[richy27]

I am seriously considering going down this route will be handy as i am geting fed up of the odd rubber cheque.

Question to those who use them do you advertise the fact that you accept cards and would you say the added work more than pays for the terminal

regards

Richard

[DK]

They can be expensive at times, ive just got my bill, put about 7k through in june and the charges are about £160, having said that a lot of that are commercial cards which are charges at 2.95%, which is high, but i reclaim back from the client, i wouldnt be without mine, saves going to bank and parking etc etc, i try not take cheques at all now.

Regards

David
Dry Fusion9Scotland)

[Karen Waterworth]

Charging the customer a fee for taking the payment via cc is a grey area, Based on information I have read it can be understood in different ways. Below are just some items I have found on the subject.

You might want to check with your acquirer - apparently charging customers a surcharge for using a credit card is against VISA/Mastercard scheme rules, and should also be detailed as disallowed in your merchant acquirer contracts, and could result in your merchant account being terminated.
"EDIT: Here's the relevant part of the Mastercard scheme rules:

A Merchant must not directly or indirectly require any Cardholder to pay a
surcharge or any part of any Merchant discount or any contemporaneous
finance charge in connection with a Transaction. A Merchant may provide a
discount to its customers for cash payments. A Merchant is permitted to
charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or
convenience fees, and the like) if the fee is imposed on all like transactions
regardless of the form of payment used, or as the Corporation has expressly
permitted in writing. For purposes of this Rule:

1. A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a Transaction that is not
charged if another payment method is used.

2. The Merchant discount fee is any fee a Merchant pays to an Acquirer so
that the Acquirer will acquire the Transactions of the Merchant.

 

EDIT2: Here's the Visa section:

5.1.C Prohibitions
A Merchant must not:

• Add any surcharges to Transactions, unless local law expressly requires that a Merchant be permitted to impose a surcharge.

However, according to http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1990/Uksi_19902159_en_1.htm (for UK transactions) it is allowed to surcharge for credit card transactions, but only to the amount actually charged for the service. So, you could not impose a 2% surcharge if you actual transaction charge was only 1.8%, for instance".

You really need to be careful about what you do before you rush headlong into trying to implement a surcharge to ensure that you're acting within the law. I would not risk passing the charges on. Well, at least that's my take on it, but bear in mind I'm a carpet cleaner not a lawyer.

[JandS]

Travel agents do it and so does the tax man if you try paying
your tax bill with a credit card.

John

[Joe H]

Go to the computer fair in Wigan, Karen, and I bet the stall holders will charge you 2.5% or something like.
Many places charge for credit card but not for debit card.
As John said, travel agents are just one, go on teletext and they all do it.

[Raymondo]

I was thinking about this today.

Is there a way of getting someone like the NCCA or someone else to have the chip and pin terminal machine in their office we then ring the office they take the payment and then transfer to payment over a few day later by bacs.

They could take a small percentage it would mean only one machine with one phone call to take the payment.

Ray

[wynne jones]

Ray

I wouldn't trust the NCCA to organize tasting sessions at Wychwoods, let alone handle my money. They probably couldn't be arsed anyway.

[Joe H]

That sounds very harsh Wynne.

What personal experiences have you had that leads you to that conclusion?

[Simon Gerrard]

Richard,

It's hard to saying whether taking cards gets you extra work, but it certainly makes you look more professional as you have to be checked out to get one in the first place and the pure convenience of it makes it worthwhile.

As for the charges, don't forget banks charge us is it 60p per cheque to pay in so what's the problem with paying a few percent for card transactions to have the money transferred direct to your bank account. It's all tax deductible so what the hell?

Simon

[Joe H]

Carpet cleaners must be a peculiar lot.

Its ok to pay out £25 per month (£300+vat per year) to a card machine because its tax deductable "so what the hell". (sorry to quote you Simon but it was very appropriate at the time).

and yet many dont want to pay out £215+vat per year which is tax deductable to an organisation such as NCCA which does do things for the carpet cleaning profession, but are restricted by lack of funds to some extent.

Oh yes, we would all like it to do more....... like big advertising, but that costs money. The more that join, the more is available to further the interests of carpet cleaners.  If more put there energy into something that has the potential to improve the carpet cleaning profession as a whole then that would be really good.

[Colin Day]

Joe, are you getting commission for every c/c you press gang? Andrew Miller, eat your heart out

I think the 2 options are worlds apart.... I've just requested a call back from 123send.... I'll leave NCCA for when I have the extra income from adding more work on thanks to my card machine!!!

[colin thomas]

in all the time i have been trading and luckily for me i am usually pretty busy, i don't think more than 1 or 2 people have ever asked if i take credit cards so i don't see the point in having a terminal. every now and then i get a bouced cheque but not very often,

colin

[Joe H]

Colin
Simon honestly said "It's hard to saying whether taking cards gets you extra work".
and its going to cost you £300+vat

I can honestly say NCCA has got me more work for £215+vat

and like Colin I can honestly say I have only been asked if I take credit cards once or twice, which, honestly, is less then I have been asked am I a member of NCCA.
I "upsell" the NCCA, which I am happy to do. You would have to "upsell" the card machine.

so whats the problem?

as I said  "Carpet cleaners must be a peculiar lot".

[Colin Day]

as I said  "Carpet cleaners must be a peculiar lot".

Who can argue with that

[wynne jones]

That sounds very harsh Wynne.

What personal experiences have you had that leads you to that conclusion?

Joe whatever I say Im sure you will counter it so I won't even bother.

If you like it then I can't argue with that.

[Joe H]

but I cant counter your personal experience because thats what you encountered,

so you can tell us openly how NCCA has "upset" you.

you never know, someone from NCCA may be reading this and waiting with baited breathe as to how they upset someone such they cant be trusted.

[Simon Gerrard]

Joe,

You're trying to mix two completely separate issues by bringing NCCA membership in to a discussion about chip & pin machines.

We had never really been asked if we took cards until we started taking them and advertising that we take them and now I'd say 8 or 9 out of ten customers pay by card and I think it is fabulous.

Simon

[Karen Waterworth]

Go to the computer fair in Wigan, Karen, and I bet the stall holders will charge you 2.5% or something like.
Many places charge for credit card but not for debit card.
As John said, travel agents are just one, go on teletext and they all do it.

As i said Joe it's a grey area, just because they charge does not make it right. But if you use a cc in a normal shop or buy petrol with it they dont charge. All banking has got expensive would we charge the customer our charge for the paying in slip, the admin charge for the chq, the petrol and parking fee, no I dont think we would.

I bet you get ticked off when you have to pay this charge?

Plus why is it when ever I post on this borad one of you has to behave as if you need HRT?

I put two examples up one saying your not allowed to pass the charge on and one saying you can, but not more than what you are charged.

And why would I go to a computer fair in Wigan??

As for the original question we have one we use it we do not pass on charges. Benefits are money is in the bank, some customers prefer this method of payment because they dont like chqs or they can not find their chq book and it saves them time in having to go to the hole in the wall for cash.   

[Joe H]

Simon says.....You're trying to mix two completely separate issues by bringing NCCA membership in to a discussion about chip & pin machines. 

Talking about principles Simon, and ho peculiar I see us carpet cleaners.
......................................................
Karen asks...  And why would I go to a computer fair in Wigan??

I was using the computer fair in Wigan as a place a lot of traders go and will charge extra for credit cards thro a machine, and as Wigan is only down the road from you I thought it was appropriate. Wasnt really expecting you to go (but you can if you want).

[colin thomas]

i bought a laptop over the phone from a well known dealer yesterday and was going to be charged for using a visa card so used a bank debit card and no charge,

colin