Monday, October 4, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
What do you get for your PCI fee?
Many merchants have questioned the charges they are receiving for PCI fees. PCI/DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Simply, or maybe not so simply, these are standards that are implemented by credit card processors and merchants, to ensure card holder privacy and minimize fraud. Every acquirer has a huge responsibility in this area and they have incurred numerous necessary costs to comply. They all pass some form of fee off to their merchants in either a monthly or annual charge or possibly, both. How much are you being charged and what do you get for it?
As a merchant, this fee doesn't mean that you now get to ignore cardholder security and all the risk falls back on your provider. Do the fees insure the merchant against PCI fines? Do they help pay for the processor to become PCI compliant? Do they pay for the merchant to become PCI compliant. The answer is Yes, No and Maybe. You still, must absolutely do all you can do to protect card holder data within your daily business practices. The fines incurred for non-compliance can be devastating.
The bottom line here is that you, as a merchant need to take a look at your statement, in detail, and understand all the fees you are paying. If you see a line item that says PCI/DSS fee, call your provider and flat out ask them what you're getting for it. Then ask they how you might be able to go about eliminating it. Some providers are simply using this as an additional income generator for themselves.
Take the time to visit THIS WEBSITE to find out more about PCI/DSS than you probably want to know. But, it could be time very wisely spent.
As a merchant, this fee doesn't mean that you now get to ignore cardholder security and all the risk falls back on your provider. Do the fees insure the merchant against PCI fines? Do they help pay for the processor to become PCI compliant? Do they pay for the merchant to become PCI compliant. The answer is Yes, No and Maybe. You still, must absolutely do all you can do to protect card holder data within your daily business practices. The fines incurred for non-compliance can be devastating.
The bottom line here is that you, as a merchant need to take a look at your statement, in detail, and understand all the fees you are paying. If you see a line item that says PCI/DSS fee, call your provider and flat out ask them what you're getting for it. Then ask they how you might be able to go about eliminating it. Some providers are simply using this as an additional income generator for themselves.
Take the time to visit THIS WEBSITE to find out more about PCI/DSS than you probably want to know. But, it could be time very wisely spent.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Processing Rates Increasing Because....
Over the past week or so, I've had merchants contacting me saying that their processor has given them various reasons for raising their credit card processing rates. Sometimes rate increases are necessary and warranted. In your business, when your costs increase, don't you also consider raising the price of your goods and services to help offset, at least a little, the increased costs you have incurred? It's no difference in the merchant services industry but when I hear what some of the merchants have been told, my blood starts to boil because they are simply flat out lies.
One processor told their merchants that they were going to have to increase some of their Non-Qualified or Fourth Tier rates, by .30% and $.10 due to "interchange increases". Well, if there was actually increases to that magnitude, I could certainly see the justification. However, the problem is, that in April, Visa/MC had very minimal (and I do mean minimal) increases only on a very few card or transaction types. So, the processors "justification" in passing on this type of increase is ridiculous. It's simply a profit generator for them.
Another processor has told their merchant (a retailer) that increases were coming on many of their transactions because they weren't breaking out the transaction and separating the cost of goods/services and sales tax. So, consequently, they were going to have to charge them more. How ridiculous! I'm sure you're aware that when you run a transaction thru your POS system, it simply asks for a total and not separate amounts for the product and the sales tax. What a crock!
It's precisely these types of things that happen that further encourages me to always recomment Cost Plus pricing to merchants. It is by far the most transparent form of pricing and simply, the processor can't manipulate rates or "hide" fees on you. If you're not currently priced this way...it's time to get on it.
One processor told their merchants that they were going to have to increase some of their Non-Qualified or Fourth Tier rates, by .30% and $.10 due to "interchange increases". Well, if there was actually increases to that magnitude, I could certainly see the justification. However, the problem is, that in April, Visa/MC had very minimal (and I do mean minimal) increases only on a very few card or transaction types. So, the processors "justification" in passing on this type of increase is ridiculous. It's simply a profit generator for them.
Another processor has told their merchant (a retailer) that increases were coming on many of their transactions because they weren't breaking out the transaction and separating the cost of goods/services and sales tax. So, consequently, they were going to have to charge them more. How ridiculous! I'm sure you're aware that when you run a transaction thru your POS system, it simply asks for a total and not separate amounts for the product and the sales tax. What a crock!
It's precisely these types of things that happen that further encourages me to always recomment Cost Plus pricing to merchants. It is by far the most transparent form of pricing and simply, the processor can't manipulate rates or "hide" fees on you. If you're not currently priced this way...it's time to get on it.
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