FAQ,   Please call for more specific details @ 1-860-774-8210

Although obtaining a merchant account is a relatively simple process, you should educate yourself on how to properly set up your account, and what are some of the considerations when doing so.  Most importantly, don't rush into setting up your account.  Give yourself enough time to open your account, understand the fees associated with your processing needs, and allow enough time to receive and or reprogram your terminal.   Most merchant accounts can be set up and fully operational in a few days.  However, you should allow approximately 3-5 business days from the day your Merchant Advisor submits your application, to complete this process.  There is nothing more nerve racking than waiting for the delivery of your new credit card terminal on the same day your business opens.  If you are changing or switching providers, make sure you completely close your old account, ONLY after your new merchant account is fully operational.   All cancellations need to be completed in writing, and mailed "certified" and "Return Receipt" requested to your former provider.  Keep detailed records of ALL coorespondences and phone calls in this regards. 

1.  What is the difference between a "swiped" rate, and a "keyed" rate that is charged to the merchant?   A "swiped" rate is lower because your customer is present at the time of sale, and you have the opportunity to validate that the person making that perchase is the same person authorized to use this specific credit card.  You then simply "swipe" the customers card through your desktop terminal and complete the sale.  This is a more secure transaction, thus you are charged a lower rate. When the customer is not present, for example, in an online, website, or telephone transaction, a higher potential for fraud exists, therefore a higher "keyed" rate is charged to the merchant.  Remember, the higher the risk, the higher the rate.  Also, different catagories of businesses present more inherent risk of fraud, and are therefore assigned a higher processing rate.  A "Business/Sole Proprietor or LLC" card or "Rewards" card, has more risk than a "Personal" card.  These rate adjustments are called "downgrades", and they are assessed during the electronic transmission of each transaction.  It is impossible to determine what processing fees will be applied to each card prior to swiping or manually keying in the card numbers.  As the card data is sent through all the different bank computer systems, card association networks, and provider processing infrastructures, each card is assigned thier appropriate catagories and cooresponding fees.  When you sign your merchant agreement, you agree to all of these terms. 

2.  How important is estimating my Monthly Credit Card Volume, Average Credit Card Sale, and "Highest" Anticipated Credit Card Sale, when setting up a new merchant account?  Every processor will ask you to estimate what your average monthly credit card sales volume, average cc ticket sale, and what will be your "highest" cc sale amount? While most processors give you a wide range to work within, you still need to give this some thought.  If you estimate too low on your merchant application, you may find yourself under the watchful eye of the Loss Prevention Department.  Should you process transactions above the estimates you start off with;  this will cause a delay in having your customers funds released into your account.  If you guess too high, most processors will require additoinal background checks, and financial documentation to make sure you qualify for these higher estimates, similiar to a line of credit increase.  Your Merchant Advisor will be helpful to you in this matter.  Ask a lot of questions here. 

3.  Do I need a terminal with a printer?  A terminal with a printer is a real good idea.  You want to be able to give your customer a printed copy of their transaction, you keep the signed copy, for obvious reasons.  Keep accurate records of your signed receipts for a minimum of eighteen (18) months.  Should a dispute arise, a signed receipt will go a long way toward validating your transaction, and avoiding any "chargebacks".  Most new basic terminals are equipped with thermal printers.  Internal "thermal" printers now an industry standard.  As a backup to your desktop terminal, or even online "virtual" terminal, we recommend that you purchase and have on hand an old fashioned "Knuckle Buster" manual "swiped" slider unit.  Again, ask your Merchant Advisor to help you with this additional investment.  Should your terminal go down for any reason, this "back up" manual slider unit will come in very handy. 

4.   Should I be accepting debit cards in addition to credit cards?   In most cases, yes.  More and more people are using their debit cards, in addition to their credit cards.  There are two types of debit card transactions...A PIN-debit transaction is when your customer makes a purchase, then enters their PIN-passcode into your PIN Pad, that is connected to your desktop or wireless terminal.  For merhants with an average ticket sale of over $35.00-$40.00 dollars, encouraging your customer to use your PIN Pad will save you "the merchant", additional monies each month.  With a PIN-debit card, money is withdrawn immediately from the cardholders checking account, and is electronically recorded the same day on their statement.  However, in order for you, the merchant, to obtain the lowest rate on this highly secure PIN-debit transaction, you need to purchase a PIN pad.  The second type of debit transaction is called a "Signature Debit" transaction.  This is when a customer makes a purchase, and does NOT enter thier PIN-debit passcode into your PIN Pad, but  simply signs the credit card "receipt" just as if it were a credit card.  You will pay a slightly higher rate than you would for a PIN-debit but still lower than a normal "swiped" credit card rate.  A "Signature Debt" transaction is still a very secure and safe transaction for the merchant to accept.  Ask your Merchant Advisor to help you acquire a debit PIN pad if it will help you lower your monthly "acceptance" costs.   The cost to the card holder is the same. 

5.   Do I need a seperate phone line in my business to process credit/debit cards?  Most businesses already have one phone line that is used to make and receive normal business calls.  You can share that line with your credit card terminal with a splitter device.   However, many businesses go ahead and set up a second phone line that will be dedicated to their terminal processing only.  This keeps the normal business telephone line free, and increases the productivity for your staff.  You don't want customers waiting for your line to free up, especially during busy times.  Remember, most terminals require an old fashioned "Analog" telephone line.  Should your building or office be wired with Digital, DSL, or Internet cable connections, you may be able to use a special high qualtiy "Filter" that you may find at your local electronics store.  Not all "Filters" will work though.  Check with your line provider and make sure you have an "Analog" line to be available for your credit card terminal.  There are more expensive terminals that will process using the newer Digital, DSL or Internet cable lines, just make sure your terminal is compatible with your lines in your office or business.  It is always the merchants responsibility to cover any costs associated with providing a compatible line to be utilized by your terminal.  Again, ask your Merchant Advisor for guidence before you purchase any terminals or Pin Pads in this regard.  Should you have to "download" a quick "fix" into your cc terminal, your telephone line must be connected directly into the wall jack, and not through any spliters or into any "surge protector" outlets. 

6.   Why are there so many different rates, monthly charges and fees associated with each transaction?  Good question, keep in mind that any type of credit/debit or check verification transaction is a very fast, sophisticated, and secure electronic event, otherwise the results could be devastating for you and your valued customer.  As each card or check is presented, the data collected from each transaction are sent by your terminal via high speed established processing networks, routers, and data information systems to multiple banks and source provider locations.  At each stage, these systems must verify and validate the accuracy of every single piece of  data within each transaction.  Once this process has been authenticated,  the merchant receives a unique "Authorization" number for each transaction, which appears on the receipt.  This authentication process all happens in a few seconds and deals with many banks and source providers over secure networks, that are set up all over the world.  Each transaction accumulates its own rates, fees and charges as it completes its journey back to your terminal, thus completing the sale.  Keep in mind, a receipt is a "Legal Document" that protects you (As best as possible), "The Merchant", against fraud and chargebacks (Card holders who claim they never authorized you to debit their card for any number of "reasons").  Even with accurate records of each cc sale, you may still be liable for a cc transaction.  For larger transactions, and "keyed" transactions over the Internet or phone, try to collect as much detailed information on the card holder as possible before you ship the goods or provide any service.  This entire process takes place in 3-5 seconds.  Merchant Providers, Banks, ISO's, and Merchant Associations who provide merchant processing, acceptance, and issue you your card, are doing their best to manage all the different elements of "risk" associated with every single transaction that flows through their respective networks.  This makes it even more important, and obvious, why you should make sure that the person presenting every credit card in your store, is in fact the person authorized to use that specific card, to make that specific transaction. 

7.   Why are similiar cards charged higher or lower rates?   Each card that is processed is different in how it is evaluated by the different networks, banks, and source providers, as it passes through it their respective systems.  A Company Visa credit card is assigned higher rates and fees because it presents a more likely opportunity for fraud, compared with a Visa that is presented and owned by an individual, thus a lower risk level, and lower overall fee.  In addition, there are multiple MasterCard and Visa "Interchange" rate catagories that are applied to each transaction, depending on what type of retailer is involved, the type of card presented, and what catagory each transaction gets assigned to.  Therefore, it is next to impossibe to determine in advance what the overall cost of processing each card may be.  Check your statement for clarificaton, but even those are not very detailed due to the complexity of each transaction.  On the flip side, what would happen if everytime one of your customers came in and presented you with their card, and you had to validate each transaction with the customers bank, and make sure that all the monies were transferred securely and accurately, within a 3-5 second timeframe.  You would end up on the phone all day for one or two transactions, and lose valuable time in the process.  Understand that this is a very complex event.  Bottom line, we help you secure your customers monies, quickly, securely, and accurately, while you get to focus on running your business.

8.   Do I have to program my new terminal, or my old one if I am swithching providers?  In most cases no.  When you purchase a terminal from Capital Bankcard-New England directly, or from one of our Merchant Advisors, our office or your Advisor will program your terminal for you, or we will stop in and simply "reprogram" your existing terminal, whether you own it, or are leasing it from another company.  There may be a small "Reprogramming Fee" associated with this event.  Some merchants are very comfortable and familiar with their credit card terminal, and are confident enough, and more than willing to "reprogram" their existing terminal themselves, once their new merchant account with us has been approved and fully activated (24-48hrs).  In either event, just let us know what works better for you and your staff.  We will do the rest.  Keep in mind it takes 30 minutes to one (1) hour to reprogram an older terminal at your business location.  Therefore, try to schedule a time when your in-store customer sales volume is low, before you open, or just afterwards.  Also, some of the older terminals may not have enough memory to process at the faster processing speeds of our newer high speed networks and platforms.  There is a simple "Memory Test" that you or your Merchant Advisor can walk you through, or do on your behalf when they stop in.  If there is not enough memory, then you may need to invest in a new or refurbished terminal.  Each of our merchants will be provided with a toll free 7/24/365 technical support telephone number to call, should any situation arise with your terminal. 

9.  Who's money is it anyway?   Understand, most monies that are deposited into your "The Mercant" business checking account within a day or two of each transaction, is NOT coming from your customers credit card account, but rather it is being "advanced" from your primary credit card provider, i.e. First Data, Global Payments Systems, IPay, Cardservice International or Nova, and deposited into your account.  It often takes these "providers" a few extra days to secure your customers funds from their credit card issuing bank account, via their established computer processing association networks.  Should specific types of fraud exist in a particular transaction, these providors stand to loose a great deal of monies that they have most likely already been deposited into your business checking account.  With millions of transactions every second, and millions of dollars being exchanged electronically in extremely short electronic batches, managing the "risk" associated with each transaction is a necessity!  This is why you complete a detailed application that resembles a bank "Loan" application.  Providers want to do their due dilligence to make sure you and your business are in good standing, and that you are aware of the basic terms of your agreement.   Again, ask lots of questions before you sign any agreement.    

10.  Be wary of rates that seem "Too low to be true!"  Understand, if you are presented with a merchant proposal with rates and fees that seem to be well below what you are used to, there are most likely other "catagories", or places in this proposal where the agent or provider is going to make up this difference.  Also, in most of these cases, a shady agent will only show you, or "present" one rate catagory and one transaction fee.  Understand, that there are approximately 20 different catagories within each merchant account that must be accounted for, no matter who the agent or provider is.  One area that you need to look closely at is the "Termination" clause, or fees associated with prematurely ending or cancelling your agreement.  Our agreement is a month-to-month agreement with a simple "fully disclosed" low flat rate cancellation fee. (Approx. $200-$300) You should never consider a 1-5 year merchant agreement that will penalize you heavily for wanting to exit this agreement prior to it's full term.  Read the "Term" and "Cancellation" clause in any merchant service agreement prior to signing and commiting to.  Do not allow any merchant service agent to "rush" you into signing any paperwork, unless you are totally satisfied with the "total" offer and agreement. 

11.  Should I purchase my terminal or lease my terminal?   In the long run, you will invest more of your monies into a terminal if you "lease" it, verses purchasing it outright, in the begining.  However, leasing is a very popular way to invest in a terminal that will do what you need it to do, if you do not have the funds available to buy the terminal, or you have other things to do with your cash flow, like investing in advertising, marketing, product inventory, rent etc!   Leasing allow you the opportunity to "spread out" your payments into sections that you can safely afford.  Ask your Merchant Advisor for a cost comparison to see which investment plan works best for you.  Also, check with your CPA or Accountant to determine if you should purchase or lease to take advantage of any tax code benefits for your business.  Again, for most merchants, purchasing a terminal is the least expensive way to get started. 

12.  Can I get a "FREE" terminal?  (Case Study)  A competing merchant services company is telling me (The merchant) that they will "give" me a "FREE" terminal.  Is this possible?  Nothing in this world is free!  If any company or sales representative pitches you that they will give you a "FREE" terminal, just step back a moment and think about what they are offering you.  It is legal for them to tell you that you will not have to pay for this terminal directly, however, honestly, you and I both know that in order for them to "give" you a terminal for "FREE", they must be making up the actual cost of that terminal somewhere else in your agreement.  Many times competitors try to lock you into a 1,2,3,4 or even 5 year agreement, DON"T DO IT!  Our agreement is a month-to-month, nice and simple.  Understand, in most cases, you only get the "FREE" terminal ONLY if you agree to a long-term agreeent.  All or most of these long-term/multi-year agreements may offer low introductory 3-6 month rates, but have within their contract terms, wording, that allows them to increase all of your rates once that initial "teaser" time period has elaped, and you are then totally locked in.  Finally, check the "Termination/Cancellation" paragraph/terms.  Often these agreements will charge you huge over the top fees to terminate or cancel, even as they jack up your merchant rates each year.  As a corporate philosphy, we do not offer "FREE" terminals, or "FREE" paper, we simply offer wholesale prices on all of our processing equipment, and wholesale rates and fees across the board to every merchant that we do business with.  Full disclosure, with NO SURPRISES, before, during or after the sale. 

We hope this Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section has been helpful to you. 

We appreciate the opportunity to earn and keep your merchant services business.  

Welcome to the Capital Bankcard-New England, LLC family of merchants!

Should you have any further questions, please call our Brooklyn CT main office at 860-774-8210.