My Merchant Account Blog

Alternative Merchant Account Reseller for LinkPoint - YourPay - First Data Global Gateway

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

As mentioned previously in Changing Merchant Account Providers, especially for Internet Merchants, this change can be quite tedious and sometimes the reason a lot of merchants do not wish to change. We fully understand this reason but also want merchants to understand that changing merchant account reseller can sometimes be beneficial, especially when it comes to protecting Internet merchants against fraudulent transactions (Some Ways to Help Internet Merchants Reduce Fraud and Chargebacks and Fighting Fraud in your E-Commerce Store) and chargebacks.

If, by chance, you are wanting to stay with the LinkPoint Gateway (also known as the YourPay Gateway or First Data Global Gateway), you might want to check out the offer from Sam's Club. Most merchant account resellers will not be able to beat this low offer unless you have a volume account. (And if this is the case, we recommend the Quantum Gateway to help vet transactions automatically during the checkout process.)

Posted by Administrator at 4:22:15 PM in LinkPoint Gateway (4) | Comments (0)

Changing Merchant Account Providers

Friday, December 25, 2009

Changing merchant account providers can be very tedious at times, but it might be well worth it if the new merchant account provider is giving you more fraud prevention tools to prevent chargebacks and fraudulent transactions. Unfortunately, these tools are built into the electronic payment gateway which is usually the reason some merchants do not want to change.

Electronic Payment Gateways

The electronic payment gateway (Quantum Gateway (recommended), Authorize.net (recommended), Payflow, LinkPoint / YourPay / First Data Global Gateway (not recommended)) is basically the virtual connection between your website and the transaction processors / card associations. This can be compared to the point-of-sale (POS) terminal found in most retail businesses today.

Usually, if you have been processing with another provider and you have a good history (low chargeback ratio, etc), your merchant account will usually be approved within a day or so. We recommend that you keep your other merchant account provider until the new merchant account provider has approved you. We also recommend that you get a test store from the electronic payment gateway (if applicable) so you can test the connection.

If you are only changing merchant account providers and not the electronic payment gateway, you can just sign into the electronic payment gateway control panel and update your new merchant account identification number.

Posted by Administrator at 9:12:06 PM in Merchant Accounts (34) | Comments (0)

First Data Terminates More Employees

Are you still using First Data to help you accept credit cards in your retail business or on the Internet? If so, chances are you might have noticed more problems with their services. Last month, First Data terminated more employees that have been in working with them for years, these employees having thousands of hours of irreplaceable experience. First Data does this usually every November. Unfortunately, most large companies do this to hire new employees at a lower pay grade to save money. However, this process brings the company employees with less knowledge of this ever-changing industry. This will create problems sooner or later with your merchant account - you might notice that your deposit is a day late or it takes longer for customer service to answer the phone (and then once you get a representative on the phone, it usually takes longer to handle your business).

Yes, these are little things, but they build up. Your time is wasted on the phone, trying to get a simple answer to your question. At what point do you consider changing merchant account providers? Changing merchant account providers can be easy for some merchants and difficult for others.

I understand that businesses are in business to make money, but aren't you tired of paying more money for your merchant account and not getting anything more (like added fraud features)? First Data reported $2.4 billion for the third quarter in 2009, up 13%. This was contributed to Bank of America Merchant Services alliance as well.

First, take a look at what First Data and their electronic payment gateway (LinkPoint / Your Pay / First Data Global Gateway) offers to its Internet merchants to help prevent fraudulent transactions and chargebacks. If you compare this electronic payment gateway to another, like the Quantum Gateway, there is no comparison. The First Data Global Gateway offers you Basic Fraud Prevention Tools - Address Verification Service (AVS) and CAV2 / CVC2 / CID / CVV2 verification. Unfortunately, these days, an Internet merchant needs a lot more to help prevent fraudulent transactions and chargebacks, for example:

GeoIP - One provider is MaxMind and this utility is built into the Quantum Gateway.
DialVerify - A utility that can automatically call your customer to help scrub the transaction. This fraud prevention tool is built into the Quantum Gateway and offered at no additional charge.
Verified by Visa (VBV) / MasterCard Secure Code (MSC) - Another feature which can prevent certain chargebacks from some card associations. Since this is built into the Quantum Gateway the checkout process is easier than having to add this feature on as a third party application. (Verified By Visa (VBV) - MasterCard Secure Code (MSC): Things You Should Know)

For the past three years at least, First Data has been talking about new product development and one has to wonder when this will take place? They have offered a few new features, but of course, these features come with a price. Other electronic payment gateway will offer these features at no extra charge to the merchant.

It has been rumored that Wal-Mart is very unhappy with First Data. Some people have been looking to start a processor just for Wal-Mart alone. In the meantime, consider what your time, products, and services are worth the next time you have an issue with your First Data merchant account.

Posted by Administrator at 9:10:17 PM in In The News (11) | Comments (0)

Merchant Account Resources Directory

Thursday, December 24, 2009

My Merchant Account Blog receives a lot of people asking for link exchanges. Unfortunately, we do not support this feature on this blog, but have created a Merchant Account Resources Directory for such websites. The Merchant Account Resources Directory asks that your website is in the industry and is legitimate (we know this might be a lot to ask but one can hope).

We would like to welcome all legitimate

Merchant Account Agents, Partners, and Resellers (like Mile High Merchant Accounts)
Electronic Gateway Providers (like Quantum Payment Gateway, Authorize.net, 2000Charge)
E-Commerce Solution Providers and Shopping Cart Providers
Internet Payment Service Providers (IPSPs) aka Third Party Processors (3PP) (like Paypal and Share-It! / Digital River) and High Risk Internet Payment Service Providers
Blog (like My Merchant Account Blog and Merchant Account Blog)
Point of Sales Terminals and Software
Chargebacks (like CRB Company - also mentioned in one of the famous articles on this blog - Sell Your Chargebacks)
Merchant Account Providers (like CDGCommerce)
Canadian Merchant Account Providers
High Risk Internet Merchant Account Providers
Merchant Account Acquirers (like 5th Third Bank and Chase Paymentech)
Fraud Prevent Tools (like MaxMind)
Trade Organizations (like NACHA, Electronic Transactions Association, and Canadian Acquirers Association)

to post their links in the Merchant Account Resources Directory. If you have a link that does not fit a category, please contact them to see if they will add a new category.