How to Stay Off the MATCH File

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. Lowest Merchant Account Fees

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 canceled 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.

MSIQ is dedicated to saving merchants money on what they already have to pay. We believe that educating our merchants about the industry is the best way to earn and keep your business.

We perform custom rate analysis free of charge no obligation to any merchant who asks.

Want to Pay by Credit Card? Minimum Purchase $10.

Minimum Purchase

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“Minimum Credit Card Purchase is $10″.  If you have seen a sign like this at a retail store, you are not alone.  No matter what the sign says, if a merchant accepts credit or debit cards, you are allowed to use any card they accept for a purchase of any amount.  Merchants cannot, in any case, impose minimum or maximum purchase amounts for card payments.  Those who try to pull this off think they are being smart by avoiding merchant fees on small dollar items that may already have a thin profit margin.  What they don’t realize (or they do and think the customer will be naïve) is that they are in violation of card association operating guidelines.  They can also anger customers who must purchase more in order to pay by card.

Even if a merchant accepts all the card types, they must follow the strictest operating guideline.  In most cases, that will be Visa.  (Merchants can choose what card types to accept. For example, Costco only accepts Amex and debit cards.  However, Visa and MasterCard are grouped together in most cases.)  Violation of the minimum or maximum purchase guideline can get a merchant terminated by Visa or MasterCard (who own the dominant share of the card payment market).  Terminated merchants are put on the Terminated Merchant File list – called TMF or MATCH.  Merchants can land on the MATCH file as a result of violating the terms of their credit card agreements with either Visa or MasterCard.  Once a merchant is on the MATCH file, it is very hard to be removed.  It is considered a blacklist in the card processing industry. Click for more information on the MATCH file.

In today’s world, a merchant not being able to accept card payments will have a hard time existing at all.

Interestingly enough, some states (i.e. New York) allow this practice so long as a sign is clearly posted.  No matter, since the merchant needs to understand that they must abide by the respective card company operating guidelines.  If they violate the rules, they are terminated.  Visa and MasterCard, not the legal system in this case, rule the roost.

Merchant fees, on average, run about 2% of the sale and include items such as, but not limited to, discount and/or transaction fees, card association fees, statement fees, AVS (address verification), gateway fees and monthly statement fees.  Merchants need to accept these fees as a cost of doing business, similar to other operating fees.  Instead of focusing on the cost of accepting card payments, merchants should concentrate on the reduced risk of card payments, which are guaranteed at the time of purchase.  (Exceptions to this payment guarantee would be if chargebacks come in to play at a later date.)  In a time when cash or checks were the only option and consumers felt more comfortable paying by check, a merchant had to wait until the check cleared – and also took the risk not getting paid if a check bounced. The funds from debit and credit card purchases are deposited anywhere from 24 – 72 hours from the batch closing date.

If they violate the rules, they are terminated.

Business owners are constantly finding ways to help their profit margin – by using effective practices to reduce merchant fees and increasing customer loyalty.  Some have their POS systems set to default to PIN debit (merchant fees for debit cards are typically lower than those for credit cards).  Others offer discounts for cash payments.  No matter how a merchant chooses to operate in favor of their bottom line, they have to ensure that they are adhering to card association operating guidelines.  In today’s world, a merchant not being able to accept card payments will have a hard time existing at all.

MSIQ is dedicated to saving merchants money on what they already have to pay. We believe that educating our merchants about the industry is the best way to earn and keep your business.

Types of Credit Cards

What are some of the typical cards you can accept?

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There are several different kinds of credit cards issued by Visa and MasterCard. There are differences between them may affect the rates charged for those cards and how a merchant is responsible for processing them.

Consumer Card

A consumer credit card is a plain old credit card carried by an average person. It is not tied to a checking account, offer any rewards, or associated with any business. It is not special in any way. These cards are becoming less and less popular as check cards and rewards cards gain in popularity.

Check Cards

A check card is very similar to PIN-based debit cards. Unlike a typical credit card where you wait until you receive your next bill to make payment, and maybe even make a partial payment, the funds for check card transactions are immediately withdrawn from your checking account.

Unlike PIN-based debit cards, however, you do not have to key a PIN number to complete the transaction. You simply sign your name as if you had used a credit card. Also, unlike PIN-based debit, no special equipment is required to accept check cards. The same equipment used to accept credit cards can also accept check cards.

Rewards Cards

A rewards card offers its cardholder special bonuses for using that card to make purchases. The bonuses will vary by card issuing bank. Typical rewards include airline miles and vacation packages.

All rewards cards are placed into a special Interchange table and typically cost more to accept then a traditional consumer credit card. They typically fall into a mid-qualified rate for retail businesses. Mobile, MOTO, and Internet businesses typically pay their qualified rate for these cards.

Business/Corporate Cards

Business cards, also called corporate cards, are carried by business owners. These are typically used to make purchases for the cardholder’s business. They are popular amongst businesses as they offer extra features not traditionally found in consumer credit cards. The more detailed statements are their primary benefit.

Business cards are placed into a special Interchange table and typically cost more to accept then a traditional consumer credit card. They typically fall into a mid-qualified rate for retail businesses. Mobile, MOTO, and Internet businesses typically pay their qualified rate for these cards.

Purchasing Cards

Purchasing cards are virtually identical to business cards with one exception: they can only be used in predetermined businesses. All transactions outside of the predetermined businesses will be declined automatically.

The predetermined businesses are determined by SIC code. If a corporation has allowed a purchasing card to make purchases from a merchant listed in that SIC code the transaction will proceed normally. The company that the purchasing card has been issued to has the ability to determine what SIC codes a card may be used with. If a merchant has a customer that cannot make a purchase due to the SIC code restriction the customer will need to contact the card issuing bank to have the merchants SIC code added to their acceptable SIC code list.

Purchasing cards behave like business cards in terms of rates and fees as well as required fields.

MSIQ is dedicated to saving merchants money on what they already have to pay. We believe that educating our merchants about the industry is the best way to earn and keep your business.