[Megawatt]

Looking for feedback, on the way I am setting up my merchant account, for payments. I've not gone down this road before, so any heads up would be apprecated.
I rarely receive payments on site. Prefer to mail invoices, and make bank deposits weekly. It has worked for 25+ years, but I am starting to get more & more requests about taking plastic.
I talked to my Banker, & Web site Guy and I am having a link to PNC, added onto my website. Customers can click the link to make payment, directly to my business account. Fees are about the same as everyone else. Biggest advantage is all of the activity takes place on the bank's servers & security is as good as it gets.
Has anyone started this and regreted it later ? Would it make sence to use "Square" to accept service call charges ? of course I will have to incorporate the extra costs into the quotes, but I can see this as being a way to close more jobs. Extra work would be easier for the Customer to agree to etc. Any advise you guys would care to share is much appreciated.

 

[Hack Work]

Square is super easy. Swipe the card on the job and payment is done. They could read the number to you over the phone and you can enter it manually, but the fee is a little higher when you do that. I think Square should make a webpage that customers could go to and enter their credit card info directly and have it debit your account.

 

[The_Modifier]

+1 for Square:

http://square.ca/ :thumbsup:

 

[AZ86]

I use Intuit Go Payment.

http://payments.intuit.com/mobile-credit-card-processing/

I decided to go with Intuit over Square because people know the Intuit name, and they are tied to Quickbooks

 

[RGH]

Square here too....my bank offers a swiper too ask your bank if they have one..

 

[captkirk]

Does square have max..?

 

[Hack Work]

Does square have max..?

They used to have some type of max, but not anymore.

https://squareup.com/pricing

 

[Southeast Power]

Looking for feedback, on the way I am setting up my merchant account, for payments. I've not gone down this road before, so any heads up would be apprecated.
I rarely receive payments on site. Prefer to mail invoices, and make bank deposits weekly. It has worked for 25+ years, but I am starting to get more & more requests about taking plastic.
I talked to my Banker, & Web site Guy and I am having a link to PNC, added onto my website. Customers can click the link to make payment, directly to my business account. Fees are about the same as everyone else. Biggest advantage is all of the activity takes place on the bank's servers & security is as good as it gets.
Has anyone started this and regreted it later ? Would it make sence to use "Square" to accept service call charges ? of course I will have to incorporate the extra costs into the quotes, but I can see this as being a way to close more jobs. Extra work would be easier for the Customer to agree to etc. Any advise you guys would care to share is much appreciated.

I would forever AVOID bank and other merchant processors. I have been robbed by these people every time I use them.
They talk a wonderful game and then, bang!, nail you with fees on top of fees.

I found Square a year or so ago and will never go back to a bank.
I can process either just a number or swipe a card with the free swiper they give you.
They process it over night with the credit card company, then the next business day, you have your money.
I just processed $1,670.00 for a customer and my total fee to Square was 2.7%
No check to worry about, just done right there, we both got a confirming email less than a minute later.
It was after 5pm on Friday, money was in my account last night. 2 business days, it's usually one day but due to the time of day I think it looked at Monday as my swipe business day.
I really can't say much more than that.
But, like Goldline, see if it's right for you...

 

[Southeast Power]

I use Intuit Go Payment.

http://payments.intuit.com/mobile-credit-card-processing/

I decided to go with Intuit over Square because people know the Intuit name, and they are tied to Quickbooks

I did that too for a while but, I didn't do enough transactions to justify the fees.
I might get one card every couple of months.

 

[JHFWIC]

I would forever AVOID bank and other merchant processors. I have been robbed by these people every time I use them.
They talk a wonderful game and then, bang!, nail you with fees on top of fees.

I found Square a year or so ago and will never go back to a bank.
I can process either just a number or swipe a card with the free swiper they give you.
They process it over night with the credit card company, then the next business day, you have your money.
I just processed $1,670.00 for a customer and my total fee to Square was 2.7%
No check to worry about, just done right there, we both got a confirming email less than a minute later.
It was after 5pm on Friday, money was in my account last night. 2 business days, it's usually one day but due to the time of day I think it looked at Monday as my swipe business day.
I really can't say much more than that.
But, like Goldline, see if it's right for you...

Do you add 3% to take a CC, because that transaction you show cost you 45 dollars in fees.

 

[Deep Cover]

Does those fees come out of your profits or do you guys have two prices?

I worked for a company that did flat rate. I loved it for the most part. We had two prices, the price, and a "cash discount" price. The one thing I didn't like about it was when I worked the price up at the cash price, the customer would change their mind and want to pay with a CC. It wasn't easy explaining to them that the price would be higher, so I ended up writing everything up at the "normal" price.

 

[Southeast Power]

Do you add 3% to take a CC, because that transaction you show cost you 45 dollars in fees.

I consider that when pricing the job. My margin was something like 65% on that one.

My point is that I only pay a per use fee and not any type of monthly fee.
I cant see paying much less than that 2.7%
If you are getting a better deal Im all for it and would switch in a heartbeat.

 

[Hack Work]

Do you add 3% to take a CC, because that transaction you show cost you 45 dollars in fees.

That's a whole 'nother debate which we've had here.

When I first signed up with Square I saw that there was a 2.75% and 3.15% fee (depending how you use it) so I averaged it to 3% even. I then made the assumption that up to 1/3 of my business might be paid with credit cards. It's actually no where near that, but if a couple people with big purchases want to use the card it could get there quick. So to make that 3% cover 1/3 of my business, I raised all my prices by 1%, that makes it dead even. Over that period of time I also raised my prices for other reasons.

Fast forward to actually having a customer wanting to use a credit card to pay for a service change and some lights, and I am faced with paying around $80 in fees. That is pure profit that I would be throwing away. I just couldn't do it. So I informed then that there is a minimal fee to cover just the credit card processing expense, they were happy to pay. Over the next year of using it I had many customers pay with credit card and all were fine with the fee added on except for 2 people who rather write a check instead. But neither of those people were made, they both have called back for other stuff. So in my experience, charging the fee is perfectly fine.

Be aware, there are 10 states in which it's still illegal to charge the fee so find out your local law.

 

[Southeast Power]

Does those fees come out of your profits or do you guys have two prices?

I worked for a company that did flat rate. I loved it for the most part. We had two prices, the price, and a "cash discount" price. The one thing I didn't like about it was when I worked the price up at the cash price, the customer would change their mind and want to pay with a CC. It wasn't easy explaining to them that the price would be higher, so I ended up writing everything up at the "normal" price.

I consider the CC fee as an overhead cost just like I would fuel or consumables.
I dont go to a bank much these days and if I receive a check, I take a picture of it while Im in the customers driveway and its deposited right then.

 

[Hack Work]

Does those fees come out of your profits or do you guys have two prices?

I worked for a company that did flat rate. I loved it for the most part. We had two prices, the price, and a "cash discount" price. The one thing I didn't like about it was when I worked the price up at the cash price, the customer would change their mind and want to pay with a CC. It wasn't easy explaining to them that the price would be higher, so I ended up writing everything up at the "normal" price.

That whole "cash discount" thing is how gas stations have been getting around the law for years. Up until last year you weren't allowed to charge a fee for using credit cards, BUT, they found a loophole by giving a discount for using cash :laughing::laughing:

Lawyers :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Hack Work]

I dont go to a bank much these days and if I receive a check, I take a picture of it while Im in the customers driveway and its deposited right then.

The same here, mobile deposit is the greatest thing ever. No more waiting 10-15 minutes at the bank drive thru.

Whether I get a check or CC, both get processed on the spot right on my iPhone and get deposited into the business bank account the next day.

 

[Southeast Power]

Be aware, there are 10 states in which it's still illegal to charge the fee so find out your local law.

We might be in one of those States. I see a discounted price for paying with a check or cash in some places so, maybe its just semantics on how you manage the sale.

 

[Southeast Power]

That whole "cash discount" thing is how gas stations have been getting around the law for years. Up until last year you were allowed to charge a fee for using credit cards, BUT, they found a loophole by giving a discount for using cash :laughing::laughing:

Lawyers :thumbup::thumbup:

We live in a County that requires the highest price to be displayed. The next county down, they post the cheapest price. Im not saying that five cents a gallon is going to break me just a little consistency would be nice.

 

[Deep Cover]

I like the simplicity of the way you work it, but I would feel that some of my profit was being taken away due to their use of a CC.

 

[Hack Work]

I like the simplicity of the way you work it, but I would feel that some of my profit was being taken away due to their use of a CC.

That's exactly the way I felt. Even tho I added it to my overhead, it's still cash that is being taken out of my pocket when they choose to use a credit card. So that's why I tell them there is a fee.

Using a credit card is only a benefit to the person who is using it, whether they are using it like a loan because they don't have the money available or because they are getting points/cash back. Why should you pay for that?