Could you, should you charge processing fees?
Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should. In most cases, you can legally charge processing fees and surcharges. Doing so can take the sting out of your processing costs. But Read more …
Merchant IDs for High-Risk Verticals
Our handy-dandy glossary of payments terms defines a merchant account as: “A bank account which the merchant holds with an acquiring bank to process credit card transactions.” A “merchant ID” or “MID” Read more …
Chargeback vs Refund: What’s the Difference?
To a cardholder, the difference between a chargeback and a refund is merely semantics; to them, the end result for them is the same. But if you’re a high-risk merchant, it’s a Read more …
Getting Paid: The Wild Ride of Authorizations
Compared to cash purchases, the authorization of credit card transactions is almost comically complicated. To really understand it, you have to read this in the voice of a sports announcer… “Cardholder takes Read more …
How to Win at Returns
Who knows what leads a customer to return a purchase? Honestly, if you did, you’d probably be reading this from your yacht, anchored off Seychelles. Sounds nice, right? Start thinking about how Read more …
Customer Disputes: What happens?
Let’s pull back the curtain on what happens when a cardholder disputes a purchase. For many merchants, their understanding of this process begins and ends with receiving a chargeback. That’s the most Read more …
Get Ready for the Holidays NOW!
The holiday season is upon us. You might already be rolling your eyes at all the holiday-themed commercialization creeping its way into our lives. But if you’re a merchant, you’re also licking Read more …
How to Win at the New VISA Rules
It’s been just over six months since VISA mandated it’s latest rule changes for chargebacks — pardon, “disputes”. If you haven’t yet, read our no-nonsense primer on the “Visa Claims Resolution Initiative”. Read more …
The Chargeback Process Explained
The chargeback is a complex dispute process that is mostly hidden to the merchant. This process is in dire need of an update to improve communication and deter friendly fraud. Some improvements Read more …
How to Win at Transaction Descriptors
Descriptors are the line items you see on your bank statement that describe each transaction. Merchants must navigate several factors to deliver concise descriptors that their customers will easily recognize. Unclear, complicated Read more …