More Money, More Problems Accepting B2B Credit Cards

Business to Business (B2B) companies often dislike or discourage customers from paying with a credit card. High fees, transaction limits and held funds are just some of the problems that can result from large credit card payments to your business.

So, you just hit your transaction limit.

Stripe, Paypal and many other payment processors allow you to sign up instantly, but businesses accepting large credit card payments of $1,000 or more often run into issues. Depending on the processor, they may have a ceiling limit on the amount you can process in a single transaction. Traditional, non-instant merchant accounts are often a far better fit for businesses who accept higher ticket credit card payments. If you process with one of these instant sign-up processors and do not have your own merchant account, you risk having funds held with few options for recourse. These processors can, and often do, hold funds for an undisclosed amount of time which can put merchants in a serious bind.

Risk determines everything.

Fraud is a big problem. Complicating things even further is the fact that customers may have up to six months to dispute a charge from the date of sale. Based on your industry, chargeback history and ticket size, processors make risk determinations based on your profile. Some processors may cap the amount you are able to process, others may not allow you to process at all. By providing some simple financial documentation in advance, proving your business is financially stable and legitimate, you can potentially eliminate these roadblocks before they occur.

For Level-3 B2B merchants, the larger the credit card transaction the lower the fees!

Getting paid for a large ticket transaction feels great, but paying fees on them, not so much. For the lowest possible fees, businesses should see if they qualify for and are receiving full Level 3 and Large Ticket discounted processing rates. With these discounts, merchants can save between 25-75% of the total cost of the transaction. Best of all, there are solutions that can do this seamlessly on the backend, with no additional input. Qualifying for these discounts means that instead of paying almost 3% on every credit card transaction, you can instead pay less than half of that (<1.5%) to accept the same card!

For more information on Large Ticket Transaction discounts or your eligibility, contact Team Merchant today at: 844-805-3862 or contact us with the button below.

IOLTA Compliant Credit Card Processing

The importance of IOLTA when accepting payments through a gateway or merchant services account is essential for lawyers.

First things first, I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice. That being said, Team Merchant works with many law firms and we are experts when it comes to best practices in the payments industry.  Finding an affordable partner who is familiar with Interest On Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) regulations can be difficult. Many processors and gateways who cater specifically to the legal services industry vastly overcharge for the services they are providing. Team Merchant understands how vitally important it is for law firms to handle fiduciary funds properly. Keeping operating accounts and IOLTA accounts separate saves time and headaches down the road. Incorrect architecture of IOLTA accounts can lead to a nightmare of forensic accounting, potential liabilities, and discipline for incorrect handling of funds.

IOLTA Compliant Card and ACH Payments can be Easy!

Accepting payments is not a reason that anyone goes into practicing law. It can be a hassle and the payments industry is intentionally confusing to make it difficult to understand what you are paying and why. In the legal industry, time is the most valuable commodity and eliminating wasted hours is essential. There are many solutions branded for the legal industry specifically to create the illusion that they have solved some grand mystery. It sounds great, but most traditional credit card, check, ACH, invoicing and payment processing services are able to process these transactions and earmark them for different accounts, which is the crux of IOLTA regulations.

Firms process payments in a myriad of ways. It could be in person with terminals, over the phone via a virtual terminal, an emailed invoice or any combination of many different solutions. It is a must that these systems work together and allow payments, deposits, fees and chargebacks to be routed to the correct account when processing a transaction. With so many moving parts, a payments company that works to find the perfect solution for a firm’s unique needs is invaluable.

Maintaining Two Accounts – IOLTA and Operating

We understand that people do not want to operate two entirely different payments ecosystems, however fees and chargebacks can never be withdrawn from an IOLTA account. Many antiquated systems make this process cumbersome and time consuming. There is no longer a need to remember multiple log ins or juggle random merchant ID numbers. The same parent account will house the two merchant accounts and allow you to choose which account you are processing payments through at the time of payment. Further, it is important to have robust reporting that allows you to switch seamlessly between the two accounts, see transactions in real time, securely store cards for future or recurring transactions and easily identify and correct any errors.

Team Merchant works with law firms of all sizes. We have been able to help substantially reduce processing fees, increase efficiencies and maximize security by completely removing firms from PCI scope.  We are passionate about helping attorneys and firms eliminate wasted hours and keep more of their own money!