Even if you’ve never been on the dreaded Terminated Merchant File (also known as MATCH) list, you need to take measures to ensure that you don’t end up on it.

How? For starters, rethink whom you do business with. Signing up with the wrong processor greatly increases your chance of landing on the MATCH file, especially for incidental reasons like fee discrepancies.

Sign up with reputable processors and have a thorough understanding of the provisions in the merchant account application, particularly the contract period and any associated termination fees. Also, it’s a good idea to understand the rules of Visa and MasterCard. Knowing about the MATCH file and the general regulations of Visa and MasterCard can help when trying to get off of it – or stay off.

Preventative measures can help you to stay off the TMF – measures such as fraud detection and an effective transaction management system that prevents mistakes like authorizing transactions multiple times, charging cancelled cards and other oversights.

Tips for staying off the TMF list:

* Don’t go over your officially authorized maximum sales without permission from your merchant processor.
* Provide your customers with up-to-date information about how and when you will debit funds from their accounts. Give them easy access to contact methods for them to reach you with any of their questions, concerns or complaints. Respond to all inquires in a timely fashion.
* List your customer support phone number on your customers’ monthly statements. If they don’t recognize your debit they should call you first before hastily-and mistakenly-disputing the charge.
* Provide excellent customer service and stay in touch with your customers. Send emails, call them to confirm higher-than-normal charges or to solicit customer feedback, and send newsletters. The more they know you the better the more they will feel comfortable with and trust you.
* Monitor transactions closely with a transaction management system, so that you can protect your business from an expensive interruption of service.

Push Back on Chargebacks

If you are a small business owner who accepts credit card payments for merchandise, chargebacks reversals against sales credited to your merchant account – can be very costly. You lose the revenue from the transaction, and often the merchandise itself. In addition, you’re forced to pay a chargeback fee to the bank that issued the credit card used in the transaction.

The following tips will save you money by reducing unnecessary chargebacks:

Learn the Ropes

Knowing the rules is essential to a successful chargeback prevention campaign. Make sure you and any employees involved in credit card processing are familiar with the rules and regulations of your processor. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover supply detailed information on both minimizing the chance of chargebacks and managing the process when they do occur.

Post Your Return/Exchange Policy

Customers having ready access to a clear return/exchange policy are less liable to challenge it, according to Carter Cullen, president of YourRights, a small business advocacy service located in Matamoras, PA. Prominently display your return policy – either in your store or on your Web site if you sell merchandise over the Internet – and make sure it is easy to understand. In addition, print the policy on your sales drafts and billing statements. These actions will discourage customers from contesting your policy later on.

Finesse the Transaction Process: In-store Sales

• Create proof that the credit card was present during the transaction (swipe the card or imprint it on the transaction receipt).

• Obtain a signature from the cardholder and compare it to the one on the back of the card.

• Request additional identification if the card is unsigned. Ask to see a photo ID that includes a signature and require the cardholder to sign the card in your presence.

• Check the expiration date on the card.

Finesse the Transaction Process: Phone Sales

Indicate that the transaction was a phone sale on the billing statement – this will serve as proof of the customer’s call.

Finesse the Transaction Process: Internet-based Sales

• Provide your merchant bank with an 800 number to include on credit card statements sent to customers, and make certain that the name of your Web site, rather than the name of your company, appears on the statements. This helps customers easily identify charges and keeps them from reporting an unfamiliar vendor as fraudulent. It also increases the chances that dissatisfied customers will contact you before they attempt a chargeback.

• Confirm large transactions by sending customers a fax-back or mail back form requiring name, address, credit card number, expiration date and signature.

Maintain Complete and Legible Records

As the merchant, you are responsible for presenting a copy of the original sales draft or billing statement should a customer dispute a transaction listed on his or her credit card statement. In most cases, the customer will remember the transaction after seeing the sales draft or billing statement, immediately resolving the chargeback issue. If your original copy cannot be read, however, the transaction could be returned to you as a chargeback because the copy was illegible.

Actively Seek Retrieval Requests

A customer who suspects an error or fraud requests the credit card company to nullify the charge. Merchant Services LTD recommends asking your credit card service to send you each “retrieval request” as it comes in, so you can verify it with the customer if possible – before any money is returned to the customer and before you are assessed a chargeback fee.

Michael C. Sweitzer | VP Northeastern Sales

michael@merchantservicesltd.com

O: 401.367.4299
F: 401.619.3458
SKYPE: nvisionhotels

LTD Merchant Services s a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek Ca.

If you do not currently have a Delta Skymiles® account visit www.Delta.com for more information, or to enroll visit www.delta.com/skymilesenrollment/landing.action

Once you’re enrolled and receive your account number, contact our office or your account representative to sign up and be rewarded with Green.

Michael Sweitzer | VP Northeastern Sales
Merchant Services LTD
michael@merchantservicesltd.com

“No Sign-up Fee, No Monthly Fee, No Reserve Holds, With Same Day Deposit and All The Toys Included.”

Accepting a check via phone is a quick way to secure a payment. Green™ has created a technology platform to present these checks to your bank within 24 hours of receipt. Traditional check processing services have excessive fees and hold times associated with this form of payment. Hundreds of our customers have switched to Green™ by Phone and realized as much as a 50% reduction in processing fees. Our technology platform allows you to input phone checks directly into our system for processing. Green™ scrubs the checks against the national databases for security and processes the payments quickly and efficiently (usually within
24 hours of receipt).

Green™ Online Check Emulator Filling out a check is as easy as “typing and tabbing” through the document. This proprietary and secure form of payment nearly eliminates your risk of fraud and provides a way for Green™ to quickly recover NSF’s. Green™ has the ability to license this technology directly to our customers or we can host this on our secure servers. Green™ Electronic Signature Capture is included for use in the Green™ Rapid NSF Recovery solution (Please Inquire for additional details).

Green™ Electronic Signature Capture

Fraud prevention requires that you include as many security steps as possible. Green™ Electronic Signature Capture is a proprietary tool that captures a signature (by mouse) from a payer. This signature is then combined with the payer’s IP address to virtually eliminate fraud. Capturing a signature is also at the core of Green™ Rapid NSF Recovery (below). Green™ Signature Capture can be offered as a licensed product or in a hosted environment.

For further details and to receive your first check for free, please contact our office at 401.367.4299 or email Michael at michael@merchantservicesltd.com

MasterCard program provides automatic savings on everyday small business purchases; iPhone/iPod Touch app makes it easy for users to find savings on the go

PURCHASE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MasterCard Worldwide today announced that Continental Airlines, Budget Truck Rental, Harry & David and VerticalResponse will join the list of merchants offering small businesses automatic discounts and savings through the MasterCard Easy Savings Program. Monster®, the leading global online careers and recruitment resource, has also expanded its program participation to offer small businesses additional savings on recruitment services. Eligible MasterCard small business credit, signature debit and business prepaid U.S. cardholders enrolled in the program receive exclusive automatic rebates at over 30,000 merchant locations. Additionally, new MasterCard data demonstrates unique program benefits for merchants, including ways to attract new customers and generate revenue.

“As a leading provider of business and consumer air travel, we strive to provide world-class service and an outstanding flight experience at an affordable rate for our business customers”

“While the current economy has made it difficult for businesses of all sizes to succeed and grow, small businesses have been hit harder than most. These additions to the MasterCard Easy Savings Program will help small businesses save money on necessary business expenses, including airfare, shipping, email marketing, car and truck rental, and even their daily cup of coffee,” said Eugene DeSilva, Vice President, Small Business, MasterCard Worldwide. “This expansion demonstrates our commitment to helping small businesses find innovative and easy ways to get more for their money. Additionally, the program provides merchants and financial institutions with new ways to attract new customers, build loyalty and generate revenue.”

New Offers Provide Added Savings for Small Businesses

The MasterCard Easy Savings Program offers eligible MasterCard small business credit, signature debit and business prepaid cardholders automatic rebates from 24 merchant partners. MasterCard small business cardholders enrolled in the MasterCard Easy Savings Program can now receive rebates on airfare, truck rental, business gifts and email marketing through the following offers:

* Continental Airlines – MasterCard small business cardholders now receive a 2 percent rebate on Continental Airlines tickets when purchased with an enrolled card online at continental.com. The world’s fifth largest airline, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year.
* Budget Truck Rental – MasterCard small business cardholders can now receive a 5 percent rebate on truck charges. Budget Truck Rental is one of the largest truck rental companies in the United States, operating through a network of more than 2,600 locations across the nation.
* Harry & David – Small businesses can now enjoy a 7 percent savings on all purchases made at Harry & David. Harry & David offers a selection of gourmet food and fresh fruit for employee and client recognition and appreciation, and has been providing gifts of unsurpassed quality for more than 75 years.
* Monster.com – Small businesses can now receive a 10 percent rebate on recruitment services from Monster, up from 5 percent announced in January 2008. Small business employers can post jobs and gain access to the world’s largest resume database on Monster.com. Automatic savings on Monster products are available to enrolled cardholders, allowing businesses to effectively utilize their recruitment dollars.
* VerticalResponse – Now MasterCard small business cardholders can save 10 percent on their email marketing, online surveys, and postcards – helping them to increase their sales and grow their businesses. VerticalResponse is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail services empowering small businesses to easily create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns.

Program Provides Merchants a Unique Way to Attract Customers and Generate Revenue

In addition to offering savings for small businesses, the MasterCard Easy Savings Program provides unique benefits to merchants, including ways to attract new customers, build loyalty and generate revenue. According to MasterCard data, cardholder spend with the top 10 Easy Savings merchants increased by 37 percent from 2008 to 2009. Additionally, the MasterCard Easy Savings Program offers drew new customers to participating merchants. MasterCard data shows that 64 percent of customers who received offers through the MasterCard Easy Savings Program from 2008 to 2009 were new customers for the top 10 participating merchants.

“As a leading provider of business and consumer air travel, we strive to provide world-class service and an outstanding flight experience at an affordable rate for our business customers,” said Mark Bergsrud, Senior Vice President, Marketing Programs & Distribution, Continental Airlines. “The MasterCard Easy Savings Program allows us to provide additional value to our small business customers by enabling them to save money on necessary purchases, like airfare. Offering discounts through this program will allow us to reach more small business customers and build loyalty among existing small business travelers.”

Easy Savings iPhone/iPod Touch App Helps Small Business Find Savings on the Go

The MasterCard Easy Savings iPhone and iPod Touch application enables small businesses to find participating MasterCard Easy Savings Program merchants on the go. A free, location-enabled application, the MasterCard Easy Savings Program app maps a user’s current location and displays participating program merchants with offers in the area. Offers are displayed with icons identifying the type of merchant and can be viewed on a “radar screen” with a user’s current location as the center, on a map with local streets and highways, or in list format. To make searching for nearby offers easier, the filter feature allows the user to display only merchant categories of interest, including a list of favorites. The app provides relevant merchant and offer details in a portable, easy-to-use format, making it easy for small businesses to save money on the go. The app is available for download through the Apple iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-savings-program/id348146165?mt=8.

About the MasterCard Easy Savings Program

The MasterCard Easy Savings Program provides MasterCard small business cardholders from nearly 60 participating business card issuers with automatic savings through rebates, applied to their statements. Categories include: fuel and maintenance, business services, travel and entertainment, printing and shipping. Participating merchants include the U.S. Postal Service, Fuelman Network with over 17,500 brand-name gas stations, Dunkin’ Donuts, Avis, Microsoft adCenter and others. A full listing of participating merchants and offers can be found at www.easysavings.com.

About MasterCard

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 over 22 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.

Starting April 5th, and for a limited time only during April, nearly 60 TerraCycle products will be available in every Walmart across the country in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. This will include lots of brand new items, which you can look at right now by reading this blog post.

Merchant Services LTD is a proud supporter of TerraCycle and it’s efforts. All donations support the local schools and public education foundation.

Ask how you can get involved.

Michael Sweitzer | VP Northeastern Sales
michael@merchantservicesltd.com

Push Back on Chargebacks

If you are a small business owner who accepts credit card payments for merchandise, chargebacks reversals against sales credited to your merchant account – can be very costly. You lose the revenue from the transaction, and often the merchandise itself. In addition, you’re forced to pay a chargeback fee to the bank that issued the credit card used in the transaction.

The following tips will save you money by reducing unnecessary chargebacks:

Learn the Ropes

Knowing the rules is essential to a successful chargeback prevention campaign. Make sure you and any employees involved in credit card processing are familiar with the rules and regulations of your processor. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover supply detailed information on both minimizing the chance of chargebacks and managing the process when they do occur.

Post Your Return/Exchange Policy

Customers having ready access to a clear return/exchange policy are less liable to challenge it, according to Carter Cullen, president of YourRights, a small business advocacy service located in Matamoras, PA. Prominently display your return policy – either in your store or on your Web site if you sell merchandise over the Internet – and make sure it is easy to understand. In addition, print the policy on your sales drafts and billing statements. These actions will discourage customers from contesting your policy later on.

Finesse the Transaction Process: In-store Sales

• Create proof that the credit card was present during the transaction (swipe the card or imprint it on the transaction receipt).

• Obtain a signature from the cardholder and compare it to the one on the back of the card.

• Request additional identification if the card is unsigned. Ask to see a photo ID that includes a signature and require the cardholder to sign the card in your presence.

• Check the expiration date on the card.

Finesse the Transaction Process: Phone Sales

Indicate that the transaction was a phone sale on the billing statement – this will serve as proof of the customer’s call.

Finesse the Transaction Process: Internet-based Sales

• Provide your merchant bank with an 800 number to include on credit card statements sent to customers, and make certain that the name of your Web site, rather than the name of your company, appears on the statements. This helps customers easily identify charges and keeps them from reporting an unfamiliar vendor as fraudulent. It also increases the chances that dissatisfied customers will contact you before they attempt a chargeback.

• Confirm large transactions by sending customers a fax-back or mail back form requiring name, address, credit card number, expiration date and signature.

Maintain Complete and Legible Records

As the merchant, you are responsible for presenting a copy of the original sales draft or billing statement should a customer dispute a transaction listed on his or her credit card statement. In most cases, the customer will remember the transaction after seeing the sales draft or billing statement, immediately resolving the chargeback issue. If your original copy cannot be read, however, the transaction could be returned to you as a chargeback because the copy was illegible.

Actively Seek Retrieval Requests

A customer who suspects an error or fraud requests the credit card company to nullify the charge. Merchant Services LTD recommends asking your credit card service to send you each “retrieval request” as it comes in, so you can verify it with the customer if possible – before any money is returned to the customer and before you are assessed a chargeback fee.

Michael C. Sweitzer | VP Northeastern Sales

michael@merchantservicesltd.com

O: 401.367.4299
F: 401.619.3458
SKYPE: nvisionhotels

LTD Merchant Services s a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek Ca.

“After receiving information from other local businesses joining the TerraCycle program, I realized how valuable this service is. I’m personally involved in the Green Initiative and environmental solutions. And recycling is on the top of my priority list. This also gives back to the school system and education foundation which is important for the future of our children. We plan to employ this not only locally. However, throughout the rest of the Country since we service merchants and communities nationwide”. -Michael Sweitzer | Vice President Northeastern Sales

Who is TerraCycle?

TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. Our hope is to eliminate the idea of waste by finding innovative, unique uses for materials others deem garbage.

Founded in 2001 by a 19 year old Princeton University freshman named Tom Szaky, TerraCycle started as an organic fertilizer company and has grown into a multi-category, eco-friendly powerhouse. Tom’s dream was to find way a new, more responsible way of doing doing business that would be good for the planet, good for people and good for the bottom line! TerraCycle has won many awards and accolades for its environmentally responsible business model from Inc. Magazine, Red Herring, The Home Depot, The Environmental Business Journal, The Social Venture Network, Zerofootprint and many other highly regarded organizations.

TerraCycle also runs free national collection programs that pay non-profits and schools TerraCycle has exclusive partnerships with major CPG companies such as Kraft Foods, Frito Lay (Pepsi), Stonyfield Farm, Mars Wrigley and many more. The partnerships create free collection programs that pay schools and non-profits nationwide to collect used packaging such as drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, yogurt cups, cookie wrappers, chip bags and more! The collected materials are upcycled into affordable, high quality products ranging from tote bags and purses to shower curtains and kites. In addition, TerraCycle works with these partners to find innovative uses for all of their waste streams and, by making products from these various waste streams, TerraCycle prevents 1000’s of tons of waste from going to landfills.

You can be a part of our eco-revolution, just email me and ask how you can be part of one or many of the FREE Brigades we’re proud to be a part of or look for TerraCycle products at your local retailer.

Our local team at Merchant Services LTD will do all the collecting from local homeowners, businesses and schools, package the recyclable items and ship them off!

Here’s a list of our Brigades, what we’re collecting and how you can help spread the word:

Huggies Brand Plastic Diapers Packaging
Stoneyfield Farm Yogurt Cups (Washing the cups out is appreciated)
Candy Wrappers such as M&M’s, Twix, Snickers, Starburst, etc
Cookie Wrappers -Chip’s A’Hoy and Oreo Brand Cookies, etc
Cell Phone Brigade
Writing Instruments Brigade

Get involved, contact me with your recyclables and we’ll personally pick them up.

Sign up at my personal blog site for news and updates. . .

The site is still under construction! But don’t forget to “plug” in and take advantage of this exciting series!

Click Here to Subscribe

Michael Sweitzer | VP Northeastern Sales
Merchant Services LTD

Article Courtesy of Bank Info Security

The release of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report continues to reveal some seriously troubling numbers if you’re on the side of the good guys.

One example: The FBI phishing email that made the rounds (and continues even now), where recipients were told they had to pay a fine or told they were due money and asked for personal information. This scam recorded the highest number of complaints made to the IC3 at 16.6 percent of all of the 336,655 complaints.

Internet-based crime, it appears, is on the upward trend.
Even more troubling – those 300K + complaints are up 22.3 percent over 2008′s numbers. Internet-based crime, it appears, is on the upward trend. The other top four complaint categories of note for financial institutions and their customers:

* Non-delivered merchandise and or non-payment, in which either a seller didn’t ship a promised item or a buyer didn’t pay for an item (11.9 percent of all complaints);
* Advance fee fraud, when a victim was asked to give money upfront, often for goods or services that never materialized (9.8 percent);
* Identity theft, when someone either stole or tried to steal a person’s identity or some kind of identity information (8.2 percent);
* Overpayment fraud, when a “buyer” sent a victim who was selling something a legitimate-looking check or money order (that turned out to be counterfeit) for an amount greater than the price of an item being sold, and then asked the seller to deposit the payment, deduct the actual sale price, and return the difference (7.3 percent).

Now, this isn’t where the story ends. According to the IC3 report, there were several popular email scams reported in 2009. Some were variants on old scams, and some preyed on unemployed or unsuspecting consumers. These are still out there in 2010, so be sure to let your customers know about these scams.

* New spin for “Hit Man” – This threat scam that first appeared in 2007, where people received an e-mail from an “assassin” who claimed he was going to kill them, but who said they would be spared if they sent money because someone in his organization knew a member of their family and pled for their lives.
* Horror Horoscopes – The IC3 says these start as spam or pop-ups offering free astrological readings, but only after birthdates and birthplaces are provided. Victims are then enticed into purchasing a full-fledged reading with the promise they will find out something favorable is about to happen. Victims never get the reading.
* Cash in Tough Times – One fraud involves economic stimulus offers, where victims get a recorded phone message directing them to websites where they can apply for government stimulus money after first entering personal information and paying a small fee. Again, nothing is ever received.
* Your Computer Is Infected! – Late in December, the IC3 alerted everyone about fake pop-up ads for anti-virus software that warned of the existence of computer viruses, but actually downloaded malicious code when clicked.

Reporting these scams and frauds is easy, and even if you or your customers don’t lose money or give personal information to the criminals, it still helps law enforcement when you report the fraud attempts.