Choosing the Right Payment Solution

Transcription

1 Choosing the Right Payment Solution Contact: x x4

2 Contents Executive Summary... 1 Choosing the Right Payment Solution for Your Business... 1 Questions to ask when choosing a payment provider:... 2 Merchant Accounts... 2 Security Features... 2 Service Levels... 2 Fees... 2 Why are these questions important?... 3 Conclusion... 5 i

3 Executive Summary Executive Summary Choosing the Right Payment Solution for Your Business Choosing the right payment solution for your business is challenging. There are many payment processors who claim to offer you the same service for a lower price, but remember the old adage, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Some companies may also take advantage of the fact that most businesses don t know all the right questions to ask when choosing a payment provider. After all, you are a specialist in your own industry not the payment industry. Choosing a payment provider is an important decision it s ultimately your hard earned revenues that are at risk. The handy checklist on the next page will help you ask the right questions and compare service providers so that you can make an informed decision for your company. Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business Page 1

4 What you need to know Questions to ask when choosing a payment provider: See the next section for more detail on why these questions are important to your business. Merchant Accounts 1. Do I have to complete more than one application to setup? 2. Do you provide 4 major credit cards with this one application? (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover) 3. Does my customer see my company name on their credit card statement? 4. Can you provide me with the ability to accept American Express in US currency? 5. Am I required to provide financial statements or business plans to sign up for your service? 6. Will you deposit ALL my sales into one bank account at the same time, regardless of which credit card my customer used? 7. Will you deposit my sales into ANY bank I choose? 8. Will my sales be deposited no more than 15 days from the date of the sale? (i.e. if I sell something on October 1 st, will I see the proceeds in my bank account by October 15 th?) Security Features 1. Do you provide Verified by Visa, WITHOUT requiring my business to purchase a software plugin? 2. Do you comply with the Visa Account Information Security Program (Visa AIS / VISA CISP)? 3. Who is responsible for protection of the credit card data, my company or yours? 4. Do you comply with the Canadian Privacy Act (PIPEDA Personal Information and Privacy Electronic Documents Act)? 5. Do I have to purchase an SSL Certificate to use your service? 6. Do you provide Firewall and Intrusion Detection during the transaction process? 7. Are all of these security features available and included? Is there an additional fee? a. Verified by Visa b. AVS address verification service c. Security Code (CVV2, CVC2, CID) d. Risk Management / Fraud Screening e. Duplicate Check f. Card Runner Check 8. Do you have a dedicated credit and risk team that will assist me in identifying potentially high risk transactions, defending chargebacks, and provide valuable information about protecting my e- commerce business? 9. Is your company profitable? Service Levels 1. Do you have at least a 99.9% uptime? 2. Did your merchants lose sales during the major power outage that affected the entire Eastern Seaboard in August/2003? 3. Do you have fully redundant processing systems located in multiple data centers? Fees 1. Do you charge me for all transactions, or just approvals? 2. Does the transaction fee include all of the leading industry security features to protect my business from fraud? (Verified by Visa, AVS, CVV2, Duplicate Checking, Card Runner, Real-time Risk Management and Fraud Detection). If not, what are the extra fees for these services? 3. Are there any additional fees that I must pay to third party providers (i.e. acquiring banks, security certificate issuers, payment processors?) 4. Do you charge an additional fee for detailed reports (including line-item detail necessary for reconciling my bank deposits?) Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business Page 2

5 Why is this Important? Why are these questions important? Time, money and work all of these are relevant to the success of your business. The Advantage in choosing InternetSecure is that we save you valuable time, money and labour during the setup process, but more importantly, on an ongoing basis. Here s some detail about why the questions in the checklist are so important to your business. Requirement What they don t tell you InternetSecure Advantage One Simple Application (Financial Statements NOT Required) Some providers require that you complete multiple applications (i.e. one for Visa/MasterCard, separate application for American Express) Some also require that you provide audited financial statements and/or business plans. Multiple applications to different financial institutions and/or providing financial statements or business plans means more work and longer delays and potentially higher costs for your business to begin accepting credit cards. With one application you can accept 4 major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover) in two currencies (Canadian & US dollars) No financial statements or business plans required, making it easier and faster for you to begin accepting credit cards online (or in your store). Saving you time, money, and hassle! 4 Major Credit Cards Included Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Some providers claim they can provide your business with all of these cards, but in fact most cannot. Some may be referring you to a financial institution for some or all of the credit cards, which means more time during the application process, as well as each month when you are reconciling your sales with your deposits. Be particularly cautious of providers that claim you can be processing in 24 hours or less. This means that they are not providing you with your own merchant accounts - very risky for your business! This can result in your customers disputing charges on their credit card statement because they don t recognize the name. This is also against the credit card association rules, so your revenues InternetSecure provides real merchant accounts for the 4 major credit card types. Your customers see your company name on their credit card statement, so that they recognize the purchase and don t contact their bank to dispute it. You save time, money and labour defending chargebacks from legitimate customers! Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business Page 3

6 Why is this Important? Two Currencies: Canadian and US Dollars Deposits for sales from ALL cards: Deposited Electronically into your bank account at the same time Deposited within 15 days of the original sale Provides immediate online reports for reconciling bank deposits (FREE) are at risk if Visa or MasterCard decide to shut down the processor. They will have no ability to determine that these sales belong to your business. How much of your revenues are you willing to risk? You should choose the currencies you wish to accept depending on your target market. It may seem obvious, but Canadian shoppers prefer to buy in Canadian $ s and Amercian shoppers prefer to buy in US$ s. International customers also understand US currency. Some providers will tell you that they deposit your sales at the same frequency as InternetSecure. What they don t tell you is that your sales from the 1 st to the 15 th of each month are not deposited until the 30 th. So in some cases, they are holding your revenues for up to 30 days! In addition, some providers will deposit Visa sales on one payment schedule, Mastercard sales at a different frequency, etc. This makes it extremely difficult to know what sales you ve been paid for. InternetSecure provides you with a complete solution of merchant accounts and transaction processing for the currencies your customers demand. Don t lose sales because you don t accept the right currencies! As a new InternetSecure merchant, the proceeds from your sales are deposited into your bank account on the 15 th and 30 th of each month, as soon as 2 days after the sale. The sale you make on the 1 st is deposited on the 15 th (a full two weeks earlier than some other providers) and the sale you make on the 13 th is deposited on the 15 th. InternetSecure not only improves your cash flow but also provides on-line fund reports that let you know immediately which sales you ve been paid for. The detail makes it simple to understand what sales, refunds, fees make up the amount that was deposited to your account. Very subtle, but saves you time and frustration each month. Some of our customers tell us that it used to take them 3 days per month to reconcile their bank deposits! As your business grows, talk to us about our weekly payment plan. Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business Page 4

7 Conclusion Conclusion As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Be sure you are choosing the payment solution that best meets your business needs with a strong focus on protecting your business from fraud. It s not worth it to save a few cents on what appears to be the least expensive solution, only to receive a chargeback in which case you lose your product, your revenue and have to pay the fees associated with the fraudulent transaction (discount rate and chargeback fees). Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business Page 5