Visa and MasterCard. Requiring a CVV cuts down on fraud from stolen credit card statements or numbers that are plucked off of the Internet. However, if the thief actually has the credit card, requiring the CVV won't help.

2. Use an account verification system. Also known as AVS, this system checks on the billing address of the card to make sure that the ZIP code and other information matches. This can greatly decrease credit card fraud as long as the thief does not have access to the card holder’s billing address.

3. Look at billing and ship-to addresses. Although this is not a foolproof screening method, if the billing and ship-to addresses are radically different, beware. Sometimes addresses are different because buyers would like the item shipped to their office or shipped somewhere else as a gift, if the addresses are in different states, proceed with caution.

4. Hire a fraud-prevention service. If you are concerned about credit card fraud, there are many different companies that can help you ensure that you are not processing any fraudulent transactions. Cyber Source offers a service called Payer Authentication, which takes advantage of the Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code programs. Card issuers are working very hard to ensure that their customers are protected, and you can partner with them by using these programs. If you prefer to have a third party help you with these programs, this is a great way to participate.

Rule to follow to avoid you from credit card traps

Rule #1 Read ALL of the fine print. If you are not clear on something ask someone else what they think it means. Ask an attorney friend, CPA (certified public accountant), financial planner, banker or other person in the financial industry. Chances are they will have several questions about the fine print, too.

Rule #2 Don’t apply for a card unless or until they tell you what your actual rate will be. This is hard because most of them are not set up to tell you. Generally you will need to know your credit scores and have a copy of your credit report handy. Even then you are unlikely to find someone through their telephone maze that will or can actually answer your question. Try to find a card that gives you a confirmed rate before you apply. A reliable company will first request a copy of your credit report from one of the credit bureaus before quoting you a rate. Often smaller banks and companies offer better deals and are not as strict or hard to deal with. Check with your local banks also. At least with a locally issued credit card "you know where they live".

Rule #3 Always mail your payment at least 7 days before it is due. Or try paying through the Internet. Many companies now offer that payment method. It can also save you time and stamps.

Rule #4 Check your statement each month to be sure you are still at the interest rate you signed up for. If your rate has been increased, look for a late payment fee, or some other reason for the increase. Call the company and ask them why they increased your rate.

Source: http://www.simplejoe.com/article-david-berky-credit-card-traps.htm

Strategies on improving Business

Marketing plays a vital role in successful business ventures. The purpose of the marketing plan is to define your market, i.e., identify your customers and competitors, to outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers and to identify and anticipate change. For the business to succeed involves a careful planning and a thorough understanding of the marketplace.

Global competitive pressures and a relentless drive for productivity and profitability improvement are features of virtually all modern organizations. Staying in front requires a faster and smarter performance each year, with continuous improvement in all commercial activities. Web analytics is becoming one of the hot sectors in Internet marketing and e-commerce technology.

The goal of any web presence should be to improve the business as a whole and complement its offline marketing and sales efforts. In other words, to help it achieve maximum profitability. In order to achieve this, the online strategy must: Drive targeted traffic to the site, persuade site visitors to take the desired actions you want them to take, and use Web metrics to analyze and measure user behavior.

Performing these objectives correctly will ensure that you have an effective marketing campaign and increased sales for your business.

1. Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Site - Driving targeted traffic begins with a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign including pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

2. Persuade Web Site Visitors To Take the Desired Action - The ultimate goal is to have the site visitor to take a desired action may be our business involves selling a product or service, obtaining newsletter subscribers, or enticing people to download a software demo. Selling your services to corporations is an attractive proposition. The business must include the implementation process to help expand and develop our clients to achieve higher levels of success. The strengths and value of the business lies in the ability to help companies focus on their organization, their people, their needs, and their strategic direction.

The performance measurement and analysis systems assure rapid and sustainable business results. The analysis system will

Align and integrate the organization around common strategic objectives and goals
Assess current performance relative to key competitors and relevant benchmarks
Highlight performance improvement needs and help set priorities
Include customer focused metrics that are integrated with business processes
Provide close alignment between analysis and organization performance review

In business, it's important to align with the strategic alliances The Sales Strategy involves the different phases described as follows -:

Phase One: Establish Rapport with Customer
Phase Two: Determine Customer Objective and Situational Factors
Phase Three: Recommend a Customer Action Plan
Phase Four: Obtaining Customer Commitment.


Sources - http://www.debaylo.com/
http://websearch.entrepreneur.com/

Secrets to Rapid Business Growth

A key factor to achieve success in today's market is finding subtle differences to give a business a competitive marketing edge. Businesses that target specialty markets will promote its products and services more effectively than a business aiming at the "average" customer. The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.

Opportunities in marketing increase when segmented groups of clients and customers with varying needs are recognized. Markets can be segmented or targeted using a variety of factor. The bases for segmenting consumer markets include:

Demographical bases (age, family size, life cycle, occupation)
Geographical bases (states, regions, countries)
Behavior bases (product knowledge, usage, attitudes, responses)
Psychographic bases (lifestyle, values, personality)

Marketing mix is a combination of marketing tools that are used to satisfy customers and company objectives. Consumers often call the marketing mix "the offering." The offer is generally controlled by the variables such as: Product, Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion .By using variations of these four components, it is possible to have the ability to reach multiple consumers within the target market.

Creating a successful marketing mix that will increase results often takes experimenting and market research. There are many methods that can be used. The key is to not always depend on "one" mix and combining and coordination of these elements will be more effective than depending on one

Ten Tips to Prepare for Sustainable Growth
Companies primed for growth base foundations of infrastructure and knowledge, and avoid the pitfalls of undisciplined growth that can dissipate quickly. Here are ten ways to prepare:

1. Know Your Financials: The growth involves knowing your financials and to have the idea of difference between cash flow and profitability.

2. Know Your Outside Financing Options: Companies primed for growth know how, when and where to get outside money and what type of financing to tap. They know the appropriate financing option at each point in the company’s life cycle, and are versed in how companies are valued and the impact of current trends on the ability to raise money.

3. Leverage Core Competencies: One key to growth is to leverage your company’s competitive advantage by developing new products or going after new markets.

4. Focus Externally as Well as Internally: Tracking your company’s financials, operations, sales and marketing efforts is must. Comparing yourself to your competition and understanding the impact of marketplace trends will help in improving the growth of the business.

5. Consider Non-Organic Ways to Grow: Acquisition can be an ideal way to grow, but need to evaluate what type of company is a good fit with yours. Be precise about how the target company adds value to your enterprise and what the necessary benchmarks are to capitalize value. Other ways of gaining a marketplace advantage: team up with another company and form a joint venture or strategic alliance.

6. Move from Micro-Management to Macro-Management: Business owners often have trouble letting go and turning matters over to subordinates. And that’s even critical to do. Delegate responsibilities and tasks to appropriate staff. Communicate critical and actionable information.

7. Make Strategic Use of Outside Advisors: Put together a good board of advisers, and this will create a powerful asset that can make a huge difference when you need to get objective advice, scout the marketplace, gauge future trends, seek new strategic positions, build repeat customers.

8. Reap the Rewards of Technology: You can improve your business through access to timely, critical information about performance. And it’s equally important that you identify and seize technology-enabled opportunities that help you reduce costs and increase productivity. Use relationship-management systems that integrate information to better serve customers, improve cash flow and promote cross-selling.

9. Protect Intellectual Property: Products, technologies, business methods, patents, trademarks, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property can significantly enhance a company's ability to secure and defend sources of marketplace advantage.

10. Manage Risk Through Insurance: Just being in business is risky. Since risk can’t be eliminated, you have to manage it by insuring your company with general liability and property coverage, an umbrella policy, automobile insurance etc.


Sources – http://www.stengelsolutions.com/tips15.htm
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,317200,00.html
http://marketing.about.com/cs/sbmarketing/a/smbizmrktseg.htm