The thrill of a new merchant account can end after the first or second statement arrives and you find out that there are a variety of surcharges eroding your profit margins. A myriad of fixed charges and markups can nullify the impact of any good rates you negotiated for credit card processing services. If you’ve ever bought a car from a dealer, you know that the price you negotiate gets added in to financing costs, taxes, and other fees.
While most of the news surrounding surcharges involves ...Read More
Surcharges Eat Away At Your Profits
The thrill of a new merchant account can end after the first or second statement arrives and you find out that there are a variety of surcharges eroding your profit margins. A myriad of fixed charges and markups can nullify the impact of any good rates you negotiated for credit card processing services. If you’ve ever bought a car from a dealer, you know that the price you negotiate gets added in to financing costs, taxes, and other fees.
While most of the news surrounding surcharges involves ...Read More
Many potential customers who come to our website are looking for a quick merchant account rate quote or a schedule of credit card processing fees. At Capital Processing Network, we avoid quoting rates out of context because they don’t tell the whole story. A quoted rate, even with a disclaimer in fine print, often fails to disclose transaction fees, monthly charges, and compliance fees that can turn your “bargain” into a bad deal.
In fact, most of the teaser rates being shown in online 
Occasionally, people looking for credit card processing services inquire into offshore merchant accounts as a solution for difficulties in obtaining US-based merchant services. The main issue related to offshore credit card processing is that it is generally considered “high risk” and may involve significantly higher rates for authorization and other headaches for the merchant. Whenever possible, if you are doing business in the US and have a local (or nationwide) customer base, a domestic account 
As a form of alternative business funding, business cash advance services can be a lifesaver to a company with an established merchant account. They are also very convenient, since repayment is based around a percentage of you settled credit card receipts. This means that in slower months you aren’t on the hook for a fixed amount, and in high volume months you get closer to repaying the advance amount. Because advances are essentially a payment against your future credit card terminal revenue, 
Some merchants use third party credit card processing because they have had difficulty getting a direct merchant account relationship. Others, unfortunately, may be unaware that they are under a third-party setup and can get much better rates from a direct setup.
What is third party processing? As the name implies, there is another organization handling merchant services between you and the payment processor. These “middle men” may offer a degree of convenience for new companies and low-volume 
Although it seems like an anachronism, check acceptance services are still popular among business owners. The trend toward electronic payments, automatic withdrawals, and payment card use has put a definite dent in the use of personal checks, but even the most tech-savvy individuals may find themselves breaking out the checkbook every now and then. On the business side, plenty of dot-matrix “impact” printers are still sold to companies that physically print out checks on the noisiest machine 
At Capital Processing Network, many of our prospective customers shop around for the best deal. One of the offers from other processing companies involves the promise of a “free credit card machine.” Luckily, most customers are sophisticated enough to understand that any “free” product is usually tied to additional terms and conditions that actually cost far more over time. As any buyer of cable TV or cellular phone service knows, the cost of the free hardware ends up getting buried in the 
Most people who are looking to use a payment gateway for credit card transactions may be unaware that there are charges for gateway usage on top of the usual credit card fees. These fees pay for the infrastructure and security as well as integration with virtual terminals and online shopping carts. Although credit card gateway fees are usually fairly small, they can add up if your business processes a high volume of low-dollar transactions.
How does gateway usage volume affect overall costs? 
Note: This article is in reference to an emerging payment option, and may not yet be available through all credit card processing companies.
One of the ideas being publically tested for mobile wallets and smartphone-based payments involves QR codes. These cryptic square barcodes which seem to have found their way into print media, signage, tattoos, and sidewalk art over the past couple of years, are now being seen at registers. Essentially, smartphones enabled with mobile wallet (and/or NFC) features 
Magnetic stripes (AKA magnetic strips) have been on the back of credit cards since the 1960s. Despite the leaps and bounds in data management these stripes contain a relatively small amount of information. The familiar stripes can carry credit card numbers, cardholder names, and authorization information, but this data is not encrypted and can be easily stolen. Over the next few years, you may end up getting credit cards with no stripe at all.
For those of us old enough to remember cassette