accepting card payments - costs?

[vulcanz]

looking in to what's involved to be able to accept credit/debit card

just researching this so please correct if wrong...

what running costs are associated with accepting cards? I see you need to rent the terminal /reader and there will be a percentage or set fee from the bank (and reader company?) for transactions....anything else

I see Paypal reader is no monthly charge but 2.75% fee per transaction? Not sure if that's for business use but seems a high fee

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

If you get a card terminal through an acquiring bank they will provide the terminal and the associated merchant account and the % rates would generally be lower per transaction. The terminal will have a rental cost (anything from £15-£30 per month usually depending on the type) and then you will have the % processing fee for each card type (Personal Debit/Credit, Commercial Debit/Credit etc). In addition, you will have PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance charges (usually monthly or annually), authorisation fees and refund fees. There could also be a setup fee for the boarding process.

Each acquirer will set out their rates differently, some will incorporate the interchange rates from the card companies and some will show them separately.

We work with a number of acquiring banks and can obtain preferential rates/terms for anyone applying via ourselves.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you would like further information.

Thanks,

Simon

 

[vulcanz]

Thanks for the detailed response....I'll get back to you once I've read up on everything mentioned.

Cheers

 

[Nochexman]

Hi vulcanz, is this still the home based business you were talking about last year?

Can you just clarify whether people are coming to your home and paying you, or do they tend to pay you when they are not in your presence?

 

[vulcanz]

Hi...it's always in person

 

[myfairworld]

One basic thing to understand about taking card payments is that the cost to you will vary according to the volume of such payments which you take. Sainsbury's for example is not paying as much per transaction as is a Corner Shop or someone who sees clients at home because Sainsbury's has more negotiating power due to their volume of transactions.

For most of us (including the Corner Shop) having a set up which involves a monthly charge is better value than the Paypal and similar readers which have no monthly fee. But for some people who only do a few transactions per week, or who maybe do not trade all the time but just see clients at the weekend or do occasional stalls selling their wares or signing people up for their services, one of the non-contract arrangements could possibly be cheaper and make better sense.

When you investigate card payments you are getting into rather muddy waters so you need to think through all aspects of the situation. For example some providers may give a cheaper deal but take longer to move the money into your bank account, for some businesses this won't matter for others it could create significant cash flow problems. As well as 'what does it cost' you need to know every detail - for example how quickly do they guarantee to replace your machine if it goes wrong? What is their reputation for customer service and is the Call Centre open 24/7 and does this include bank holidays? So much depends on your own situation. For some shops, pubs, cafes etc a non-working card machine on a holiday weekend is a major crisis, on the other hand if you are providing the same service to the same clients on a weekly basis maybe you can manage okay and just take the payment when you see them next.

 

[Just_a_bloke]

I take payments via an e-commerce web site, and take payments over the phone using a virtual terminal. However I get occasional customers want to collect/pay at my premises couple per month at most). I have been doing those payments via the virtual terminal, but I've now found out my provider does not allow this, so need to get a card reader.

All the card readers I've seen so far (Paypal included) all seem to operate via a smart phone (which I don't have, my mobile does all I want, so not changing it) or tablet. Again another issue, my Dell tablet uses windows 8 which the readers I've seen so far won't work with.

Any ideas for a card reader that is compatible with a windows system please?