Accept payments via mobile, internet, and at fundraising events all with a single gateway solution that provides optimum security and cost containment. Fundraising solutions for any candidate must include a variety of payment methods, cost controls, reporting tools, and be simple to implement. This article explores how our solution achieves this.

Just like a business, accepting funds via credit card can be expensive when running for Congress, Senate, President or other offices. However, thanks to debit legislation under the Durbin Amendment that went into effect October 2011,  it’s not nearly as much as it used to be. With a wholesale cost of .05% and $.21 per transaction for non-exempt debit cards, the overall cost of credit card processing has been greatly reduced. With a wholesale merchant account, you’ll pay interchange fees at all levels plus a small merchant discount.

Understanding merchant accounts.

1. You can apply for an ecommerce merchant account, MOTO (mail order/phone order), or Retail (card present /swipe). It’s against card association rules to process ecommerce transactions on a MOTO or Retail merchant account. But if you have an ecommerce merchant account, you’ll pay higher card not present rates on swiped transactions. The solution? Our CenPOS gateway  automatically identifies the transaction method and sends the appropriate data so that the transaction will qualify for retail. The CenPOS patent pending switching technology is not available from other vendors and saves big money. For example, save .3% on Visa Rewards cards- the difference between retail and card not present.
2.  Fees are made up of fixed non-negotiable interchange fees, network fees, card association fees, fees that vary by vendor (some hard costs vendors incur may vary), and negotiable merchant discount fees. Altogether when you divide your total fees by the net transactions we call this your effective rate. With a wholesale merchant account, an estimated effective rate for political fundraising campaigns is 2.2%, or 3.5% for very small campaigns. If you’re not paying any where near that, contact us for alternatives.
3. Different payment acceptance points can result in disparate reporting, which is never a problem until you’re trying to research something and then it becomes a nightmare.
4. A gateway is required to accept payments online. You need both a merchant account and a gateway. CenPOS is a universal gateway, compatible with all major processors.

Campaign Fundraising Concerns and how we solve them with the CenPOS gateway:

• Need to accept payments via many methods:  At the core of CenPOS is a Virtual Terminal for card swipe, online payments, mobile payments and any other method. CenPOS automatically switches payment routing for least cost.
• Need to accept multiple payment types: Check and credit/debit cards are currently accepted, and more options will be available in 2012.
• Large volunteer base may assist in payment collection. This creates potential liability for data security, but also a need for simple solution. Have you ever handed out donation cards at a fundraising event that requests credit card information to be written down? Identity theft is a major threat. Instead, use smart phones with the free CenPOS app and get cards swiped at the table or door, or add a card reader to any laptop. Micro manage user permissions and shut them down on demand. CenPOS prompts both the user and the donor for the appropriate actions. “Dummy proof” your payment collection to reduce costs and improve record keeping.
• Donor Management: An API (application interface) is available to exchange data with your donor management software. CenPOS supports recurring billing and can send the appropriate secure token to your software as well. CenPOS stores 7 years of data storage vs the typical 18 months of merchant services providers and gateways.
• Finance scrutiny and Fraud protection: CenPOS mitigates risk of fraudulent cards and also offers advanced protection to block certain payment types including anonymous and foreign issued cards. You’re in control of how tight you want to control donations.

What is the payment flow from beginning to end of an ecommerce transaction? This is the credit card processing payment flow for MOST but not all gateways.

1. If ecommerce, the customer places an order. The ecommerce solution defines what data will be passed to the gateway. It uses an API to pass specified data to the gateway.
2. The gateway receives the transaction information and securely passes it to the payment processor.  Each gateway defines what data it will pass to the processor and it may collect more information than it passes. Each processor defines what information it will accept from a gateway.  The API uses the approved data and data format. The gateway must be certified to connect to the processor via a rigorous approval process to ensure security. The gateway transaction file includes yes/no parameters that were predetermined at the account set up level. For example, the “zip code must match or decline the transaction”. The gateway may also kill the transaction before sending to the processor based on merchant risk parameters that were set up.
3. The processor submits to credit card interchange network.
4. The credit card interchange network routes the transaction to the customers credit card issuer.
5. The credit card issuer approves or declines.
6. The credit card interchange network relays the answer back to the processor.
7. The processor records the transaction details and deposits funds in your account per your merchant account terms. It relays the results to the gateway.
8. The gateway records the transaction results and passes it to the ecommerce solution, which then stores on the customer record.  Again, the ecommerce solution defines which data it will accept from the gateway.

At the very beginning I noted the above applies for most but not all gateways. The exception is if the gateway is also a switch. In that case, the switch can bypass steps and go straight to the credit card issuer. This is more rare and none of the most popular gateways can do this.

Email received from authorize.net updates MasterCard partial authorization requirement. “In late March, we sent an e-mail regarding MasterCard and Discover’s modifications to the rules concerning the processing of debit, pre-paid and gift cards for merchants located in the United States.

Recently MasterCard and Discover relaxed the requirements for e-commerce merchants so that support for partial authorizations and balance responses are no longer required, but recommended best practices. All retail and mobile merchants, however, must still support the requirements.

Additionally, all merchants are still required to support authorization reversals for any non-settled authorizations. The deadline for all Authorize.Net merchants to support the requirements is still June 30, 2011.

IMPORTANT: Although no longer a requirement for e-commerce merchants, Authorize.Net intends to support partial authorizations and balance responses for all merchants. We highly recommend that your merchants provide support for these features as they can help decrease declined transactions and potentially increase sales.

You can review the timeline of when we expect support for each processor in our Partial Authorization FAQs at < http://www.authorize.net/support/pafaqs#when>http://www.authorize.net/support/pafaqs#when.

We have also updated our FAQs to reflect the latest changes. If your merchants have questions, please refer them to the FAQs at http://www.authorize.net/support/pafaqs/ for additional information, including integration updates, value-adding services and more.”

Can I use a single merchant account if I have more than one ecommerce site? By regulation, you must have a different merchant account for each domain name.  The domain name, not the company name, must appear on consumer credit card statements. This is a field entered on the merchant application.  The main purpose is to reduce consumer confusion and thus reduce chargebacks.

What if you have single page checkouts on the same domain name?

For example, the merchant may sell something with a one page checkout. One page is mydomain.com/product1. Another is mydomain.com/product2. They do not link to a single shopping cart checkout for some internal reason. You could possibly use one merchant account for both web pages, provided it’s the same company and shares the same federal tax ID. In some cases the merchant may want to set up a separate terminal identification (TID) to assist in the reconciliation process. Each TID would have it’s own totals, but all the data appears on one merchant statement, under one merchant account. To set up TID’s, contact your merchant processor.

Non-profit organizations sometimes have this with fundraising on their web sites. The non-profit has multiple events and donor options each with a simple one page checkout specific to that event or donation. Provided the rules are met above, you can probably use one merchant account. Always check with your processor for confirmation of your situation.

related articles

internet merchant account requirements

Secure Internet PIN Debit Transactions Deliver Issuers Reduced Fraud and Chargebacks

HOUSTON, July 14, 2010 — PULSE, one of the nation’s leading debit/ATM networks, is bringing the security, reliability and convenience of PIN debit to online shopping with the introduction of PULSE^® Internet PIN debit.

Financial institutions using PULSE Internet PIN Debit can deliver convenient PIN-based, online transaction verification to a growing number of consumers who purchase products from e-commerce merchants. The new payment solution, which uses Acculynk’s PaySecure^® Internet PIN debit software, reinforces the issuer and cardholder relationship by using a financial institution-branded graphical PIN pad.

According to a forecast from Javelin Strategy & Research, online retail transaction volume is expected to reach $268 billion by 2013. However, as many as 15 percent of debit cardholders have PIN-only debit cards, which previously could not be used for Internet purchases.

A separate Javelin study conducted last year found that 79 percent of consumers surveyed would feel more comfortable using debit cards online with a PIN than without it. PULSE network issuers can now address this need with Internet PIN debit transactions, giving cardholders the option to use their PIN debit cards for e-commerce in an easy and safe manner.

PULSE confirmed cardholders’ acceptance of the technology in a 2009 pilot, which used PaySecure. In the pilot, 54 percent of debit cardholders paying for online purchases preferred to enter a PIN when presented with the choice of PIN or signature options to complete the transactions. Additionally, chargebacks were reduced 77 percent compared to signature debit transactions, and there were no instances of fraudulent transactions.

“Our successful pilot confirms that debit cardholders are comfortable entering a PIN when shopping online,” said Judith McGuire, PULSE senior vice president of product management. “With PULSE Internet PIN debit, financial institutions can offer cardholders a secure, trusted and preferred payment option for online purchases. The product gives consumers with PIN-only debit cards a new payment choice, and should appeal to cardholders who already prefer to enter their PIN at brick-and-mortar retailers.”

How PULSE Internet PIN Debit Works
When consumers check out in the usual manner from a merchant website using cards that participate in PULSE Internet PIN Debit, they are given the option of completing the transaction with a PIN. Consumers who select this option are prompted to enter their PIN to complete the transaction, using a graphical, scrambling PIN pad that can be customized with the card issuer’s logo and debit card design. The cardholder clicks the mouse on a number and the PIN pad re-scrambles as each subsequent digit is selected. The PIN is not captured on the computer, nor is it transmitted over the Internet.

The solution makes a general phishing attack difficult because several unique attributes are displayed during the transaction, including merchant branding, financial institution identifiers and the VeriSign Secured^® Seal. In addition, Acculynk’s Internet PIN debit software service is integrated directly into the online checkout process, eliminating the need for cardholders to enroll or be redirected to another site to complete purchases.

A demonstration of PULSE Internet PIN Debit and more product information is available at www.pulsenetwork.com/ipd.

About PULSE
PULSE, a Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) company, is a leading ATM/debit network, serving more than 4,400 banks, credit unions and savings institutions across the United States. The network links cardholders with ATMs and POS terminals at locations nationwide. Through its global ATM network, PULSE provides worldwide cash access for Diners Club and Discover cardholders through hundreds of thousands of ATM locations. The company is also a source of electronic payments research and is committed to providing its participants with education on emerging products, services and trends in the payments industry. For more information, visit www.pulsenetwork.com.

S. 3386: Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act targets two ecommerce problems. One problem is sending consumer card data to third parties after the sale, for the purpose of an additional sale from another company, typically for a recurring billing item. The second issue addresses opting out of recurring billing purchases made online. This article addresses the second part.

Excerpt from Text of S. 3386: Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act

(c) Limitations on Use of Negative Option Feature in Internet-Based Sales Transactions- It shall be unlawful for any person to charge or attempt to charge any consumer for any goods or services sold in a transaction effected on the Internet through a negative option feature, unless–

END EXCERPT

In my opinion, some form of this legislation is likely to be approved and merchants should prepare for it.

Here’s an example of a common business recurring billing charge:

Thank you for your payment. Here is your receipt as requested for YOURDOMAIN.com.

Please note that a payment made by credit card will show as paid to  ISP HOST COMPANY on your credit card statement.
Billing Address

YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
Payment Information
Total Payment Amount: $8.57

Payment Method: MasterCard – CC#5XXXXXXXXXXX1234
Payment Date: 6/10/2010 Paid Through: 7/10/2010.
Plan Fee – 6/10/2010 to 7/10/2010 – $7.95
Domain [mydomain.com]
Account Billing can be accessed from www.ispdummyhost.com
Click on “Billing Admin” from the “Customer Admin/Billing” menu.

If you have any questions regarding this receipt or have billing questions in general, please send an email to service@ispdummyhostingcompany.com.

ISP HOST COMPANY

1234 holiday lane.
Anywhere USA AZ 12345
1-888*123-1234

If legislation is approved:

The biller will need to notify the customer 10 days in advance instead of just sending a receipt for the purchase. This means TWO emails will need to be generated. One before the sale and one after with the receipt.

Additionally, some language changes may be needed to be perfectly clear:

BILLING CYCLE: MONTHLY
BILLING DATE: 10th of month
CANCELLATION: To cancel your service, please login to your account or call 888*888*8888.
Account Billing can be accessed from www.isphost.com
Click on “Billing Admin” from the “Customer Admin/Billing” menu.

If you have any questions regarding this receipt or have billing questions in general, please send an email to customerservice@isphostingcompany.com.

Article reference:

Rockefeller Introduces Bill to Ban Misleading Internet Sales Practices Uncovered By E-Commerce Investigation

Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act

Bigcommerce is really not much of a comparison with Volusion shopping cart. They’ve gone to great lengths to market their cart with online buzz as being better, however, if you dig in, Bigcommerce doesn’t even come close. I’m writing this article because someone, maybe their PR team, has flooded the internet with this supposedly ‘better’ shopping cart.

If you have a small business and your own inventory, yes, it just might work for you with the built in SEO. I opened a test account and quickly realized how much is missing from the Bigcommerce features. As always, every cart has it’s pros and cons. There’s too much missing from Bigcommerce for me to spend all the time writing it up. I could barely get past the first section- customers.

To be fair, Bigcommerce does have some of these fields. The difference is Volusion has a single screen where you can record all your customer information and notes. The image below is only a portion of that screen:

Big commerce customer screen:

What else is missing in Bigcommerce?
- NO option to drop ship.
- NO place to list your vendors ( since no drop shipping, they probably saw no reason to have this along with warehouses and receiving inventory from the PO’s)
- NO place to issue purchase orders. I guess they assume everyone is using an offline program. Bigcommerce does have low level inventory alert option.

Less critical missing items:
- no affiliate program built in
- the forum has tons of unanswered questions. In Volusion’s forum, most will have replies same day, if not minutes or hours.
- I didn’t see a way to enable free shipping over a certain dollar amount
- I think it’s more cumbersome to add and modify products. Bigc uses many tabs, Volusion uses a long page. I think it’s easier and more intuitive to get around Volusion admin than BigC. With BigC, you click on product name in admin and it takes you to the live page. You have to click on a teeny EDIT text in the far right of your screen to get to edit it. In Volusion the linked text to edit is on the left where you naturally have your mouse.

What does bigcommerce and Interspire do better?
Much easier to create the design you want, including easy to modify templates.
Statistics- Which products are selling best? Who are the best customers. This is simple with Bigcommerce, but not readily available with Volusion. Maybe you can see if you use custom options, but again, not easily.
- built in banner program for the store
- SEO tools. Volusion has good SEO set up, but Bigc has more.
The product page layout is far better right out of the box, including reviews.

PAYMENTS
In addition to the usual, Volusion has recurring billing and users can easily change their payment method. Merchants can easily collect more money right on the order page if the order is modified later (with customer permission and card details). Either site has the same needs to accept payments for an online store.
Bigcommerce states “We expect to have our compliance this coming May 2010″.

“Harper says BigCommerce’s main competitor is Yahoo Inc.’s Yahoo Merchant Solutions, also known as Yahoo Store, an e-commerce platform popular among small or start up e-retailers. He predicts that his company will grow from 3,000 to 13,000 clients by the end of the year and that they’ll mostly be e-retailers with fewer than 20 employees. He expects about 25% will have switched from a competitor.”

I could go on. Bigcommerce is a big solution for small niche companies. It does have some great features. But you need to know what’s missing before you start. Does it really have what your business needs. And check for PCI Compliance.

DALLAS and BOISE, Idaho (March 15, 2010) — Chase Paymentech, a leading merchant acquirer and payment processor, and Kount, a Boise, Idaho-based company that specializes in card-not-present (CNP) fraud prevention, today announced an agreement to offer a comprehensive suite of fraud detection, management and prevention tools for merchants.

Chase Paymentech processes a significant share of global CNP payments, in a wide variety of payment methods, and authorizes transactions in more than 130 currencies. Its expertise and fault tolerant infrastructure, paired with Kount’s advanced fraud prevention technology, will introduce a new class of fraud management tools that will significantly improve the reliability and security of card-not-present transactions.

The ability to provide merchants with a real-time fraud score at the time of bank authorization will deliver unparalleled value. This benefit coupled with dynamic order linking, device fingerprinting, proxy piercing and other Kount capabilities will allow merchants to accurately detect and reject a significantly higher percentage of fraudulent orders, saving merchants costly chargeback fees and fines associated with fraud.

“This alliance underscores our commitment to provide merchants with the tools they need to significantly improve and sustain financial performance. Our partnership with Kount offers merchants the first truly integrated fraud-monitoring tool at the point of transaction authorization. This is a significant step toward a global effort to reduce CNP fraud,” said Chase Paymentech president Mike Duffy.

“The result of our partnership with Chase Paymentech will be a new class of tools and utilities for controlling card-not-present fraud,” said Kount CEO Brad Wiskirchen. “The comprehensive suite of products will give merchants a new level of certainty that current and future forms of fraud can be controlled.”

About Chase Paymentech
Chase Paymentech, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), is a global leader in payment processing and merchant acquiring, capable of authorizing transactions in more than 130 currencies. The company’s proprietary platforms provide access to a wide variety of payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, prepaid stored value cards and electronic check processing. In 2009, Chase Paymentech processed more than 18 billion transactions with a value exceeding $409.7 billion, including an estimated half of all global Internet transactions. The company also provides a full set of solutions aimed at accelerating cash flow and managing transaction data. On the Internet or at the point of sale, Chase Paymentech’s unique combination of outstanding service, innovative solutions and financial strength offers solid benefits to companies both large and small. More information can be found at http://www.chasepaymentech.com.

Contact: Mia Shernoff
mia.shernoff@chasepaymentech.com
1.646-460-4069

About Kount

Kount® is the most advanced fraud-fighting technology available today. Developed with online and catalog merchant needs in mind, Kount defends against both traditional and emerging fraud threats. Kount defeats botnets and other organized crime using a formidable array of tools including two patented technologies — device fingerprinting, and Proxy Piercer® — along with Dynamic Scoring™, Geolocation techniques, and real-time data streams from websites all across the globe.
Kount provides merchants with maximum risk management control and flexibility, while automating costly manual review processes to improve the bottom line. For more information about Kount, please visit www.kount.com.

Contact: Kristen Meador, Clickbank
kristen.meador@clickbank.com
1 303.807.8073