By Brad Eden
Any business will cringe at the thought of what the banksput them through to use credit cards. If you do not knowwhat I mean, then this article is for you!
The fact is that everyone online wants to use a credit card or debitcard to process their order. It is very true in our society that thecredit card is a way of life, and ifyou do not offer that ability to accommodate them,customers will move on to another website that does allowthem to use their cards. This society has become driven byinstant gratification and expects to receive their productsimmediately, either by a download or a short shippingduration. Taking credit cards as a form of payment on theinternet or offline should be thoroughly understood. Readon to see what I mean and how to protect yourself.
The fact is that any merchant taking in payments isimmediately at risk for whatever amount is charged andMORE. The banks will take the charge disputed along with a"charge back" fee right from your merchant account, and youbetter have enough in there that has cleared to pay yourown bills or you will be charged more for "overdraftcharges". Some banks are waking up to the fact that it isnot always the merchant at fault and most merchants aremore than honest in their dealings. There is so much creditcard fraud out there and since the merchants are ALWAYSliable, you need to realize this and take action to preventas much disaster for your business as possible.
First, if you have your own merchant account, then you have a lot ofwork to do when you receive a credit card order. You must verify asbest you can that the card, the name on the card, the address, the cvvnumber verification, and the quantities are all in order. You need toverify the IP address of every order and see if it is within thelocation of the card holder. A person living in Toronto, Canada,probably would not be in Las Cruces, New Mexico, charging products.This is a red flag but not a deal breaker, some people DO travel.Caution needs to be taken to protect your cash flow. As a merchant youmust get money safely into your account for any goods or service youprovide, so that you can become a larger or more substantialindependent business.
Do not just take in cards and believe that everything isgoing to be just fine now that you have the money in youraccount, because it can come out just as fast, or faster,than it went in. There is a real need for you to understanda lot more than can be mentioned in this article.
The best way to receive all the tools and services you need to protect yourself and to make your voice heard is tocheck this website: http://www.merchant911.org This is agroup of dedicated individuals who have been working foryears to try to change banking and processing company rulesand regulations as relative to merchants, both large andsmall. If you need any more proof of their dedication, justread some of the press releases and look at the tools theyhave assembled for merchants to use.
Right now is the time to start to protect yourself fromcredit card fraud. If you have read any of the newspapersor listened to any of the news reports, then you alreadyknow you are at risk. There are reports of over 40 millioncards in the hands of criminals and thieves and they willsell these cards or will use them in various illegalmethods. It's not hard to imagine that some day soon youwill be approached and asked to spend your time and moneyto ship a product or provide a service with thesefraudulent cards.
Do your part to keep America strong and allow your business to growand prosper, not be destroyed by thieves and credit card sharks.
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