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Accepting Credit Cards

S

signs-work

Guest
I use Square we dont have a store front all my sales are door to door and i pull more sales that way than any walk ins any day. So all iuse is square i use a Droid M its completely secure plus all credit cards are insured with credit card fraud anyway so no worry's to the buyer this day and age.
 
F

fresh

New Member
I gladly pay the higher rate per transaction with Square and here is why:

  • I know exactly how much each swipe will cost me. There is no guessing what rate I'll be charged based on the type of card that it is.
  • No more $5.95 / month "statement fee"
  • No more $175 / year "PCI Compliance" (aka ********) fee
  • No more "you have brown eyes so we are going to charge you $50 year" fee
  • No more $7.50 / month "government reporting" fee
  • Etc, etc, etc
When I opened my merchant account with Merchant Solutions, they told me my current machine would work with their system. It did not, so I was unable to accept cards for almost 2 months. Every month I'd have to go over my statement with a fine-toothed comb trying to decipher each fee. They consistantly charged me for services I did not have, charged me for not being "pci compliant" even though I was, and had forwarded them my certification. They even had it on file, just never updated my account.

Its a long story, but I ended up having to literally close my bank account so they couldn't withdraw money from me that was not owed to them. They would send me things like "We are going to tack on a $75 yearly fee, if you use your account that means you agree to this fee." When I called them to say I did not accept this fee, I was told I would have to pay the cancellation fee. Apparently they didn't understand that a contract is a two way street, which is why I did what I had to do.

So although Square is an expensive solution, after all the random fees associated with my merchant account, and hours spent arguing with them to get my money back, I'm pretty sure the cost is either even or better than a traditional account.
 
Doyle

Doyle

New Member
fresh said:
I gladly pay the higher rate per transaction with Square and here is why:

  • I know exactly how much each swipe will cost me. There is no guessing what rate I'll be charged based on the type of card that it is.
  • No more $5.95 / month "statement fee"
  • No more $175 / year "PCI Compliance" (aka ********) fee
  • No more "you have brown eyes so we are going to charge you $50 year" fee
  • No more $7.50 / month "government reporting" fee
  • Etc, etc, etc
When I opened my merchant account with Merchant Solutions, they told me my current machine would work with their system. It did not, so I was unable to accept cards for almost 2 months. Every month I'd have to go over my statement with a fine-toothed comb trying to decipher each fee. They consistantly charged me for services I did not have, charged me for not being "pci compliant" even though I was, and had forwarded them my certification. They even had it on file, just never updated my account.

Its a long story, but I ended up having to literally close my bank account so they couldn't withdraw money from me that was not owed to them. They would send me things like "We are going to tack on a $75 yearly fee, if you use your account that means you agree to this fee." When I called them to say I did not accept this fee, I was told I would have to pay the cancellation fee. Apparently they didn't understand that a contract is a two way street, which is why I did what I had to do.

So although Square is an expensive solution, after all the random fees associated with my merchant account, and hours spent arguing with them to get my money back, I'm pretty sure the cost is either even or better than a traditional account.
Click to expand...

Wow, this sounds familiar... I, too, had a merchant account with these guys. In an average month, I may only receive $2,000 in credit card payments (most orders are paid with check). Merchant Solutions salesman guaranteed that I had a minimum monthly charge of $10 (in a case where I swiped zero payments for the month), atop the $25 statement fee and the ridiculous lease I was paying on the piece of crap terminal they gave me, I was out approx. $55-60/mo before I even swiped a card. This sounded fine, until they started charging me all of these ridiculous fees that you mentioned... they were doing the same thing to me, and unless I read every single statement (including the fine print), I could involuntarily be charged these BS "yearly fees" or whatnot without even knowing about it..

One month in the dead of winter (we were having a very slow month) I noticed a charge of $85 deducted from my bank account. I investigated and found that I had also apparently opted in by default to a new security feature on my account. The bastards were just helping themselves to my money right out of my checking account every month.... and my monthly minimum charge of $10 defaulted back to $25 somewhere along the line too. I decided enough was enough and I called them to cancel my account. I had signed a 2 year agreement with them and since it had been over 3 years, I should have had no problem getting out of this mess....

Then the next surprise... my contract was "auto-renewing"!!! Since I didn't cancel after my 2 year agreement (apparently had a 30 day window to cancel), my contract was automatically renewed for another 2 years..... complete crap. I waited it out for another 8 months to the end of the contract and dropped them like a bad habit. After paying $20/mo just for the POS $400 terminal, I still would have had to pay $375 if I wanted to keep it, so I sent it back as well..... they are all crooks.

I immediately switched to Square and have been totally satisfied ever since (2+ years now). A customer has never questioned me swiping their card into my ipad, they are usually quite amazed with it actually. I know exactly how much my processing fee will be, and the money is deposited directly into my checking account every night (I have my money the NEXT BUSINESS DAY). If you do the math, my "average" credit card sales every month are somewhere between $2000-$3000. Even at $3,000 in a month, my processing fees are $82.50 (I was paying almost that much with the other merchant account before a card was even charged). And that is all.... square has one-way access to my bank account, fees are deducted before the money is deposited and there is never a monthly fee, statement fee, compliance fee etc..... If I have an entire month with no credit card payments, having my square account will cost me $0..... Square is okay with me

And as far as major retailers using Square, I thought I read somewhere that all Starbucks locations were now using square for their credit card payments. I don't go to Starbucks, so I don't know this first-hand...
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
Since I am now a one man show I am getting a square. Think it would be great to show up to a lettering job and now there would be NO excuse to not be paid.

Right now I take $1,500-$2,000 a month in cc payments, 1.5%...RIGHT!!! With all the fees it averages 8% at least sometimes 10%
 
Doyle

Doyle

New Member
I was wrong, I just checked and actually, over the last 12 months I have averaged about $3,500-4000/mo in credit card payments (more than I originally thought). So that equals $100-110/mo in processing fees and I still wouldn't consider changing back to a traditional merchant account.
 
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gnemmas

New Member
How about Debit card? Does square process it and what is the rate?

We diligently ask customers Debit or Credit? Because Debit card rate is .05% (0.005) + 22¢ item charge, that help keep our overall rate down.

It is crazy that Visa & MC came out with all these different cards with different rates, we have 20 listed in my statement.

American Express is expensive, but at least they are honest, one flat rate of 2.95%, we stop accepting it three years ago.
 
Doyle

Doyle

New Member
gnemmas said:
How about Debit card? Does square process it and what is the rate?

We diligently ask customers Debit or Credit? Because Debit card rate is .05% (0.005) + 22¢ item charge, that help keep our overall rate down.

It is crazy that Visa & MC came out with all these different cards with different rates, we have 20 listed in my statement.

American Express is expensive, but at least they are honest, one flat rate of 2.95%, we stop accepting it three years ago.
Click to expand...

Square charges the same rate of 2.75% for any card and every card. Debit, MC, Visa, Discover, Amex, personal or corporate. Everything is the same. The only other rate you need to know is that when you key in the card instead of swiping it, you are charged a higher rate, which is 3.5% I believe.
 
J

jdoug5170

New Member
Pat Whatley said:
Really? Name ONE major retail business that is using the square. I've never walked in a store and had a cashier reach in their pocket, whip out a cell phone, and tell me they're ready to run my credit card. Never. Never been in a restaurant, gas station, amusement park, or movie theater where that happened.....you know, large companies with people actually paid to look into the feasibility of stuff like "the square".

It's completely different it you're talking about on-site payments. I'd have no problem having a delivery driver scan my card, I would have a problem if I went to their office and they did it. I know, no difference, just a personal perception thing.

By the way, Intuit has a similar mobile processing device.
http://payments.intuit.com/products/basic-payment-solutions/mobile-credit-card-processing.jsp
Click to expand...


Pat, have you heard of a little company called Starbucks. The either are now or soon will be using square for cc processing.

We use both square and paypal on a cell phone as we are a mobile service provider and it is convenient and after two years of it, no problems. Why both? Square goes in bank account and paypal goes on a debit card that we use for inventory purchases

Doug.
 
Baz

Baz

New Member
I registered last week with Square.

Installed a small parking sign job for a new client last Friday afternoon. I was supposed to receive a cheque at the same time but "head office" hadn't sent out a cheque yet. So while we are still in the parking lot, the client asks me if he can come by the shop to pay by credit card. I told him i can take your payment right here and now. A minute later and payment was approved, receipt was emailed to him and i got my money the following Monday.

AWESOME!!

Plus i just received my free card swipper today. I'm really happy with Square. :toasting:
 
signage

signage

New Member
Baz said:
I'm a Square.

Installed a small parking sign job for a new client last Friday afternoon. I was supposed to receive a cheque at the same time but "head office" hadn't sent out a cheque yet. So while we are still in the parking lot, the client asks me if he can come by the shop to pay by credit card. I told him i can take your payment right here and now. A minute later and payment was approved, receipt was emailed to him and i got my money the following Monday.

AWESOME!!

Plus i just received my free card swipper today. I'm really happy with being a Square. :toasting:
Click to expand...


:banghead::omg::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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