Payments Archives

Credit Card Processing: Detailed Statements Mandatory, for Merchants

Credit Card Processing: Detailed Statements Essential for Merchants

July 20, 2015 • Phil Hinke

I presented a Practical Ecommerce webinar last month on lowering merchant processing costs. I’ve received several questions since then regarding my views on processing statements. Therefore, I want to address ...

Beware Increases Increases from Credit Card Providers

Payments

Beware Hidden Increases from Credit Card Providers

May 26, 2015 • Phil Hinke

The fact that some credit card providers periodically sneak in cost increases to their merchants isn’t new. The providers often do this with a notice like this to their merchants:

Payments

Follow-up: EMV Credit Cards and AmEx OptBlue

March 24, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This is a follow-up to two topics I addressed previously on credit card processing: EMV chip cards and the American Express OptBlue program. I described earlier this year the changes affecting EMV ...

Payments

EMV Credit Cards, Part 2: Point-of-sale Devices, Alternatives

February 13, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This article is mostly for brick-and-mortar retailers, as the October 2015 rule changes, which I discussed in "Part 1," are specific to card-present merchants.

Payments

EMV Credit Cards, Part 1: Who Is Responsible for Losses?

January 12, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This article is mainly for brick-and-mortar retailers. The upcoming October 2015 rule changes regarding EMV-enabled credit cards are specific to card-present...

Payments

B2B Merchants Often Overpay for Card Processing

November 21, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Business-to-business merchants often overpay for credit card processing. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is they choose a merchant account provider that doesn’t have ...

Payments

Review Credit Card Processing in October, before Holidays

October 16, 2014 • Phil Hinke

All ecommerce merchants should take the time to review their processing statements this month before the holiday shopping season begins. Merchants need to check for the following items, and correct ...

Payments

American Express OptBlue: Negotiating Processing Rates

September 22, 2014 • Phil Hinke

In “American Express OptBlue Program May Reduce Processing Cost,” my article in July, I explained how the new OptBlue program could reduce processing rates for ecommerce merchants, as it allows ...

Payments

American Express OptBlue: Understanding Processing Rates

August 18, 2014 • Phil Hinke

In “American Express OptBlue Program May Reduce Processing Cost,” my article last month, I explained American Express’s new program called OptBlue. This program should lower the American Express processing cost ...

Payments

American Express OptBlue Program May Reduce Processing Cost

July 15, 2014 • Phil Hinke

American Express recently came out with a new program called OptBlue, where the final processing rates and fees paid by the merchant are set by the merchant account provider, not ...

Payments

Merchants Discover Misleading Credit Card Processing Fees

June 16, 2014 • Phil Hinke

I want to thank Practical Ecommerce readers for their comments on my last article series, “How to Identify Dubious Credit Card Processing Fees.” I also appreciate readers sending me suspicious ...

Payments

How to Identify Dubious Credit Card Processing Fees, Part 3

May 15, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is “Part 3” of a three-part series. “Part 1” and “Part 2” we published previously. The purpose of this series is to educate merchants on questionable credit ...

Payments

Should Ecommerce Merchants Accept Bitcoin?

May 7, 2014 • Marcia Kaplan

Bitcoin, the best known of several virtual payment currencies, has made inroads into mainstream commerce, including brick-and-mortar retailers. Some ecommerce sites are already accepting Bitcoin and if you are considering ...

Payments

How to Identify Dubious Credit Card Processing Fees, Part 2

April 23, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is “Part 2” of a three-part series. “Part 1” we published last month. The purpose of this series is to identify dubious fees that are commonly charged ...

Payments

How to Identify Dubious Credit Card Processing Fees, Part 1

March 25, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is “Part 1” of a three-part series. My article last month, “Credit Card Provider Sued for Deceptive Tactics,” generated questions from merchants regarding the suit, its impact, and the hidden,

Credit Card Provider Sued for Alleged Deceptive Tactics.

Payments

Credit Card Provider Sued for ‘Deceptive’ Tactics

February 13, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Heartland Payment Systems, one of the largest credit card providers in the U.S., stated in a press release that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems, also ...

$6 Billion Visa, Mastercard Settlement Final; How to File

Payments

$6 Billion Visa, MasterCard Settlement Final; How to Claim

January 15, 2014 • Phil Hinke

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit between merchants (as plaintiffs) and Visa, MasterCard and other defendants. The case ...

Payments

3 Examples of Misleading Credit Card Processing Charges

December 20, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series. The first installment, “Feds Eyeing Credit Card Processing Industry?,” we published last month. In “Feds Eyeing Credit Card Processing Industry?,” part ...

Payments

10 Bitcoin-like Cryptocurrencies

December 16, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A “cryptocurrency” is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, digital currency. In 2009, Bitcoin became the first cryptocurrency to trade on third-party markets. Since then, many cryptocurrencies have been developed and are actively ...

Payments

11 Alternative Payment Options

December 9, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Alternatives to entering credit card numbers can provide customers with more payment choices, streamline checkout for mobile devices, and potentially save merchants money. Here is a list of alternative payment options.

Payments

Feds Eyeing Credit Card Processing Industry?

November 14, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part series. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission included merchant account providers in two separate lawsuits it filed against telemarketers earlier this year. The ...

Payments

Credit Card Processing: October 2013 Rate Changes, EMV Terminals

October 15, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Now is a good time for merchants to start noting how their provider is handling card company fee changes as well as any future rate and fee changes, especially if ...

Payments

MasterCard Defines 5 Online Shopping Personas

October 8, 2013 • Armando Roggio

MasterCard, the payment industry leader, has defined five online shopper personas that defy traditional demographic boundaries and give online retailers a fresh way of looking at online marketing, personalization, and ...

Payments

Avoid No-detail Credit Card Processing Statements

September 19, 2013 • Phil Hinke

I have addressed the importance of understanding credit card processing statements in previous articles. However, I’ve recently seen statements with little or minimal detail that make it virtually impossible to ...

Payments

Latest Court Decision on Debit Card Processing Fees

August 22, 2013 • Phil Hinke

On July 31, 2013 U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with retailers and rejected the debit interchange rate cap set by Federal Reserve under the Durbin Amendment in 2011. The ...

Payments

Beware Credit Card Processing Fees, Especially Refunds

July 17, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Merchants periodically send me their credit card processing agreements after they have negotiated new pricing with their existing provider or when changing providers. Usually, I find that the merchant has done a good job of negotiating rates and monthly fees. However, some of the peri...

Payments

Credit Card Processing: Be Wary of Savings Analyses

June 18, 2013 • Phil Hinke

If you have been reading my articles, you know I do not believe business owners should give their credit card merchant statements to competing providers. Merchant statements disclose the pricing that competitors need to win over the account at the highest possible profit to them. Th...

Payments

Blaming Credit Card Associations for Rate Changes

May 16, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Visa, MasterCard, and Discover generally change rates and terms in April and October. However, they can make changes at other times during the year, as will happen this year. Unfortunately, over the years, some providers have taken advantage of these changes by increasing their rates an...

Payments

Bitcoins: 3 Things Online Merchants Must Know

April 18, 2013 • Armando Roggio

Bitcoin is a mostly anonymous, peer-to-peer electronic payment system that could allow online retailers to accept cash-like payments from anyone, potentially, opening up new market segments and reaching new customers. But bitcoin is not without risks. Earlier this month, a single bitco...

Payments

Merchants Using Interchange-Plus Pricing Continue to Overpay

April 11, 2013 • Phil Hinke

Editor's Note: Contributor Phil Hinke is a veteran of the credit card processing industry. He now consults with merchants to help lower their processing costs, believing the credit card industry is often unfair to them. His latest article, below, addresses misconceptions with interchang...