Volume 1 Issue 2 December, 2010

Here is your issue of BM$ Success Newsletter – the companion newsletter to the www.business-money-source.com website.

This Month’s Featured Business Financial Product:

If you are confused about your merchant account choices, you are not alone. Most business owners get multiple offers from merchant account purveyors each week. These offers come so fast and furious that most people just tune out and pick one. This may not be the best approach to choosing your merchant account. You stand to lose a lot of money if your credit card volume is significant.

One of the sources of confusion is the way Merchant Accounts are priced. The two general types of pricing are Cost Plus Pricing and Tier Prices.

The way your customers pay will also affect your overall costs, particularly your transaction fees. If you swipe your customers' credit cards, your transactions fees will generally be less than someone who keys in the credit account numbers. A MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) business will incur even higher transactions fees.

This Month’s Business Survival Tip:

The heart of your Merchant Account system is the kind of Point-of-Sale (POS) system that you choose. Below are 7 questions you should consider when making your decision.

1. Is the POS system easily upgraded? In other words, will you be confident in your purchase of terminals, that you will able to upgrade as technology changes and/or your business needs change.

2. Does the system allow you the option to batch your transactions automatically or will you have to do this manually at the close of each business day?

3. Is the POS unit easily compatible with your processor’s software? You should confirm the terminal’s compatibility with the processing software before purchasing or leasing. You don’t want to have to hire an IT professional to come in to get your terminal to “talk” with your credit card processor.

4. Is there a GUI (graphical user interface) terminal? A GUI terminal will be much easier and more efficient for your employees than having to type in the information. Not everyone can type, or at least not effectively.

5. Will the system allow online and/or wireless processing? This may or may not be important to you. It will depend upon your business. If you are mainly a “brick and mortar” business this may not be a concern for you. On the other hand, if you have a mobile or vending business, you will want this feature.

6. Is the system multi-lingual or can easily be made multi-lingual? This feature may be more important in some regions where more than one language is used. It will also be important if your business is multi-national or online where you may do transactions in foreign countries.

7. Lastly, make sure that the POS system you choose can produce a well laid out and easy-to-understand report of your transactions, your charges, fees and charge-backs. You don’t want to spend half of your business day trying to decipher how and where your money is going.

Advertise Your Business in BM$ Success

Send your ad info to: BMS_Success@business-money-source.com Any Questions: jim@business-money-source.com

Let us know what topics you would like to see covered in BM$ Success Newsletter.

Be sure to check the blog page daily on www-business-money-source.com for updates.

SBI!