A reader asks, “I noticed your video about non-profits being able to take advantage of emerging markets rates. I’m curious how that works if you do not fit into the emerging market categories as you address in your blog? I am a religious 501c3 and am in the process of getting rate quotes from various merchants and one mentioned this program to me. But, they have high monthly fees and we will have a very low amount of processing in our first year (less than $25k).”

Response: I’ve written about this before. For low volumes like yours it really makes almost no difference who you’re processing with. Most of the fee you pay cannot be avoided and the difference from low to high end costs isn’t worth the effort in my opinion. Maybe you’ll save $100 a year, maybe nothing. You’d be better off focusing on doubling your donations than trimming a very small amount in fees.

Related articles:
Monthly fees for non-profit merchant account under $25000 in credit card processing.
Industry insider reviews merchants fees for non-profits, large volume.

I made a video about Non-profit credit card processing rates telling non-profit merchants what to look for on their merchant statements to know if they are qualifying for special credit card processing interchange rates they are entitled to as a non-profit. If a non-profit does not see this data on their merchant statement, I tell them to call me and I’ll help them out. I give free information to non-profits all the time, to enable them to use more dollars for their intended programs rather than paying it in credit card processing fees.

Captain Morgan (his youtube handle) is threatening me saying this is misleading advertising. “there are NO special interchange rates for Non-Profit businesses”. He’s going to report me to the card associations and everyone else who will listen.

Here’s an example of interchange rates. All “for profit” merchants can qualify for .95% signature debit. All  501(c)(3) merchants can can qualify for .80% signature debit for the same transaction.  Is that not a special rate?  CaptMorgan would have  you believe that Visa/Mastercard simply hands over these rates to everyone. But that’s not true. By rule, any non-profit can QUALIFY for these rates. But that doesn’t mean their PROCESSOR GIVES them those rates. The card associations set the interchange rates, but it’s up to the payment processor to decide what they’ll actually charge merchants.

Technically the two rates above are called CPS/RETAIL and CPS/RETAIL2 EMERGING MARKETS. There are a select few types of businesses that can participate in EMERGING MARKETS interchange rates. If the merchant is one of the qualified types of business, the proper corresponding SIC code on the merchant account set up will drive the ability for the merchant to hit emerging market interchange rates.

If all the credit card processing companies were doing such a bang up job, I’d have never made the video. But after seeing one too many merchant statements with the non-profit not qualifying for emerging market rates, I did something about it. Here’s the kicker. On a ‘pass through’ or wholesale price plan, the merchant pays interchange plus a merchant discount. (That’s the short version, though it’s much more complicated than that.) If the non-profit is set up incorrectly, they’ll pay .95%, for example, instead of .80%. The processor does not make any money on interchange.  NONE of the .15% difference goes to the processor.  But because some salesperson has no idea what they are doing, and it happens ALL THE TIME, the non-profit frequently pays more.  The salesperson doesn’t benefit, the processor doesn’t benefit, and the merchant pays.

CAPTMORGAN comment: “Are their special credit card processing rates for non-profits….? The answer to that is NO… NOT in any way…. ? This lady is full of it….. Visa / MC considers all markets by which they have limited presence in to be “emerging markets”. These markets are specifically; government, schools, utilities, insurance, cable / broadband, and pay television (OD); – nothing more…”

I think his comment is contradictory. YES, there are other types of merchants that ALSO qualify for emerging market interchange rates. I could have mentioned all of them in the video, but then, it would have been too long. If I did mention it, I’d give the same information and advice. Because I’ve also rarely seen a merchant statement for a government, school, utility, insurance, cable / broadband, or pay television that had emerging markets on their interchange qualification. How does this happen? If the merchant has been with the same processor for a long time, the emerging markets category may have been created after the account was established. With the wrong SIC code, the merchant never qualifies for the special interchange rates because nobody at the processor is watching out for their client and the client doesn’t know these rates exist, what to look for, or they are not given enough information to figure it out.

I listened to my Non-profit Credit card processing rates video two more times to see if I have some potential liability.  Hey- who want’s trouble? I could, and probably should,  take it down just to avoid any remote chance of trouble. But after listening again, I don’t see anything wrong with it. You be the judge. Watch the video. Do you think it’s misleading or false advertising? Does this guy not have anything better to do than to try and make life difficult for others?

Please write your comments on the video or blog. Thanks!

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

Today’s inquiry is where can I get a merchant account with no monthly fees? The question is for a new non-profit 501c3 with less than $25,000 annual projected in credit card processing. The group needs a both a virtual terminal and online donation capability.

Answer: I don’t know any suppliers with zero monthly fees that would meet the requirements for the specifications above. My recommendation is to get a paypal Website Payments Pro account for $30 per month. The non-profit rates for the volume are as good as it gets. You’re going to pay fees whether it’s higher monthly and low rate or low monthly and high rates. I think Paypal offers some benefits for newbies with their instant online donor form, and the contract is month to month.

Step by step on paypal:

>Payment Solutions

>Accept Credit cards non-profit

>Sign up for a PayPal Business account If you don’t need a virtual terminal, you’ll select business/standard account/type of business, non-profit.

Discounted fees for nonprofits with 501 (c)(3) status

More than $100,000 in monthly volume: 1.9% + $.30 per transaction

Less than $100,000 in monthly volume: 2.2% + $.30 per transaction

There is no monthly fee. All other nonprofits are charged regular transaction rates. Discounted rates do not apply to transactions made using Website Payments Pro or Virtual Terminal.

If you need a virtual terminal, you’ll select Business>website payments pro. The non-profits rate do not apply! Pricing as of 12/15/2010:

• $30 monthly fee
• 2.2% – 2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction* (Visa, MasterCard, Discover)
• 3.5% and no fixed fee per transaction (American Express)

Note- fees are likely to go up again in April 2010, as a result of the bi-annual interchange update.

For a new non-profit you need to estimate how many transactions you’ll have a month, and a dollar volume. Assume 50% of your transactions will be a the lowest quoted CARD NOT PRESENT rate. Assume 50% will be at the highest quoted ECOMMERCE rate. This is a general guideline to help you compare different options you may be considering.

The above information does not apply to larger volume non-profits. Click this link for related article:

industry insider reviews merchants fees for non-profits

We are hearing that merchant processors are offering to waive credit card fees on donations for the disaster. Is that something that your company is doing? The processors are not waiving fees to my knowledge, however the card associations are. So far Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express have all announced plans as of January 15. The good news is that over 95% of credit card processing costs are typically in interchange fees, the same fees that are being waived.

If your non-profit is not on the list, you can ask your processor to help you get on the list, but it’s pretty unlikely. Your charity will need a long track record of donor dollar efficiency to hope to qualify. Contact your merchant account provider to make this request.

The charities covered varies by the card brand.

Visa Waives Interchange Rates for Select Charities

San Francisco, January 14, 2010
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced a comprehensive commitment to help the people of Haiti following the recent devastating earthquake, which includes a $200,000 donation to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Visa will also match employee donations to Haitian relief efforts on a two-to-one basis through the end of January.

As part of Visa’s response, through the end of February, Visa will also donate revenues generated by charitable contributions to the crisis in Haiti directly to the American Red Cross.

In addition, Visa will waive interchange fees through the end of February on donations made to a select group of major, U.S.-based charities that are providing support to Haitian relief efforts. Eligible charities are:

* American Red Cross
* AmeriCares
* CARE USA
* Direct Relief International
* Habitat for Humanity
* International Rescue Committee
* Mercy Corps
* Oxfam America
* Save the Children
* US Fund for UNICEF
* World Vision

As part of this initiative, Visa is reaching out to the U.S. and Haitian governments to explore how its payment technology can be helpful in effectively distributing relief funds, as Visa has done in the past.

##
Here are the plans for other cards:
Discover waives merchant fees and matches donor dollars
MasterCard Waives merchant fees
American Express rebates merchant fees retroactive

MasterCard Worldwide Waives Fees on Donations to Haitian Aid Efforts

PURCHASE, N.Y., January 14, 2010 – MasterCard Worldwide announced that it will waive interchange fees on Haitian relief donations that are made using U.S. issued MasterCard cards to the following organizations: The American Red Cross, AmeriCares, UNICEF, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, United Way, World Vision and CARE USA.

MasterCard’s Canadian operation also announced it will waive interchange fees on relief donations that are made using Canadian issued MasterCard cards to the following organizations: CanadaHelps, Canadian Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam/Humanitarian Coalition, Save the Children, United Way, The Salvation Army, UNICEF Canada, Plan Canada and World Vision.

MasterCard’s Latin America & Caribbean will donate revenues from fees collected on donations to Haitian relief efforts made using Latin America & Caribbean issued MasterCard cards to the Red Cross and United Way.

MasterCard’s support also includes a $250,000 corporate donation to the American Red Cross and is double-matching employee contributions to the Haitian disaster relief funds of those charities listed above. In addition to waiving fees, MasterCard will also donate revenues generated by charitable contributions made to these organizations through February 28, 2010.

About MasterCard Worldwide
MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 21 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.
back to top

How can non-profits lower credit card processing costs for online donations? Video presentation specifically reviews these costs with real examples so controllers and CFO’s can benchmark their current costs vs actual lowest costs possible. Based on Visa and MasterCard Associations  2009 interchange rates and actual non-profit merchant statement reviews.

Lowering Credit Card Processing Rates for non-profits presentation