OT: Accepting Credit/Debit Cards

[FEDUKE404]

Plan B for possible consideration

There is now a new system in place for electronically sending payments to a selected bank account. Bank of America and Wells Fargo were the first to use it, and now most major banks also participate via the separate "clearXchange" program. ( https://www.clearxchange.com/ )

In the simplest of terms, a person can "pay" your email address (think SmithTax@whatever.com) or "pay" your cell phone number. Payment is instantaneous (clears next business day), and no fees are involved to either party. Funds can be transferred using the client's online banking (computer/laptop/smart phone) options.

You would need to let your bank first link the account to your selected email address and/or the selected cell phone number, but that is a one-time action. This is not part of any online "bill pay" scenario, but rather a funds transfer only.

The client NEVER sees your account number (RTN/DAN), which is an added incentive.

You can also set up a (rarely used) email address, which could be used just for "receiving" payments.

I have used it to both send/receive money, and it works flawlessly. I do not know if this would be a feasible option for a store-front operation (probably already have credit card contracts/scanners/etc anyway) but for a reasonably small Sch C type business, it's an option worth considering. (NO, I do not know if there are any "business" vs "personal" restrictions that might be involved for high volume activity.)

FE

[Black Bart]

Hey!

...I think writing checks should be illegal unless you are over 70 yoa and drive a Buick! 8^p

What's the big idea of insulting me and my car?

And you, young lady (beck); are you casting aspersions upon Fruit-of-the-Loom?

[oceanlovin'ea]

you can key in the credit card number. The charge is a little bit higher if you have to key it in. But you can do it. Just adjust your fees accordingly if you so desire.

Linda, EA

[beck]

What's the big idea of insulting me and my car?

And you, young lady (beck); are you casting aspersions upon Fruit-of-the-Loom?

LOL...you poor little ol' antique man! Stuck in the 70's!

Beck

[Black Bart]

Ah!

LOL...you poor little ol' antique man! Stuck in the 70's!

Beck

If only it were so, my youthful hoyden. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in this Orwellian era of the technologically savvy and value challenged.

To quote the old scribe, it's doubleplusungood.

[arlo]

To taxmandan

I am over 70 years old and drive a 2005 buick. Boy I feel old.

[kpangelinan]

What about their deposit limits?

Wow, this sounds awesome.....we pay soooooooooo much in credit card fees it's incredible.....this would literally cut our fees in half...

But what about this on their site:

For both pricing plans, manually-entered payments (payments for which the card information is manually keyed-in to the app) are subject to a $2,002 weekly deposit limit. If you accept more than $2,002 in manually-entered payments during any trailing seven-day period, we defer the amount in excess of $2,002 for 30 days. There is no additional fee for exceeding the deposit limit. If you and your staff regularly process manually-entered transactions, please apply to increase your deposit limit. We'll be happy to increase your deposit limit to an amount that works for your business.



Does this mean that anything over $2002 manually entered payments in a seven day period is going to be held for 30 days? I know it says you can apply, but that sounds like it's not guaranteed. 30 days is a long time.

Also, if you use an android and don't want to have your phone staying with the front desks, do you just get another line and phone with your current carrier?

Thanks for posting.....if it works out, I'd like to switch to this.

[kpangelinan]

also

Also, can the device (ipad or android phone or pad) use wireless for internet or does it have to have cell phone service?

Thanks,

[taxmandan]

Also, can the device (ipad or android phone or pad) use wireless for internet or does it have to have cell phone service?

Thanks,

Square uses wireless internet through the iPad or iPhone not cell phone service. I don't know about the $2,002 limit on manually entered payments, all of our payments have been with the cc in hand.

[luke]

Aggressive

www.paysimple.com

Love It!!

Good grief - I went on their website to check out pricing etc and have since gotten several emails and 2 or 3 phone calls!!
Guys don't call ME I'll call YOU!

[kpangelinan]

Pretty excited about this!

you can key in the credit card number. The charge is a little bit higher if you have to key it in. But you can do it. Just adjust your fees accordingly if you so desire.

Linda, EA

Thanks.....I finally got all of my questions answered....I was a little miffed that I couldn't call someone, but understand that that is one of the components keeping them profitable and passing that down to us as the consumer. The company actually emailed me back and answered everything very thoroughly and their site is ok also.

I bought an ipad (first generation) on ebay pretty darn cheap (had to upgrade the operating system, but it was free and simple to do) specifically for this and have ordered and already set up my square account. I tested it with my own credit card today and my office manager and I were incredibly impressed at how simple it was. I received the receipt via email as the consumer and then an email as the charging company showing the charge and exactly what is being deposited into my account.....wow!

Thanks so much for posting about this. I think this idea will spread fast pretty anyways.....since I first heard about it here I've already had a few clients this past week mention it to me and are already signed up and using it.

[kpangelinan]

I've accepted cards for 8 or 9 years now but this year I ditched the merchant account vendor for the Square process on the iPad. LOVE IT! No security compliance issues since I don't have copies of their cc numbers, etc. No additional fees for security compliance validation, no monthly minimum fee, the dongle is free, and the money shows up in my account within 48 hours. What surprised me was how the clients liked it, no one even batted an eye at the process and most were intrigued by it, having heard about it somewhere. One client was telling me she used her Square on the iPhone at her daughters' fund-raiser car wash and it really brought in the $$ for the cheerleaders fund.

There are other providers now similar to Square but I have no experience with them.

Thanks again for posting.

[kpangelinan]

update

Well, we've started using the Square since I've started posting on this thread and it's been pretty awesome.....clients have really responded to it well and deposits are coming the next day as advertised. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't gone through it myself.

We bought an old first gen ipad on ebay pretty cheap to handle these payments and it's worked awesome......caution, the older ipads needs a software update before you can download and use the square software, but that was pretty simple.

Thanks again to the OP for posting and for the other comments.

[AZ-Tax]

What are the fees for the Square

Well, we've started using the Square since I've started posting on this thread and it's been pretty awesome.....clients have really responded to it well and deposits are coming the next day as advertised. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't gone through it myself..

What are the fees for the "Square"

[FEDUKE404]

Fees

What are the fees for the "Square"

Discussed earlier in thread.

You can look around here: http://www.paysimple.com/pricing.html