Wondering how many guys out there are taking Visa and Master Card for payment? If so are you marking up the bill or just eating the discount fee?
I've had merchant accounts for other businesses in the past, not really very difficult to set-up, wondering if it is something worth having in this type of business?
The "discount" is spread evenly to all customers through our overhead variable that is applied to each and every job. I feel if your in business in today's world you have to accept credit cards. We lost a few sales JUST because we didn't accept credit cards. Even the people with the money want to earn their miles or points or rewards. Buy a $5,000 roof, and that's mega points for the customer.
Technically it is illegal to charge extra for credit card purchases but it's not illegal to give discounts for cash. There's always a loop hole.
I have never taken cards and have no intention of doing so. Most cards will not cover the scope of my jobs and they are another hassle that I don't want do deal with. The customer has the money or they don't.
BTW quickbooks allows you to accept credit cards and it's totally integrated with the program. I'm not sure of our rate because the rate goes up and down for everyone. We pay $35 per month and a .25 transaction fee plus the percentage which is about 1.5% but like I said the percentage varies.
we accept all credit cards...in the HVAC business we have too and would lose an insane amount of business if we didnt, we'll also eat the fees....alot of people dont carry cash these days and may have 200k in the bank but alot of people feel really safe using a credit card, simply because its a very safe way to purchase things....which can backfire if you dont have a legit company because it only takes one phone to the credit card company for them to hold payment....
We use QuickBooks (actually Chase) for our CC processing. We've used others in the past and the rates were comparable. We pay about 2.35% with no monthly charge or transaction fees.
The cost is built into our price.
Customers love it. They can make a payment by phone or FAX, plus many get frequent flyer miles. Nearly half of our payments are by CC, and we get a job or two a month largely because we take credit cards. It allows us to offer "financing" without any of the normal hassles.
Brian,
Are you sure about the Chase?? Wells Fargo bank has an exclusive with Quickbooks, and they are the only ones that do processing for them...just want to make sure that you are with the right company and have a detail like that!
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