Tips for Businesses That Accept Credit Cards
Let's face it, many businesses cringe when they think of dealing
with banks when they are looking to set up merchant credit card
accounts. The truth is that in order to be in business in this
day and age as a merchant, you must be prepared to accept and
process credit cards. Most especially if you do business over
the Internet. If you are not prepared to offer a full array of
credit card acceptance options, I'm afraid you will soon be out
of business. The downside to accepting credit cards is that the
merchant is at risk for not only the amount that has been
charged, but a charge back fee as well.
The banks will take the disputed charge along with a chargeback
fee directly from the merchants account and if the merchant does
not have sufficient funds that have already cleared from paying
their own bills, they will be hit with yet another charge which
is known as an overdraft charge. It can become a vicious cycle.
There are now more than a few banks that recognize that these
charge backs are not always the fault of the merchant, and that
indeed, most merchants are honest with their credit card
dealings. I regret having to say that there is so much credit
card fraud out there today, and because the merchant is always
liable, you must take active steps to protect yourself and your
business.
First of all, you must be careful to verify to the very best of
your ability that the name, address and cvv number verification
are all in good order. The business owner, or merchant, must be
careful to verify the IP address of each and every transaction
to make sure that it is within the approximate location of the
cardholder. A red flag should go up if a person who lives in Des
Moines, Iowa is suddenly making a charge in Boca Raton, Florida.
This is your livelihood so the exercise of due diligence and
caution are always of paramount importance.
Do not fall into the habit of becoming apathetic because as
quickly as money is credited to your merchant account it can be
taken away due to the charge backs that we discussed earlier.
Now there are organizations who are working to try to change the
banking and processing rules and regulations so that businesses
that are both small and large will have some more protection
against credit card fraud.
The time to begin protecting yourself and your business is right
now. You need only pick up the newspaper, or read a news report,
to know that the risk is very real and always present. Reports
state that there are over 40 million credit cards in the hands
of thieves and criminals who have no compunction about using
these credit cards for any nefarious activities that they can
dream up. That is why I have written this article. It is most
certainly not my intention to scare anyone. I simply want to
remind you of the dangers and risks associated with processing
credit cards for your business.