VMS-Washington – Some Merchants Object to Visa/MC Swipe-Fee Settlement

VMS-Washington – Some Merchants Object to Visa/MC Swipe-Fee Settlement

Some merchants are already crying foul over a proposed $6 billion swipe-fee settlement, threatening the payments industry’s attempts to move past long-pending litigation.

The National Association of Convenience Stores, a trade group representing more than 3700 merchants and a plaintiff in the lawsuits, rejected a proposed settlement of those suits announced late Friday. Now the group has hired law firm Constantine Cannon, which negotiated a landmark $3 billion settlement Visa and MasterCard in 2003, to help hold out for a better deal.

“This is not a done deal,” Jeffrey I. Shinder, managing partner of Constantine Cannon, said in an interview on Sunday. “This structural relief is grossly inadequate. If Visa and MasterCard are going to continue to have the right to set interchange, which I don’t think they should have, you need much greater structural relief.”

Retailers have long protested the prices they have to pay for accepting credit debit cards, and the control Visa and MasterCard have over how those prices are set. The proposed deal announced Friday would settle price-fixing lawsuits that grocery stores and other retailers started filing in 2005. Under its terms, Visa, MasterCard several major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo, would establish a fund for $6.05 billion for roughly seven million merchants.

But Shinder says that if enough of the plaintiffs decline to sign onto the settlement, it could be over before a judge even gets to approve it. He pointed to the timing of the announcement – late afternoon Friday, on a day when many financial journalists had spent the day covering JPMorgan Chase earnings and their readers had already left for the Hamptons – as a strategic move to make the deal seem inevitable.

“The way it was done, Friday afternoon at 5:30, is a reflection of the fragility of the whole thing,” he says.

Any setback to the settlement would be a blow for Visa and MasterCard , which have faced mounting legal and regulatory challenges in recent years to how they set interchange fees.

The Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act fundamentally overhauled that system fordebit cards , but the proposed settlement does not go nearly as far for credit cards. Under its terms, the networks have agreed to temporarily reduce for eight months the level of interchange fees by 10 basis points, a benefit estimated by plaintiffs’ attorneysbe worth $1.2 billion.

Visa and MasterCard will also drop their “no surcharge” rules, which prohibited merchants from making customers pay extra to use their credit cards. Payments industry members and severalmedia stories have highlighted this portion of the proposed settlement, pointing out that it could translate into higher fees for consumers – much to Shinder’s dismay.

“What you would need to provide meaningful relief to the merchant community is something well beyond the anemic set of relief around surcharging. It’s a mirage and it’s a trap for the merchant community,” he says. “I think many merchants are going to be concerned about the PR ramifications.”

Shinder says that a more effective settlement preferably eliminate the card networks’ ability to “fix prices for their banks” and “failing that, the relief should include substantial interchange reductions and a meaningful ability to route to competing networks.”

The National Association of Convenience Stores hired Constantine Cannon late last week as supplementary counsel. The group said in a press release Friday that the proposed settlement fails “to introduce competition and transparency into a clearly broken market … [and] allows the card companies to continue to dictate the prices banks charge and the rules that constrain the market including for emerging payment methods, particularly mobile payments.”

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washington
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

VMS-Washington June Promotion

Due to the overwhelming calls and emails, VMS-Washington is giving businesses the Spring Deal of the Year.  For a limited time we are offering rock bottom rates for new and existing businesses.  The questions we always ask business owners are:

• Have you checked out your current or potential merchant service company on theBBB?
• Does your current provider or potential provider promote your business?
• Does your current provider or potential provider send referrals your way?
• Are you getting the best rates in town?
• Has your current or potential merchant told you about the Durbin Amendment?

Wouldn’t you want an A rated company that and will promote your business though their social media and monthly newsletters.  For more information contact us.

 

Thank you,

VMS-Washington

VMS-Washington May 2012 Business Newsletter

To read more go to: Business Newsletter May 2012

VMS-Washington May 2012 Business Newsletter

 

Valued Merchant Services offers a free cost analysis to compare your current provider to us. In addition, anyone that sends us business our way will get $50.00 when sign the client signs. We also challenge you to beat our rates, if we can’t we will pay you $250.00 Cash. Has your current processor told you about the Durbin Amendment and how it can save you money on your processing rates and fees?

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

Check out our previous Business Newsletters:

VMS-Washington April 2012 Business Newsletter

VMS-Washington March Newsletter has launched

Check out our February 2012 Newsletter

VMS-Washington – Do You Know You Can Accept Mobile Payments Through Your Phone?

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attach ROAMpay to your phone and  be able to accept payments. This is the most secure device in the market which works on 400+ phones, capture excellent rates and is so small it can go into your pocket. For more information contact us at: 1-800-531-8575 ext 697

Valued Merchant Services offers a free cost analysis to compare your current provider to us. In addition, anyone that sends us business our way will get $50.00 when sign the client signs. We also challenge you to beat our rates, if we can’t we will pay you $250.00 Cash. Has your current processor told you about the Durbin Amendment and how it can save you money on your processing rates and fees?

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

Read about our past reviews on:

Square vs. ROAMpay

Valued Merchant Services vs. Costco (Elavon)

Valued Merchant Services vs. PayPal

VMS-Washington: Savings of 30.90%

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

VMS-Washington saved Kayzoe 30.90%. We can beat anyone out there 20-60% off their current provider with average savings of 46.12%. Valued Merchant Services offers a free cost analysis to compare your current provider to us. In addition, anyone that sends us business our way will get $50.00 when sign the client signs. We also challenge you to beat our rates, if we can’t we will pay you $250.00 Cash. Has your current processor told you about the Durbin Amendment and how it can save you money on your processing rates and fees?

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

VMS-Washington – Savings of 30.76%

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

VMS-Washington saved Cake Envy 30.76%. We can beat anyone out there 20-60% off their current provider with average savings of 46.62%. Valued Merchant Services offers a free cost analysis to compare your current provider to us. In addition, anyone that sends us business our way will get $50.00 when sign the client signs. We also challenge you to beat our rates, if we can’t we will give you $250.00 Cash. Has your current processor told you about the Durbin Amendment and how it can save you money on your processing rates and fees?

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

VMS-Washington – Credit Card Issuers Do Poorly at Detecting, Well at Resolving Fraud…..

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

That is the conclusion of a study of 23 U.S.credit card issuers conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, a consulting firm specializing in the financial services and payments industries. Criminals are getting better at stealing card account information, while banks and consumers are simply not doing enough to protect their data, the researchers tell us.
The result is that account fraud costs issuers about $37 billion annually, the report says.

New Card Account Fraud Costlier and More Difficult to Resolve

It turns out that, while existing credit card accounts generate a higher total of fraudulent transactions than new accounts – $17 billion vs. $6 billion last year, new account fraud is much costlier on a per-incident basis – $1,267 vs. $565, according to the study.
On top of that, new account fraud takes much longer to detect – 49 hours on average, compared to the 26 hours it takes to discover fraud on existing cards. “The difficulty in detection of this fraud type is a large contributor to the high costs,” the report concludes.
To make matters worse, in addition to the direct cost of dealing with fraud, banks suffer from a couple of fraud-related side effect. Some fraud victims quit online banking, which is costly for issuers, while 20 percent switch to a competitor, which is an even worse outcome from a bank’s perspective.

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

Here is the top 7 list in the study:

• Bank of America – 87.
• Discover Financial Services – 74.
• U.S. Bank – 73.
• USAA – 71.
• Capital One – 68.
• JPMorgan Chase – 67.
• American Express – 66.

The average score for the 23 issuers was 59.

How to Protect Account Data

The researchers have some suggestions on what issuers should do to make it harder for hackers to steal account information. Here are some of them:

• Send SMS alerts to cardholders when large purchases are made or for card-not-present transactions (I am not so sure about that one).
• Stop asking for SSN, a prime target for fraudsters, for authentication purposes.
• Limiting online access for customers who have not updated their anti-virus software.

While issuers may or may not decide to adopt any of these measures, there are things consumers can do themselves to protect themselves, including:

• Keep your anti-virus software updated.
• Look for issuers who support tokenization, which is a technology that replaces the card account number with a random string of characters, which, if intercepted, is useless to the criminal.
• Look for issuers who will let you set transaction limits and ask you for validation when you exceed them.
• Get a chip-and-PIN card when they become available in the U.S. In these cards the account information is embedded in a chip and studies have proven them to be less vulnerable to fraud than traditional magnetic stripe cards.

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Service Provider

The Takeaway

Challenging as it is, the situation is certain to become even trickier with the rapid evolution of the numerous nascent mobile payments technologies, which present a whole different set of problems and I am sure we will be hearing a lot about that in the coming months.
Technologies will evolve and change, but common sense will never go out of fashion. It is your best protection. Keep an eye out for anything that looks out of the ordinary. If you find it, stop what you are doing and contact your issuer.
The good thing about credit card fraud, from a cardholder’s stand point, is that ultimately the issuer is liable for fraudulent transaction amounts. Still, the investigative process can take a while and you will be wholly involved in it. Moreover, there are a number of things that can go wrong and your credit historymay suffer as a result. So just because someone else is paying for it, does not mean that you will necessarily get off scot-free.

Hope this brief article helps you understand what tokenization is and how it helps your business.

Thank you,

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washington
National Sales Director
(800) 531-8575 ext. 697
washington@valuedmerchants.com
www.vms-washington.com

VMS-Washington – Savings of 41.10%

VMS-Washington – Washington’s Merchant Services Provider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VMS-Washington saved Kevin tarvin 41.10%. We can beat anyone out there 20-60% off their current provider with average savings of 46.85%. Valued Merchant Services offers a free cost analysis to compare your current provider to us. In addition, anyone that sends us business our way will get $50.00 when sign the client signs. We also challenge you to beat our rates, if we can’t we will give you $250.00 Cash. Has your current processor told you about the Durbin Amendment and how it can save you money on your processing rates and fees?

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

VMS-Washington – What is the Durbin Amendment?

VMS-Washington – What is the Durbin Amendment?

An Overview of the Durbin Amendment

The Durbin Amendment is an addendum to the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress in 2010. Its namesake, Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois, wrote the plan to expand Federal Reserve powers for setting interchange fees related to debit card transaction processing. In setting the fees, the ultimate goal is spur economic growth with lower fees. Theoretically, retailers could lower prices on consumer goods with the savings on paying high fees to big banks. Lower prices might help to increase consumer spending.

The rules of the Durbin Amendment would cap the interchange fee for debit card transactions. Generally, interchange fees are charged by retailers for each payment accepted with a debit card or credit card.Before the passage of this amendment, the average charge from banks to retailers per transaction was 44 cents. According to the Federal Reserve, banks collected nearly $16 billion annually on these fees to cover fraud prevention and administrative costs. Beginning October 2011 – when the new law goes into effect – the charge will cap at 12 cents.

For retailers, this appears to be an advantage in reducing the amount of bank charges. However, some note that banks will look for alternatives to the revenue loss. Consumers could end up paying the price, literally and figuratively, for the lost revenue.

Additional Provisions in the Durbin Amendment

The Durbin Amendment only affects banks that have less than $10 billion in assets.

Retailers have a choice in selecting a debit network service to process the transactions. Before the new law, retailers could only use the STAR network to process Visa transactions. This was required even if other merchants charged less.

Retailers can give discounts to consumers who pay with a debit card or in cash. Merchant agreements for both Visa and MasterCard currently ban this practice to encourage credit card use.

Problems with the Durbin Amendment

Critics observe the looming problems with the Durbin Amendment, despite its positive provisions.

Because credit cards remain unregulated, banks may choose to increase incentives such as rebates and reward points to entice more spending with credit cards. Consumers may see an advantage to using credit cards versus a debit card to earn the incentives.

VMS-Washington – What is the Durbin Amendment?

Currently there there are restrictions on banks for requiring minimum purchases with debit cards, however fears do exist that with this new legislation that many banks may try and change this. For example, banks could decide to cap debit card purchases at $100, limiting big ticket purchases. Instead, consumers will be forced to use a credit card, prepaid debit card or cash. Purchases are limited for consumers who have bad credit and no credit card.

Smaller banks not directly affected by the Durbin Amendment could suffer revenue losses. Market forces might require small banks to lower rates to remain competitive.

Another problem is banks may transfer the fee to consumers to offset revenue losses. One way this could occur is by changing the terms for free checking accounts. It is possible that banking competition will prevent such changes.

How the Durbin Amendment Impacts Small Businesses

For all of its intentions to improve economic activity, this legislation will impact small businesses in several ways.

Most small businesses pay more to provide discounts than for debit interchange fees. This leaves most at the mercy of a pricing strategy. A tiered system with a merchant service company could cost more.

Small businesses could realize very little in actual savings proposed by the Durbin Amendment. For example, merchant services may have a coded system that equates to other fees such as down-grades and hidden mark-ups.

In essence, small businesses may not see any savings initially because of blended contract agreements. The net effect is that consumers who purchase from these businesses will not see any savings. Small businesses that currently do not accept debit card payments would not see any savings.

If banks raise banking fees, they may include small business checking accounts. Nearly 15 million small businesses have active checking accounts. It is estimated that small businesses could pay as much as $4.8 billion in higher fees during the two years after the Durbin Amendment is implemented.

Many small businesses will need to analyze their debit card transactions. This could help to determine whether savings is possible with their current provider, or if switching to one with lower fees is worthwhile. What works for one small business may not benefit another based on the payment card consumers use.

Conclusion

The Durbin Amendment was passed to increase economic activity among consumers and small businesses. The interchange fees enforced by the Federal Reserve could add more cost than savings to both groups. Market competition may drive banks to shift the lost revenue onto small businesses and consumers.

VMS-Washington – What is the Durbin Amendment?

Larger businesses may benefit more from the reduced interchange fees and have more flexibility to pass those savings onto consumers. However, the law allows small businesses to select its merchant service for transactions. This provides more options in providing a merchant service provider with reasonable fees.

A big key here is that it still falls the each small business to ensure they are saving money with the new legislation. Make sure when you call your current credit card merchant account provider or the one you are thinking about signing with, that they are aware of Durbin and have adjusted their pricing to pass on these savings. If the representative can not quickly speak to how they adjusted their prices, or worse seems confused as to what the Durbin Amendment is, then it likely means you should find a different merchant service provider to work with.

Due to the overwhelming replies and inquiries VMS-Washington wants to help your business out by giving you rock bottom rates for your processing.  We also can help your business by giving you great rates for unsecured business loans with an 90% approval rate for start-ups and existing businesses.  Call or email us if you want to know more.

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washignton
www.vms-washington.com
washignton@valuedmerchants.com
(800) 531.8575 ext. 697

VMS-Washington – Authorize.net vs. PayPal

Authorize.net vs. PayPal

I am always comparing companies to other merchant services companies. Many times past and potential clients are so stuck with wanting to go with PayPal for their merchant services thinking they are getting the best deal.  After much research and calls I have come to the conclusion that Valued Merchant Services using Authorize.net has a much better deal than PayPal for many reasons.  Valued Merchant Services with Authorize.net has better rates 1.69%-2.99% vs PayPal’s 2.50%-3.50%, Transaction fee of 15c-25cents vs. 28c-35cents per transaction, less BBB complaints (4) vs PayPa’ls BBB complaints (6569), 24/7/365 customer service vs. 9am-10pm Monday – Friday customer service which is very important if you need help with your problems and or concerns, Valued Merchant Services has next day funding and PayPal doesn’t and finally VMS has a 3 year contract which means your rates will never go up but can always go down vs. PayPal’s month to month which means they can raise their rates when they feel like it.  The free Authorize.Net Mobile Application allows you to securely accept payments anywhere you want using an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The mobile application is designed to help increase your sales by providing an easy way to accept payments on the go using your Authorize.Net Payment Gateway account.

Yes, PayPal has no Annual fee, no PCI Compliance fee and no monthly minimum fee but you have to realize that with the high rates and fees how much would you save by having low rates and fees vs. getting those features for free?  The annual fee for VMS is $75.00 a year and the PCI fee is $120.00 a year which adds to $195.00.  To break it down think of it this way:  If you process over $10,000 a month with an average rate for VMS at 2.35% vs. PayPal’s average rate of 3.00%, the average savings per month is $200.00 if you process with VMS.  So over 12 months your savings is $1200.00 and if you deduct $195.00 for the PCI fee and Annual fee your total savings with VMS is $1005.00 a year.

To sum this up, Valued Merchant Services  with Authorize.net far exceeds PayPal’s merchant services and can provide better pricing, better customer service and additional services that they cannot provide.  We are in all 50 states and Canada, provide excellent customer service, process over 100+ million a day and we are an A rated company that can take care of all your financial needs and services.  Due to overwhelming replies, questions and needs for our services please contact us and we will gladly help you.

Thank you,

Michael Roberts

VMS-Washington
National Sales Director
(800) 531-8575 ext. 697
washington@valuedmerchants.com
www.vms-washington.com

Read more about PCI Compliance:

Is PCI Compliance a Toothless Tiger?

PCI Compliance Frequently Asked Questions

What Is PCI Compliance?

VMS-Washington