Credit Card Options

[erchess]

I hope it's ok to start a new thread on this. I looked into accepting cards toward the end of 08 and I went as far with two different companies as to have more than one phone call with each and to receive written materials from each. I don't remember their names but here's the deal.

They were both going to take between two and five percent of the fee depending on Wsuch factors as which card I was taking (Amex and Discover being more expensive) and how I processed the card, with using an electronic card reader and receipt printer being the least expensive and phoning in the card the most expensive. Costs of the machine were reasonable. There was little to no monthly minimum fee and it was possible to only take cards and therefore only have this fee during tax season. So why do I still take only Checks and Cash?

Both companies were very up front about the fact that they grant chargeback requests in all cases whatsoever and one even required me to promise not to try to collect a back charged fee in other ways. So I had visions of clients getting their monies back after filing their returns or even getting their refunds and after their audits were resolved one way or another perhaps even without changes in the returns. Were my fears unreasonable or are there better companies to deal with? I think I would only take plastic through a company that was not going to grant a chargeback request without my approval even if the cost of not granting approval was termination of my arrangement with that company.

[Roberts]

Charge backs I wouldn't worry about. Have you ever tried that with credit card purchases? How often do clients bounce checks? That would be more likely in my opinion but I still accept checks.

I offered credit card as an option for two years and never had a single client want to go that route. Maybe it's just my client base and where I'm located. I signed up with my bank to process it and they charged me a small quarterly fee. After two years I dumped it all because it didn't make sense and I've never lost a client since because I don't accept credit cards.

[WhiteOleander]

I can only comment on the chargeback issue. It seems a little arbitrary to not even contact you to get your side of the dispute. I have a BOA card and a mysterious $12.00 charge appeared on it. I had no clue what the charge was for and could not get through to the offending comapny. I called BOA. They said that they had to contact the company to see if they could explain or verify the charge before they could credit it back to me.

So, I think that good companies would at least let you give your side before taking the money from you.

JMHO

[OtisMozzetti]

weigh your options

...Both companies were very up front about the fact that they grant chargeback requests in all cases whatsoever and one even required me to promise not to try to collect a back charged fee in other ways. So I had visions of clients getting their monies back after filing their returns or even getting their refunds and after their audits were resolved one way or another perhaps even without changes in the returns. Were my fears unreasonable or are there better companies to deal with? I think I would only take plastic through a company that was not going to grant a chargeback request without my approval....

My intuition is that the number of clients who get their money back via the credit card company is a quite small number. So, I guess you would want to evaluate that--and the charges for credit card acceptance--vs. the amount of additional business that you believe you would gain if clients who aren't able and willing to pay up with cash or check could pay you by credit card.

[luke]

cc company fees

I began accepting credit cards a few years ago - client must PAY for a return BEFORE it is released to them and paying by credit card is an option that some of my clients use (better than "holding" a check etc) This past season (bad economy?) had more people use cc than ever before.

I have NEVER found a company that does not have a monthly fee of some kind (my "billing" fee is $8 whether I have charges or not) and it does NOT go away after tax season!

Remember that 2-5% fee comes out of your profit! It is hard to justify increasing fees on everyone to cover that amount for a few?

[geekgirldany]

I used QuickBooks merchant account. I don't actively promote that I take credit cards. Only if asked. That way I keep the fees down.

[AZ-Tax]

What is the current best deal out there?

There has not been a post on this subject for a while. Hopefully fees have dropped since then or I am hopefull they did.

[taxmandan]

I have NEVER found a company that does not have a monthly fee of some kind (my "billing" fee is $8 whether I have charges or not) and it does NOT go away after tax season!

I've accepted cc for 7 years now and have never paid a monthly fee. When you discuss an account with the different companies remember that EVERYTHING is negotiable. I got the information from COSTCO discount fees and when the bankster wanted to talk about an account I handed him the info and told him to beat the rates or I was going with COSTCO. He did match it and there are no monthly fees and the discount rate is 1.67%.

As far as AMEX goes, I found that people who have one of those cc also have a VISA or MC so I politely tell them I don't accept AMEX and they use the other card. AMEX fees are outrageous!

[luke]

Thanks

for the info TaxMan - you must use a "local" bank for your credit card merchant services?
My banker so - "sorry" - also the 1.67% is a TERRIFIC rate! I'm envious. I WAS told (by my cc co) that I CAN charge a fee just to my cc customers as long as I dont "call it" a Credit card fee?