Merchant Account To Help Cashflow

[dynamic08]

I am on the lookout for a solution that will help with cashflow.

Current merchant account takes an age to have cleared funds the statements are also a joke.

We have a number of businesses that we are thinking of asking to leave a credit card on file.

What would be the quickest method to charge these cards and have cleared funds in the bank?

 

[LMDServicesUK]

A Merchant account will normally receive cleared funds between 2 - 4 days after the transaction is approved, unless you are on a longer retention period, depending on the account provider,

In addition we know some Providers are now introducing charges for accelerating the clearance times where they are less than 3 days.

I presume you are using a conventional merchant account provider and not PayPal who often put a longer payment delay in.

Re holding card details on file, this is called a Recurring Transaction Authority, however whatever payment terms you are currently on would still apply, irrespective of whether you are taking a one off payment or a recurring payment transaction.

What industry are you in ?

Rgds

Mark

 

[dynamic08]

With the current Merchant account it is B2C.

Wont work servicing our B2B.

Any solutions out there that can have cleared funds inside of 24 hours? Its been at least 1 year since I last looked around.

All cards on file would be making regular payments (several times per week)

 

[LMDServicesUK]

Hi

Currently I am not aware of any merchant account provider that would offer 24hr clearance, even those that currently offer T plus 2 are now introducing charges for this facility.

What are your current settlement terms, and am I right in thinking you do not accept card payments from Business customers (how ?) or is your product / service primarily aimed at Consumers rather than Business ?

The number of times a week you are processing automated card payments would make no difference to the settlement times you would get.

Currently the Providers that are offering better than T + 3 settlement times (at extra cost in some cases) are Global Payments, Elavon and I believe BarclayCard. All others are currently min T+3, and FDMS are talking about launching a T+2 service very shortly.

Hope this helps

Rgds

Mark

 

[Sparx]

Mark you must not know Elavon or Global Payments (formerly HSBC MS) well then!

If you have a Santander BBA, having a Elavon merchant account allows next day settlement. And if you have a HSBC BBA, having a Global Payments merchant account allows next day settlement. I don't recall them charging any extra.. Maybe a higher setup fee I'm not 100%..

Oh and lastly if you have a Natwest/RBS BBA, having a Streamline/Cardsave merchant account allows 2 working days settlement.

P.S. BBA = business bank account

P.P.S Infact I'm sure Barclaycard Merchant services are even capable of next day settlement if you have a Barclays BBA. But Barclays are usually harder to negotiate with as a new customer.

 

[LMDServicesUK]

Hi Sparx

You are correct, my fault as I tend to err on the side of caution as I thought the official position was T + 2 although in the field we often see Merchants on T + 1 although as I mentioned some Merchants account providers are now introducing charges for this level of settlement.

Thanks for correcting me, and hopefully will benefit the OP.

Rgds

Mark

 

[dynamic08]

around 10 days and you have to have a degree in understanding invoices to pull it all together.

I had my last merchant account done automatically with Lloyds bank.

Going forward this is a new setup it will strictly be B2B payments. Speed is soooo important so seems like Santander and Elavon is the way forward.

Are charges reasonable?

 

[LMDServicesUK]

around 10 days and you have to have a degree in understanding invoices to pull it all together.

I had my last merchant account done automatically with Lloyds bank.

Going forward this is a new setup it will strictly be B2B payments. Speed is soooo important so seems like Santander and Elavon is the way forward.

Are charges reasonable?

OK if you want T+1 -2 days settlement realistically you will need to apply to either Global payments (via HSBC), Elavon or Barclaycard,(Santander are not an MSP, they use Elavon) as to how long it will take for your application to be considered, processed and approved, I cannot comment, we guarantee a decision in 3 days, and if approved merchant account & gateway up and running in 24 hours, but we cannot yet do T+1, but we will be soon hopefully !

As for rates until you put in an application, you will not know, also be aware some providers are now charging for these accelerated settlement times.

If you do get quotes from the above and you would like me to review for you, happy to help just PM me if you need help.

Good luck

Mark

 

[JordanBarclaycard]

Have you looked at Barclaycard Merchant Services?

We have some great options at the minute including a price beat/match on your current rates and any quote given. Turnaround time is up to 3 days dependant on who you bank with.

If you want any more information send me a PM.

Many thanks

Jordan
New business Manager
Barclaycard

 

[easiprint]

Highly recommend Streamline. We bank with Natwest and they arranged the streamline. Never more than 2 working days for payments and fees quite reasonable too