Category Archives: rates

3 Profit Boosters for Lumber, Building Materials, Distribution Companies

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Lumber, building materials, and distribution companies increase profits and cash flow almost instantly with these credit card processing and accounts receivable tips.

  1. Use a credit card processing solution that supports level III processing for retail. Prior to the October 2015 EMV liability shift, there were more companies that offered this, but today, to my knowledge, we offer the only solution that has both US EMV and level 3 retail certification.
    level 3 processing interchange rate

    Sample interchange rates for the same credit card transaction; Failing to qualify for level III is costly.

    Benefit: Potential 1% or more profit margin increase.  TIP: No countertop credit card terminal supports level 3 due to the data that must be sent with transactions; no bank currently offers a level 3 retail solution with US EMV. A cloud-based payment gateway is required.

  2. Ensure key entered transactions are sent for authorization with the MOTO (mail order, telephone order) transaction type indicator. If not, the transaction will default to the highest ‘non-qualified’ interchange rate possible for the card type, and in the event of a dispute, merchant must be able to produce a signed receipt.  TIP: Never key enter on a countertop terminal since it is set up for RETAIL. VX520 emv NFC verifone terminalThe best solution manages proper presentment for processing automatically so employees don’t need to understand the nuances of the best way to process any transaction to qualify for lower rates or mitigate risk.
  3. Enable online payments, with level III credit card processing. By empowering customers to pay 24/7, they’ll pay faster to clear up credit lines to buy more. Also, with cardholder authentication, payment can sometimes be guaranteed against fraud and qualify for even lower interchange rates due to lower risk; key entered transactions carry more risk and while risk can be mitigated, payment is not guaranteed. Accepting alternative methods like ACH, wire, and Paypal will also reduce friction, increase efficiency and increase cash flow.
On the surface negotiated rates are often great, but the right tools are critical to qualify transactions for maximum profits.  The building supply industry, including plumbing, electrical, lumber, windows, doors, stone, marble, flooring, insulation, lighting, fencing, roofing, gutters, appliances and more will greatly benefit from 3D Merchant Services solutions and consulting expertise. Free trial to measure the value with existing merchant account.

Paypal Rates Increase October 2015

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Effective October 1, 2015, Paypal will remove the tiered merchant rates for US domestic and international Purchase Payments. The changes don’t apply to PayPal Payments Pro users and Virtual Terminal. PayPal Payments Standard and PayPal Express Checkout users will have a rate hike.

The new rate will be the standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 USD for domestic transactions and 3.9% + fixed fee** for international transactions.  Card-processing rates on PayPal Payments Pro and Virtual Terminal are not changing.

Paypal rates October 1, 2015:

Standard 2.9% + $0.30
Mobile In-Store Payments rate 2.7% + $0.30
Nonprofit rate 2.2% + $0.30

Paypal international rates October 1, 2015:

Standard 3.9% + fixed fee
Mobile In-Store Payments rate 3.7%  + fixed fee**
Nonprofit rate  (under $100k/mth) 3.2% + fixed fee**
Nonprofit rate  (over $100k/mth) 2.9% + fixed fee**

Paypal current tiered rates:

PayPal Rates:
Domestic Purchase Payments transactions in U.S. Dollars
Prior month’s sales volume    Fee per transaction
$0 to $3,000    2.9% + $0.30
$3,000.01 to $10,000    2.5% + $0.30
$10,000.01 or greater    2.2% + $0.30

International Purchase Payments transactions
Prior month’s sales volume    Fee per transaction
$0 to $3,000    3.9% + fixed fee**
$3,000.01 to $10,000    3.5% + fixed fee**
$10,000.01 or greater    3.2% + fixed fee**

*Sections 8.2 (b) and 8.4 (c) of the PayPal User Agreement
**Section 8.4 (d) of the PayPal User Agreement. Click here to see Paypal International Fixed fees vary by country.

Paypal Pro fees:

These are the fees posted on Paypal web site now.

  • $30 monthly fee
  • 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
  • 3.1% + $0.30 per domestic transaction; additional 1% for cross-border transactions

Paypal Pricing for Add-On Services

Recurring Payments: $30 monthly
Advanced Fraud Management Filters: $20 monthly + $0.05* per transaction
Account Monitoring: $29.95 setup + $19.95 monthly

Paypal Additional Fees

  • International Sales: The pricing table above applies to domestic payments in US dollars. There’s an additional 2.5% charge for any currency conversion and a 1% charge to receive payments from another country
  • Chargeback Fee: $20
  • Uncaptured Authorization: after a successful authorization, you’ll be charged if you do not complete the sale using PayPal Payments Pro: $0.30 per uncaptured authorization
  • Card Verification Transactions: used to verify that a cardholder’s account is in good standing without processing a purchase transaction: $0.30 per submission
  • Refund Fee: Fixed fee portion of the original transaction fee (for example, the refund fee is $0.30 for domestic payments)
  • American Express® card usage fees: 3.5% per transaction on PayPal Payments Pro, PayPal Payments Advanced and Virtual Terminal

Click here for the official Paypal rates and fees.

 

Small business merchant service rates telemarketing scam

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A telemarketer called from “Express Processing Payments”, with the pitch, “Have you heard about new regulated rates that Visa and Mastercard introduced for small businesses only?” And further, “…reduce your rates 20-50%.” Let’s dispel this claim right now. There’s no such thing.

The only ‘recent’ government regulation regarding rates, are those from the Durbin Amendment, part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In August 2011, I reported on the proliferation of robo calls that followed the federal legislation for debit card transactions:

Under the final rule, the maximum permissible interchange fee that an issuer may receive for an electronic debit transaction will be the sum of 21 cents per transaction and 5 basis points multiplied by the value of the transaction. This provision regarding debit card interchange fees is effective on October 1, 2011.

What does this mean to merchants?

  1. The maximum the issuer (if they meet regulated size) can receive is .05% plus $.21 plus $.01 if qualified.
  2. What merchants pay are determined by the salesperson selling them.
  3. Visa debit interchange rate for CPS Retail was 0.80% + $0.25 per transaction prior to the new legislation. If a small business received a 50% reduction in debit fees, the average small business processor still increases their profits significantly.