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MERCHANT PROCESSING
FACTS |
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- As of September 30, 2008, there were 339 million Visa credit
cards and 314 million Visa debit cards in circulation in the United
States.
- There were 984 million bank-issued Visa and MasterCard credit
card and debit card accounts in the U.S in 2007.
- In 2008, merchants paid $81.56 billion in electronic payment
fees, up from $61.58 billion in 2007.
- It is estimated that there are 10,000 payment card transactions
made every second around the world.
- Electronic processing costs have risen a staggering 153% since
2001.
- The un-banked and under banked American consumer is estimated
today at 100 million people or one-third of the total US population.
This number is estimated to be growing annually by double-digit
percentage rates.
- Visa says rewards cards now make up more than half of all credit
cards and about 80 percent of money spent on a credit card
- Customers using credit cards will spend an average of 30% more
than their cash counterparts. Customers paying by credit card
buy 2.5 times more than if paying by check or cash.
MERCHANT PROCESSING QUESTIONS
I AM A NEW MERCHANT. HOW CAN
YOUR COMPANY HELP ME TO START GROWING?
Few businesses are able to prosper if they are not able to accept
credit cards from their customers. If you are opening a new business
we strongly suggest that you fill out an application so that we
can discuss with you the many ways that we can help your business
grow. We will provide you with the ability to accept credit cards,
whether you are opening an on-line business or a physical store.
We'll provide you with access to our customer service line that
will help you save time and money for your business. MerchantSphere
is here to help you understand how fast, easy and profitable it
can be to accept credit cards.
Be aware of some processors out there who are offering merchant
services which may appear to be similar to that of Your Company.
They may charge you high application and discount fees, offer leasing
with no cancellation terms, or sign you up for services that you
just don't need. There are literally hundreds of web sites out there
selling you unnecessary services.
I ALREADY HAVE A MERCHANT ACCOUNT. WHY SHOULD I
CONSIDER CHANGING MY MERCHANT ACCOUNT TO YOUR COMPANY?
MerchantSphere will be able to offer you the latest technological
advances in credit card processing whether it is done via desk top
computer or personal digital assistant. In addition, we will beat
any merchant processing rate that you currently have.
DO YOU OFFER A MERCHANT GATEWAY?
Yes, MerchantSphere Payment Gateway. After successful authorization
of an order, MerchantSphere gives you total control of the options
that you can choose for the transaction.
WHAT IS THE DISCOUNT RATE?
Every bank charges a discount rate. The discount rate is the percentage
of each transaction that the processing company charges to handle
the transaction for you, Our discount rates are exceptionally low
for both retail (swiped) merchants and for mail order/telephone order
and Internet merchants.
HOW DO I APPLY?
Just submit the free, no obligation, online processing submission
application. We will contact you within 24 hours (not including weekends
and holidays) to discuss it with you. After we discuss your preliminary
application, if you wish to proceed we will send you a simple to fill
out, application package. Once the application has been completed
and returned to us we will let you know the ultimate results within
48 hours
HOW LONG DOES THE APPROVAL PROCESS TAKE?
Once we receive all the paperwork you will be notified of the outcome
in 48 hours. If you are approved, and this is very likely, we will
quickly begin the startup process to get you up and running as quickly
as possible.
CAN I ESTABLISH NEW MERCHANT ACCOUNT?
Yes. MerchantSphere is your one stop merchant service provider. Once
we are selected to support your merchant account we will prepare everything
you will need to open your account and obtain merchant numbers from
the providers you choose to accept.
WHY IS THERE SUCH A WIDE RANGE OF PRICING FROM
DIFFERENT PROVIDERS?
Be cautious of what looks to good to be true---it probably is not.
All merchant service providers pay Visa and MasterCard the exact same
"Interchange"----the cost providers pay the Bankcard system.
Be certain you know ALL your costs going in, not just the attractive
swiped discount.
WHAT OTHER COSTS ARE THERE RELATED TO ACCEPTING
BANKCARDS?
Bankcard pricing has over 22 levels with downgrades depending on if
the sale was swiped, hand keyed and when it is settled. Hand keyed
sales have additional requirements that must be reported with the
sale to insure you have the best rates available.
ONCE QUOTED A RATE MY RATE IS SECURE?
Wrong. Many providers will quote an unbelievable rate that is nothing
more than advertising. You need to know how long the rate quoted is
guaranteed and under what circumstances if any could your rate increase.
WHAT IF I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH MY TERMINAL, SOFTWARE
OF GATEWAY?
Only work with a merchant service provider who will help you with
equipment failure; and one who is ready to supply you with equipment
while yours is being repaired.
WHAT IS PCI? TO WHOM DOES PCI APPLY?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set
of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process,
store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.
Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID). The Payment
Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was launched on
September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card
Industry (PCI) security standards with focus on improving payment
account security throughout the transaction process. The PCI DSS is
administered and managed by the PCI SSC (www.pcisecuritystandards.org),
an independent body that was created by the major payment card brands
(Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.). It is important
to note, the payment brands and acquirers are responsible for enforcing
compliance, not the PCI council. PCI applies to ALL organizations
or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts,
transmits or stores any cardholder data. Said another way, if any
customer of that organization ever pays the merchant directly using
a credit card or debit card, then the PCI DSS requirements apply.
PCI Standards can be found on the PCI Website:
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml
WHAT ARE THE PCI COMPLIANCE 'LEVELS' AND HOW ARE
THEY DETERMINED?
All merchants will fall into one of the four merchant levels based
on Visa transaction volume over a 12-month period. Transaction volume
is based on the aggregate number of Visa transactions (inclusive of
credit, debit and prepaid) from a merchant Doing Business As ('DBA').
In cases where a merchant corporation has more than one DBA, Visa
acquirers must consider the aggregate volume of transactions stored,
processed or transmitted by the corporate entity to determine the
validation level. If data is not aggregated, such that the corporate
entity does not store, process or transmit cardholder data on behalf
of multiple DBAs, acquirers will continue to consider the DBA's individual
transaction volume to determine the validation level.
Merchant levels as defined by Visa:
| Merchant Level |
Description |
| 1 |
Any merchant - regardless of acceptance
channel - processing over 6M Visa transactions per year. Any
merchant that Visa, at its sole discretion, determines should
meet the Level 1 merchant requirements to minimize risk to the
Visa system. |
| 2 |
Any merchant - regardless of acceptance
channel - processing 1M to 6M Visa transactions per year. |
| 3 |
Any merchant processing 20,000 to
1M Visa e-commerce transactions per year. |
| 4 |
Any merchant processing fewer than
20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions per year, and all other
merchants - regardless of acceptance channel - processing up
to 1M Visa transactions per year. |
* Any merchant that has suffered a hack that resulted in an account
data compromise may be escalated to a higher validation level.
Source: http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/cisp_merchants.php
DO ORGANIZATIONS USING THIRD-PARTY PROCESSORS
HAVE TO BE PCI COMPLIANT?
Yes. Merely using a third-party company does not exclude a company
from PCI compliance. It may cut down on their risk exposure and consequently
reduce the effort to validate compliance. However, it does not mean
they can ignore PCI.
MY BUSINESS HAS MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, IS EACH LOCATION
REQUIRED TO VALIDATE PCI COMPLIANCE?
If your business locations process under the same Tax ID, then typically
you are only required to validate once annually for all locations.
And, submit quarterly passing network scans by a PCI SSC Approved
Scanning Vendor (ASV), if applicable.
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