Bank Card Processing 101 For New Business Owners

OKAY, so you opened your personal business and only took that big leap of faith. Whether you are a retail storefront, cafe, operate a order business or are strictly internet based, the power to accept credit cards is important to the growth and ultimate achievement of your business.What may be the bottom line? Provide your customers as much payment choices as possible to prevent turning away business.Credit and debit cards alone account for about one third of personal consumption expenditures in the U.S. - annually a share that increases. And, in times of economic depression like these, customers have less cashflow and are adding more purchases on the credit cards.With that said, following is a listing of common question several new business owners have in the area of credit card processing.What may be the initial thing I need to complete to start receiving credit cards?You will need a merchant service provider who'll set you up with a merchant account for your business. This will give you the ability to accept credit and debit cards in person, online, or higher the phone.How long will it take before I can start accepting credit and debit cards?With leading processors, you can get you up and working within the same day in lots of cases.How much do I've to pay to accept credit cards?Like any such thing, rates vary based on processor you are working with and the kind of business you operated (i.e. storefront, ecommerce, mail order, etc.) It is very important to locate a merchant service provider who not just offers assured reduced rates, but will give your business with PCI certified equipment and educated 24x7x365 customer service and complex support.How are credit cards charged?Upon swiping a card in a terminal, the data is delivered from the merchant to your credit card processor who consequently requests the income from the issuing bank, that is transferred straight into your bank account.What if I own an ecommerce/Systems In Design. Can I however process credit cards?Depending on the processor you determine to process your credit card transactions, the solution is yes. For example, at Federated Payments, we have an exclusive ecommerce entrance named SafePay that enables transactions to be processed by you quickly and solidly. This is also known in the industry as "card not present" unlike most storefront businesses that literally swipe the customer's credit or money card.What does PCI compliant mean for processing equipment?The Payment Card Industry (PCI) decides that all retailers, regardless of size or number of orders that accept, transfer or store any cardholder information have to have terminals and card processing equipment that's PCI compliant to guarantee the strictest protection instructions are followed to.These are some of the basic principles for business owners who would like to accept credit card processing to help increase their business and consumer base.Stay tuned for Part 2 of credit card processing basics...coming this week!