My Merchant Account Blog

Retrieval Request

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A retrieval request happens when the cardholder’s bank asks for a readable copy of the transaction sales draft.  Things like billing questions, fraud inquiries, POS mistakes and cardholder disputes are among a variety of reasons for a retrieval request.

MasterCard requires merchants keep their sales drafts in storage 180 days; Visa has a three-year requirement.  It is advisable to keep these records seven years, however, for your business tax purposes. 

There are ways to avoid retrievable requests.  Whenever possible, obtain a card imprint and make sure the customer signs it.  Check all the card’s security features and compare the signature on the card to the customer’s signature. 

Since time and money are involved in this type of request, there is usually a (retrieval request) fee involved.

Monthly Minimum Fee

Friday, October 22, 2010

The monthly minimum fee is a way to make sure merchants pay a certain amount of fees each month; these fees cover the provider’s cost to keep the account going. If the merchant’s transaction percentage does not meet or go over the monthly minimum, they will be charged the monthly minimum to satisfy the fee requirements.

For example: If the merchant’s discount rate is 2.5% and the merchant sells $1,000 that month, the charge will be $25.00.  If the monthly minimum is $25.00, the merchant has met the requirement and will not be charged the fee.  If you only processed $500.00, you should be charged $12.50 to meet the monthly minimum.  Remember this does not include other fees, like transaction fees, batch fees, monthly customer support fee, monthly customer service fee, electronic payment gateway fee, etc.  This fee usually only applies to the discount rate.

Navigation PCI DSS Version 2

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) issues Navigating PCI DSS Version 2 - it will become effective January 2011 (PCI DSS Version 2 Announced).

You can also see the PCI DSS Quick Reference Guide and see the older versions: PCI DSS Version 1.1 and PCI DSS Version 1.2.