taking credit cards

[bobokines]

I wonder how many mobile engineers take credit cards as a method of payment.

I am considering setting up a merchant account through the FSB scheme.

Has anyone recently started taking cards and if so, did you come across any problems?

Bob

[admin]

Re: taking credit cards

Just remember to raise your prices to cover the admin costs of the card, if you use it alot it adds up.

Kevin

[Martin]

Re: taking credit cards

kheath wrote:Just remeber to raise your prices to cover the admin costs of the card, if you use it alot it adds up.

Mentioned in part under the topic “Robbing Barstewards” taking credit cards can be a costly exercise. The cheapest I am aware of is Alliance & Leicester charging £15 per month for an electronic terminal kept at home/office, then using the ‘sales voucher’ system in the customers home to swipe the card and getting authorisation, final processing on return home using terminal. Cost 2.1{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} on credit cards or 26p on debit cards.

Barclays and Lloyds charge around 5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} on credit cards 38.5p for debit cards with a ‘minimum monthly transaction charge’ of £25.

[nigegt]

Re: taking credit cards

The cost is the only down side most credit cards charge 2{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}ish and debit cards can be as much as 30p per transaction. We use streamline. The one good thing we find is you rarly get the “oh i’ve got no money” or “my husbands got the cheque book” (to which i ask if they go to the supermarket fill a trolley get to the til and let it all get rung through then say thesame?!) after you finish the job and give them a bill. Even if they don’t have a card they can ring someone who has!

Nige

[Penguin45]

Re: taking credit cards

I have a small but growing number of customers who pay through the eBay “Paypal” system, very convenient.

Chris.

[kwatt]

Re: taking credit cards

The only cost-effective way to do this is as a “mail order” transaction over the phone so far as I can see.

I recieved some information from Streamline about a mobile terminal and the costs are too high IMO, might be okay if you do a lot of charge work though…

Set up fee, £65 per terminal.

Rental of GPRS terminal £32 per month (minimum 36 months) plus £13.50 delivery charge which includes up to 1000 authorisation calls.

Car charger = £35

Case/strap = £35

Or you can buy one for £575 per terminal and enjoy a “low” £12 per month GPRS line rental, still with the setup fee and other costs.

Whilst I’m sure if you were buying a few the price would drop and you’d get a deal I’m not so sure that many of us would find it viable on our margins.

K.

[Goatboy]

Re: taking credit cards

I just say no, and make the customer find an alternative 😕

Old fashioned? Maybe, but the costs are too much for us! And the customer always does find an alternative 😀

[Martin]

Re: taking credit cards

Goatboy wrote:I just say no, and make the customer find an alternative 😕

That will work for a short while I guess but more and more your customers will only carry plastic as the only form of payment offered you. The system these days conditions everyone now to assume businesses accept plastic, chip and pin even. If you don’t get into that, you are going to lose customers sooner rather than later.

So, let us accept the inevitable at least and collectively try to find the cheapest and most effective system for our future use. Ken’s investigation on the Streamline system has only highlighted that that is clearly a no no. Alliance & Leicester seem to me at least as being the cheapest, so far?

Can anyone quote actual figures from alternatives? What do FSB members fork out I wonder, do tell. Pay Pal? how can customers pay using that system after you’ve stuck a motor in and want your dosh before you leave their gaf? 😉

[Penguin45]

Re: taking credit cards

Martin wrote:Pay Pal? how can customers pay using that system

I stand over them at their PC and tell them my username for my PayPal account and bingo. It’s in my Credit Card account by the time I get home. It is just a credit card transfer payment system after all.

Chris.

[bobokines]

Re: taking credit cards

The following is a scan and OCR of the terms for FSB….

( the OCR of the scan has confused the table layout but you can work it out.)
—————————————–

Streamline Merchant Services in Partnership with the
Federation of Small Businesses
New Preferential Terms

Commercial Terms CREDIT CARD TURNOVER
Pricing based on Chip & PIN processing only.
Average Ticket Value New To £1 to £25k £25k to £50k £50k to £1 50k Above £1 50k
Cards
£0.01 to £50
MasterCard 1.98{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.65{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.58{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.38{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} BY SMS
Visa Credit 1.96{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.63{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.56{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.36{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} NEGOTIATION
Visa Dr 30.5p 23.5p 22.5p 20.5p
Maestro Domestic 30p 23p 22p 20p
Commercial & JCB 2.48{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 2.15{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 2.08{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.88{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
£50.01 to £100
MasterCard 1.98{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.63{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.48{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.30{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} BY SMS
Visa Credit 1.96{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.61{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.46{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.28{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} NEGOTIATION
Visa Dr 30.5p 23.5p 22.5p 20.5p
Maestro Domestic 30p 23p 22p 20p
Commercial & JCB 2.48{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 2.13{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.98{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.80{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
Above £100
MasterCard 1.98{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.58{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.43{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.22{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} BY SMS
Visa Credit 1.96{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.56{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.41{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} NEGOTIATION
Visa Dr 3O.5p 23.5p 22.5p l8.5p
Maestro Domestic 30p 23p 22p l8p
Commercial & JCB 2.48{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 2.08{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.93{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} 1.72{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
Joining fee: • Waived for FSB Members.

Specified terminal requirements: • On-line terminal.
• Retailer owned terminals can be used, subject to technical approval, but must

be configured with zero floor limits.
Standard On-line terminal:

Polling fee:

Portable terminal: • £14.95 + VAT per month.
• Off-line terminal (with zero floor limit) — Polling fee of £10 per month.
• 1st device £18.95 + VAT per month, any subsequent devices £14.95 + VAT

per month.

• Three months free terminal rental is to be given to all ‘New To Streamline’

merchants.
Cardholder Not Present: • A premium of 0.05{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} for credit card and lOp for debit card transactions is to

be added to the above matrix.
Paper processing: • A premium, to a maximum of 6{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} for credit card and 80p for debit card

transactions, may be charged.
—————————

Bob

[cookerfit]

Re: taking credit cards

Had a machine at the office since day 1.
Ring the details and amount in to the office from site, its processed there and then and hits the A/C three days later.
It may not seem cost effective on paper but a number of clients have stated that they prefer to pay by plastic and they think they get some sort of additional warranty if the repair costs over £100. If you are a one man band, it also makes the client think your company is larger.

Cookerfit

[Author]

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