Credit Card Merchant Machine

I need to get an old fashioned credit card machine that takes card imprints for an upcoming craft fair. It's a one time thing so I don't really want to spend the time or money to customize a merchant plate. Will the machine still take the cards imprint without it, or does it need the merchant plate in order to work properly?

I would do a test on my credit card and see if it works.

2008-08-13 07:22:13 by rachael s

www.Canadian-Merchant-Account- Services.com Learn the about the different credit card machines available to Canadian Merchants. Dial-up credit card ...

Im trying to help out a family member who just a pool company. The average payment it $5,000 & up. Prob about 50K a month MAX total. what are our best choices? Who has the lowest fees? How can I find out if the co is reputable? Does anyone know about www.merchantservicestotal.com ?
Thank SO much for your answers...I REALLY appreciate it!

RBS Link is a good company, they are part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, thus reputable (yes they are in the US) and they are a wholesaler (means they deal directly with the fed bank, rather than a mercant services dealer dealing with the wholesaler who deals with the fed and thus charges more)

As far as a mobile system they are EXPENSIVE the best way to go is to sometimes issue a laptop with a wireless plan to run credit cards on site. It sounds expensive but it is actually less than the cost of those mobile CC machines.

2008-03-07 13:11:46 by gzusaves2000

Price: $14.94 $9.00

3 1/4 X 7 inches
Made with carbon-less paper to protect your customers
No carbon tissues containing credit card information to worry about

I am assuming by "credit card imprint machine" you are referring to a manual imprinter and not a electronic credit card terminal - let me know if I am wrong. This makes a big difference in regards to the setup costs, since you do not have to purchase an expensive terminal. It does, however, also add a manual step in processing that will need to be properly managed. Also, all of your transactions will be considered "key entered" and you will be charged a higher rate. To be clear - if you do not process a card electronically, you will not receive the low rates that merchant processors quote in their marketing materials.

Your best bet will be to start a dial-pay account. With this type of account, you will actually be imprinting the card and then calling in for approval for every card presented. This is actually a very quick process, but if you are doing a large amount of transactions, you should consider investing in a terminal.

Your bank may seem like a very easy choice for processing. Unless it is a very large bank, though, they do not actually perform merchant processing services. It is more likely that they have been solicited by a merchant processor that won the bid for your banks customer leads and a certain portion of your fees will now go to your bank. The service and support, though, will be handled by the processor and your bank will not be involved.

Be sure to consider the following:
1.) As you will not be swiping cards for approval be very aware of the retail "card not present" and "key entered" rates that your processor assesses.

2.) Be sure to know all of the different card rates. You will most likely receive debit cards, personal MC and Visa, Visa Rewards, MC World, and MC & Visa Corporate cards. Many processors sneak in a "nonqualified" rate for the Rewards, World and Corporate cards that can be upwards of 3%.

3.) Be sure to work with a service oriented processor. Your method of processing will not be typical, so don't get stuck with a company that does not have a reputation for decent account management.

Your key entered rates should start in the low 2.0% range and vary depending on card type.

If you would like more information about merchant processing, feel free to contact me at jbordeaux@windriverfinancial.c... or at (920)993-9433. Wind River is a merchant processor that specializes in offering well supported, competitively priced, custom processing services.

2006-06-18 10:06:38 by rhean

Price: $79.95

Credit card data is immediately encrypted once the card is scanned via your iPhone; you'll get authorization in seconds
Digital signatures; e-mail or text message receipts; sync account information with QuickBooks
Quick and easy way to accept credit cards anytime, anywhere using your iPhone 4

I am an artist and do trade shows. I currently use a Nurit 3010 credit card swipe machine with a wireless merchant service. At my last show, another merchant told me that she thought there is now a product called a "cell phone dock" that would allow me to do credit card transactions with my cell phone. Normally these docks are for connecting your cell phone to your home or office wired phones. If this is true it would save me tremendous "$" as the merchant service is NOT cheap. Does anybody know if this would work?
bigboy: what in the world are you talking about?
chrisgalv : could you please explain why you don't think it will work? My swipe machine will dial out using my phone line at home. Also, I have heard from another merchant that they are doing this...
Also, if this wont work, if somebody invents a gadget that will do this they will make a fortune! There are thousands of mobile merchants who are on systems like mine.

You will not be able use a cell phone dock on many networks for data applications including modems, fax machines and credit card terminals. The issue is that digital cellular networks compress the traffic that is passed over them so any advanced service applications will be degraded beyond use unless they specifically recognize and support the service. The service may work on an analog network, but these are very slow (and rarer every day).

There are new services that will work on a regular cellular network that are being launched, but as you can imagine, this will require $$$, too.

Have you considered a dial-pay account? This would require you to pay a slightly higher key-entered rate for each transaction instead of the lower swipe fee, but if you are paying as much as you imply for the wireless service, this should save you quite a bit of money. It would depend greatly on your average transaction and how many transactions you process.

If you have specific questions, contact me at jbordeaux@windriverfinancial.com or cal me at (920)-993-9433.

2006-06-14 09:20:05 by donnybrook

I work for a credit card processor wher I am selling new credit card machines. Here is my question, some of the older machines these merchants use print out the whole credit card number, expiration date and the customers name. I understand and wouldn't want my info on a receipt, but I am having trouble understanding how someone could take my credit card number and actually spend on it? If they go on the internet to buy something, their IP will get snatched and they would need the 3 digit code on the back of the card to finish a transaction. If they go into a store, they have to convince the cashier to handkey the card number and they have to risk being seen on camera. So how is this such a big problem? What can a theif actually do with the number?

that depends on how they got the number. if someone gets the number from the physical card then they will go online and simply use a public computer such as the library to make the purchase. if the card is in your hand it will take all of 1 second to read the 3 digit code on the back and remeber it. some people are great with numbers and could memorize your whole care number in seconds. if they run your card through a card reader then they can simply duplicate it on blanks later. this is the prefered method these days since everywhere you go there is a self service terminal for you to swipe the card at so the thief will not even have to show the card to the cashier. as for cameras. most people who drive 45 to 50 minutes from home ot commit a fraud will never be caught even if thier face is on a camera since no one there will recognize the person. it is why so many people are doing this, because it is not as easy as you think to catch a professional thief.

2007-03-28 20:43:17 by Steve G