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Merchant Statements
In the payment processing industry there is a ton of jargon used interchangeably, and sometimes done so incorrectly. As a business owner processing credit cards, it is important you know what these terms mean so you use them correctly if a customer asks.
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Credit card processing companies, including Acquirers, Merchant Service Providers, Payment Gateways, and Payment Facilitators are regulated by a variety of organizations and regulatory bodies. The Card Brands, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the National Automated Clearing House (NACHA), sponsor banks, and federal and state governments all play a role in overseeing the credit card processing standards.
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There are a few payment processing rate plans you can choose from, which vary depending on who you decide to work with. In the unfortunate event you work with an unethical Merchant Account Provider, you may end up on Billback or worse, Enhanced Billback.
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ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, a network managed by NACHA. The network enables the electronic transfer of funds from one bank to another by directly debiting a consumer or business checking or savings account. It is commonly used for payroll, bills and invoices, and tax payments. ACH transaction fees are lower than those of credit and debit cards, so it is a popular cost-effective payment type, especially for higher ticket purchases.
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EMV or “chip” cards have become the US industry standard for credit and debit transactions made in-person at a business. There are now more than 1 billion EMV cards in circulation in the US, and in 2020, 73% of card-present transactions involved an EMV card being read by an EMV-capable terminal, up from just over half two years earlier. As a result, in-person fraud rates for counterfeit cards have plunged. According to a May 2019 report from Visa, merchants that accepted EMV chip-enabled cards saw a 76% drop in card-present fraudulent fraud.
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Many Merchant Account Providers charge unnecessary fees or have unfair contract terms and conditions, as reported in our unethical practices blog series. Some providers take it a step further by failing to educate business owners about how to qualify for the best transaction rates, which unfortunately results in “Interchange downgrades” that can really add up. Worse yet, some providers make so much money from these downgrades that they hide them in confusing line-item details on statements.
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