Payment Machine.. Merchant Account

[rp84]

Hi All

I had a meeting yesterday with my business manager to get advise on setting up my business.

One area i got slightly confused in.

I am going to be selling advertising space on my website, however I will sell this face to face,

She goes i can have a streamline terminal which i can keep at home, and then take customers credit card or debit card details and write this down on my order form and then process it when i get home...

I know this can be done, but surely this defeats the purpose of chip and pin ? or am I wrong and this is ok to do ?

set up cost is £150 then £10 a month, plus transactions fees etc.

Or is there another set up which wont cost to much to do...?

Thanks for reading

[consultant]

rp84,

if you join the FSB, although you will pay a joining fee, you will get preferential Streamline terms (no setup or monthly costs) and better transaction charges, more than saving you the joining fee, plus giving you lots of other benefits.

[David Richards]

She goes i can have a streamline terminal which i can keep at home, and then take customers credit card or debit card details and write this down on my order form and then process it when i get home...

I know this can be done, but surely this defeats the purpose of chip and pin ? or am I wrong and this is ok to do ?Are they talking about a physical terminal? There are plenty of options which involve a 'virtual' terminal (i.e. accessing a secure website) for processing MOTO (mail order/telephone order) transactions. Iridium (http://www.iridiumcorp.co.uk/), Sagepay (http://www.sagepay.com) and WorldPay (http://www.rbsworldpay.com) are three well-known names, as well as Streamline - there are others out there too.

Writing down card details (especially the CV2 number on the back) is a definite no-no - doing so will pretty much guarantee that you won't be able to gain PCI-DSS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard) accreditation. At best that leaves you open to chargebacks - at worst you'll incur penalties or even be prevented from accepting card payments at all.

[rp84]

Hi David

They are talking about a physical machine which will be kept at home.

As I am seeing the client face to face can i still take their card details and then process the payment through MOTO ?

Thanks for the help appreciate it.

[David Richards]

They are talking about a physical machine which will be kept at home.I can't see the point of that. You'll never use it to actually swipe cards, so it seems an unnecessary expense.

As I am seeing the client face to face can i still take their card details and then process the payment through MOTO ?Whether you're using a physical terminal or a virtual terminal to process the payment, either way it's classed as a Cardholder Not Present/MOTO transaction. And again, either way you can't write down the card details to process them later. (Even the most complex and expensive data security system is worthless if people scribble down passwords, card details, PIN numbers etc.)

Providing that it complies with the PCI-DSS rules, then maybe if you had a laptop with 3G dongle you could process the transaction whilst on-site. Or speak to those payment processing providers to see what other options they have.

[rp84]

I can't see the point of that. You'll never use it to actually swipe cards, so it seems an unnecessary expense.

That is what i said to her however she said i can still enter payments into the machine.

Then maybe if you had a laptop with 3G dongle you could process the transaction whilst on-site

Not sure if i want to carry a laptop around with me, i think i better look for other options, but still confused with the business manager, why she recommended it to me in the first place.

[Merchant UK]

You can use a mobile terminal which operates with a mobile phone sim card, these terminals are the size of a large mobile phone and small enough to put in your briefcase/bag.

You can also used these mobile terminals to process Cardholder no present transactions at home also so you'll be saving the expense of having a MOTO terminal at home.

[Tom McClelland]

Not sure if i want to carry a laptop around with me.

A Dell Streak would do just as well. Or one of the very little netbooks.

Then you can pick up your emails on the move and respond to them too. It will make the whole process of dealing with your clients look far more professional to them. I'd be horrified if anyone asked to write my CC details down.

[David Richards]

I'd be horrified if anyone asked to write my CC details down.Same here. In fact it would be a deal breaker - if i saw a supplier write down my card details, I'd take my business elsewhere.

[rp84]

Exactlly, thats what i thought, it does not make sense writing details down and processing it at home.

Does anyone know the costs involved of the mobile termial, or if i used a netbook to process payments.

Also

Another issue i have is, i will be taking monthly payments too, now the business manager said she will see what the best option for this is.. however seeing as she got the first issue wrong, ( She said i wont be able to exceot direct debit payments)

Does anyone know anything about standing order mandates ? or can i do monthly payments with the mobile termial by the client signing somthing,

Sorry for all the questions, i just want the start up to be smoothly.

[David Richards]

Another issue i have is, i will be taking monthly payments too, now the business manager said she will see what the best option for this is.. however seeing as she got the first issue wrong, ( She said i wont be able to exceot direct debit payments)

Does anyone know anything about standing order mandates ? or can i do monthly payments with the mobile termial by the client signing somthing.Well going back to the MOTO 'virtual terminal' I suggested earlier, all of the ones I have seen allow you to do 'continuous payments' (e.g. regular monthly payments). You only enter the card details once, then the payment gateway keeps the information safe and secure for you - so you don't need a record of the card details. Something like Sagepay's MOTO-only £10 a month (http://www.sagepay.com/products_services/sage_pay_go/moto) package should do the trick. (I only mention them as they are a sister company, so I'm more familiar with their offering - I'm sure you'll also be able to get a similar package from the other payment gateways I mentioned earlier.)

[rp84]

Just doing some research on the merchant accounts. If i go ahead with this £10 a month, it seems that i will need mobile internet. Which is also £10 a month approx.

Do you have any idea how much a chip and pin machine would cost ? with the monthly payments.

Thanks

[rp84]

Ok i think this is the option am going to go ahead with..

Virtual Terminal on a iPad (which i already have)
and a MIFI which offers internet.

Hopefully this works out quite well.

Thanks for all the help

[Merchant UK]

Just doing some research on the merchant accounts. If i go ahead with this £10 a month, it seems that i will need mobile internet. Which is also £10 a month approx.

Do you have any idea how much a chip and pin machine would cost ? with the monthly payments.

Thanks

You don't always need to hire one, if you own your own you just pay per use and perhaps a set up charge, You can get some tasty bargains on a wide range of machines on ebay at the mo http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320586080719

Mobile ones or desktop ones, either are pretty cheap, take a look there first before committing to a contract :D