How you can instantly save thousands of dollars in overcharges you are currently paying out…Or, you’ll get $300 on the spot.
Last year, President Barack Obama signed into law a credit-card consumers’ “Bill of Rights” that limits unscrupulous fees, penalties and contract changes, saying it will give Americans “the strong and reliable protections they deserve.”
The legislation protects cardholders but does nothing about abusive practices that cause you to unknowingly overpay thousands of dollars in merchant processing fees.
A recent audit showed that 92% of practice owners are overcharged by their merchant account provider.
To find out if you are overpaying, I have enclosed some insider information that shows how merchant processors keep you in the dark about how much you are really paying.
A National Merchant Account Provider will GUARANTEE it can, in mere MINUTES, examine one of your statements and show you where you are being overcharged, how much you are being overcharged and how much money you could save by switching providers.
You know, if they’re that good, they oughta put their money where their mouth is – And, they agreed! If they are unable to save you money – they will pay you…
$300 on the spot.
They are making this incredible offer because they love dental practices. The biggest challenge merchant account providers face is attrition of their customer base. They’re flat-out scared losing their current account base. Plus, it’s a well-known fact that 4 out of 5 new businesses that start up fail within 5 years. Dental practices, however, have tremendous longevity – so this provider is making an extraordinary offer to grow their dental practice customer base. (Don’t try to think about how much you’ve overpaid in the past – just know you can SAVE money now, putting it right back in your pocket, where it belongs!)
4 Things Your Credit Card Processor Hopes You Never Find Out
1. Rate Does Not Matter
The supposed “Rate” you receive from your credit card processor means very little. This may be difficult for you to hear, because “Rate” was most likely a critical factor when you selected your current credit card company. Some companies advertise rates as low as 1.49%, or even lower. In many cases the rates advertised are actually below the combined average cost for that company for a Visa or MasterCard transaction.
So how can they do this? Simple- they’re known as surcharges. You may be familiar with some industry terms regarding transaction types. These terms are: “Mid-Qualified, “Non-Qualified”, “Card Type does not meet Qualified specifications”, “Downgrades”, or even “Rewards Card.” The real rate you pay is a conglomeration of several factors including the “Qualified Rate”, surcharges, transaction fees, batch fees, annual fees, monthly fees, “Rewards Card Fees”, and numerous other fees that most business owners don’t even have the time to learn.
You may have signed up for services at a “Qualified Rate” of 1.59%. However when you review your statement you may really be paying an effective rate (meaning all charges combined on total volume) of 3.25% and not even realize it. In fact, this is exactly what they are “banking” on!
Now, what if you could be paying an effective rate of 2.25%, clearly one percent less each month? Do the math, if your volume is $50,000 per month- that’s $500 per month-$6,000 per year in your pocket. Imagine what an extra $500 per month in cost savings could mean for your business!
2. So-Called “Rewards Cards” are a Nemesis to Your Business’ Bottom Line
Rewards cards came about some time ago because card issuers (card issuers are the banks that provide credit cards to consumers) needed a way to compete with each other for new cardholders and card usage. They also wanted to provide their cardholders with an incentive to use their cards. Why did they do that? Well how often have you said to yourself “I’m going to use my card because I get miles?” That’s exactly what I am talking about. And, it happens virtually every single day in your office! Some client or patients says that very phrase.
About 2 years ago the Board of Directors for both Visa and MasterCard (these boards are comprised of the largest banks in the United States) determined that by providing rewards on credit cards they were creating more sales for merchants. So Visa and MasterCard decided it was necessary for your business to pay the price. To accomplish this they added new pricing categories for merchants who accept credit cards. Through these new pricing categories it allowed the charging of higher rates for each rewards card accepted.
The average cost difference that banks and processors are charged for a rewards card is approximately less than half a percent. In fact, it’s probably around 0.35%. However, when Rewards Interchange was released, many processors and banks saw this as a license to profit on all of your hard work. So with absolutely NO VALUE ADDED, or, nothing given back to you, many banks and processors added a significant mark-up to this “rewards” difference. In many cases they charged the same as the non-qualified surcharges. For many businesses this could be 1.00%, 1.50% or even close to 2.00% additional charges on rewards cards. Remember, the processors’ cost is only about one half of one percent! You have to be saying to yourself “That’s a HUGE MARK UP!” What’s worse yet for your business, these rewards cards can make up 20%, 25%, 30% or even more of the transactions you accept.
3. Complex Bank Statements (can) Cost You Money
When was the last time you reviewed your merchant account statement? Do you scrutinize it like you would a lab bill or some other vendor?
If you are one of the lucky ones, you have a statement from a service provider that you can actually understand. However, most companies will provide you with a statement that’s not only difficult for you to understand, but also difficult for a seasoned professional bankcard rep to understand!
There may even be hidden or omitted data on rates so as to make it difficult for you or anyone else to analyze and compare your current fees to those available. If you have one of these statements you’re probably overpaying by a fair amount. You need to act quickly to get an analysis and all of the information to determine your effective rate. This rate is the bottom line of what it’s costing you to accept credit cards!
4. A $60 Device could save you $1000’s per Year
Most businesses do not know that by using a “PIN Pad” at your business you can drastically reduce the cost of accepting credit cards. A Pin Pad is a small add-on device that you connect to your credit card terminal. This device saves savvy business owners millions and millions of dollars collectively on fees. A big fight over this one issue is what caused the giant retailer Wal-Mart and a few others such as Safeway to win a lawsuit valued at $3 billion over Visa and MasterCard.
Most banks issue check cards to their customers instead of a simple debit card. You are probably familiar with the difference between a check card and a debit card. However if you want to see the difference, take your check card out of your wallet. You probably have either a Visa or MasterCard symbol on the front. Now make absolutely sure this is a check card you’re looking at, not a credit card. It’s also known as a debit card, or check guarantee card. If you look at the back, you’ll see a few symbols there that might be familiar to you. These symbols will include two additional types of networks: an ATM Network (the network used for getting cash from an automated teller) and more importantly a PIN DEBIT NETWORK (also known as an ONLINE DEBIT NETWORK).
These cards perform three primary functions:
They act like a credit card: When used as a credit card the merchant pays rates based on normal Visa and MasterCard Interchange Rates.
They are used to obtain cash at an ATM.
They are used to perform transactions at the point of sale using a PIN PAD and settle through PIN Debit networks such as Interlink, Star, NYCE, Maestro, Honor, MAC and others.
When a check card is processed through the Visa or MasterCard network it is subject to interchange fees. The effective rate for merchants is typically over 2.00%. However the average rate of a transaction processed through the PIN Debit network is less than $.60 per transaction.
By using a pin pad you can “route” some of your transaction through the debit network and not through the Visa or MasterCard network. This routing can save you several dollars per transaction, hundreds of dollars per month and thousands of dollars per year.
Here’s an Example:
A business has an average transaction amount of $250 and an average monthly volume of $30,000. A patient pays the fee with a check card. The dentist performs one of the following transactions:
Transaction Example A: Check Card is run as a Credit Card Type Transaction:
Rate: 1.90% + 25 cents: $250 X 1.90% = $4.75 + 25 cents, or $5.00 for this transaction.
Transaction Example B: Check Card is run as a PIN Debit Transaction:
Rate: $0.58 + 25 cents + 0.25% Bank Mark Up = $250 X 0.25% = $0.625+ $0.25 + $0.58 = $1.46.
So in this example the dentist saved $3.54 on one transaction. Now let’s look at the compounding effect if 30% of the dentists’ transactions are on check card:
$30,000 divided by $250 average = 120 transactions X 30% = 40 transactions X $3.54=
Monthly Savings: $141.60 Annual Savings: $1,699.20 5-Year Savings: $8,496.00
You can see by the annual savings, the amount of money you’re wasting each month could be huge. Not only in rate, but how you process your cards. I recently switched all three of my different businesses’ merchant accounts over to Daniel and it result in an immediate boost to our bottom-line.
ONE more quick warning: One of my clients was using an ancient, 17-year old credit card machine. Did you know that credit card processors, merchant service providers, charge a premium fee over and above their normal rates if you are using one of these out-dated little dinosaurs? Changing that one thing alone can save you a few hundred or more each and every year!
To get started, call Daniel Start @ (805) 444-2399
Or, you can email him at newaccounts@exclusiveps.com
Tell him the Business Anarchist, Jerry Jones, sent ya.