Thinking of You while wearing a Hospital Johnny!

Hi! It's Mike here...

I was at my Doctor's the other day for my annual physical and as I sat there in that little room wearing nothing but my boxers and a johnny waiting for her to come in I worried. I could not control the anxiety of not knowing what was going on with my health.

After all, I am 45 now. I am not as young as I once was. Heck, I am not even as young as I was when I felt like I was dying on the basketball court trying to coach the 7th grade Boy's and Girl's at Blackham Middle School in Bridgeport, CT just a few years ago.

Sure both my grandparents on my Mom's side reached 95 (my grandmother turned 95 just last week and she still lives alone) and my parents are as healthy as could be, but you never know what's really going on.

What's crazy is that I just had 2 Life Insurance physicals within the last 10 weeks and I came out of both of them with flying colors.

Still, it seems like every day we hear about someone who seemed to be perfectly healthy one day and ready to check out the next.

I thought to myself, "You know, I feel fine; I feel healthy; and I feel Strong! Let's just leave well enough alone."

The thoughts continued:

"Would it really do me any good to find out if something was wrong, or wuld I be better off just pretending everything was okay without ever really checking it out."

It was then that I thought of you!

How many of you have those same feelings about your Merchant Services or Payroll Provider?

How many of you are thinking that things seem okay. I can hear you now:

“Do I really want to know how badly I have been getting ripped off over the last few years? What if I just pretend things are fine? I’ll stop opening my statements and as long as most of my money is deposited into my account I’ll assume everything is okay.”

Dealing with unsanctioned resellers is a lot like going to your doctor. Even when they take the time to explain what’s going on they seem to be speaking in another language. You just sit there nodding in agreement even when you still have no idea what they just said.

Are you ready for your checkup?

If you want to know what’s really going on with your Merchant Services and/or payroll give me a call today. I promise to take the time and give you a proper diagnosis and a real cure to the things they really hurt you the most!

“It’s time you had someone on your side!”

Michael J. Stone, MBA

Payments Consultant

Your local expert on Merchant Services, Payroll Services,

and Remote Deposit Capture,

offering free unbiased recommendations based on your needs.

http://www.michaeljstone.com/

Michael.Stone@e-hps.com

fax-866-477-0387

Processing Directly with your Bank - Sounds good, but...

Because more than 95% of the companies that offer Merchant Services are resellers, finding accurate and useful information can be challenging for most small business owners. Every day I run into merchants with over 20 years of business success that still lack a basic understanding of their Merchant Services; one of the most important business functions and largest monthly ledger line items.

Most of the information shared by these unsanctioned and unregulated resellers is intentionally misleading and confusing that even basic terminology is used incorrectly. So much so that many very well educated and professional Merchant Services Sales Professionals don't even know that they are misleading their customers.

I know this because the person that hired me used to work for one of these ISOs and she admitted that she had no idea how much she was ripping people off until she started working for a Direct Processor.

For example, there is a local ISO that likes to market himself as a Direct ISO to a large regional bank. “I go directly through the Bank…” he’ll tell his customers. The problem is, the bank is not an acquirer. In other words, the bank is also a reseller.

That is the equivalent of saying I am a food distributor and I get my food “directly from the supermarket.”

The confident arrogance of this independent, unregulated reseller, and thousands just like him is unwavering because he knows that 99.99% of the customers he says that to have no idea that the Bank is not an acquirer. In his sneaky little mind he is telling the truth without saying I am getting my food directly from the supermarket.

Now you have to ask yourself one question – If the bank charges its customers $45 for every NSF and non-customers $1.75 to use the ATM, how much do you think they are making off the ISO, and how much profit is he adding to that?

In my next post I will begin to uncover some of the truths and lies regarding Rates.

For instance, did you know that Visa is less expensive to process than Master Card? If I only had a nickel for every Merchant Services Statement I have seen that charged the same rate for both.

Are you paying the same for MC and Visa?

You deserve to know the truth.

“It’s time you had someone on your side!”

Michael J. Stone, MBA
Payments Consultant
Your local expert on Merchant Services, Payroll Services,
and Remote Deposit Capture, offering free unbiased
recommendations based on your needs.
http://www.michaeljstone.com/
Michael.Stone@e-hps.com
fax-866-477-0387

"I don't do Contracts"

Just last week I had a discussion with a small business owner about Merchant Services contracts.

She mentioned to me that she doesn't sign long term contracts anymore. We talked about that for a while and I cautioned her on that strategy.

The legal definition of contract is as follows: An agreement between two or more parties which creates obligations to do or not do the specific things that are the subject of that agreement.

So when you have no contract your processor no longer has obligations to do or not so specific things; like raise your rates or add bogus fees.

When I explained this to her she just happened to show me her copy of the contract she signed where the sales rep crossed off the term length and wrote in "no contract."

I found this interesting, but what I also found interesting were the rates that were written on the agreement:

Qualified transactions - 1.59%
Mid Qual - 1.95%
Non Qual - 1.95%

This suprised me because I had just reviewed her current statement that showed she was currently being billed:
Qualified - 1.89%
Mid Qual - 2.69%
Non Qual - 4.12%

The date on the "contract" was less than 12 months old.

Remember, when 99.9985% of the providers are resellers it is unlikely you will know as much as you think you know. Chances are whatever you agree to may sound like it will work out for you, but it won't. In fact, it will most likely turn into a big mistake.

Find someone who knows what is going on and is willing to help.

You can always contact me. My site will soon be updated with an "Ask Mike" section for you to easily access me for help.

It's time you had someone on your side!
www.MichaelJStone.com
Michael.Stone@e-hps.com
Fax: 866-477-0387

Taking Charge

Accepting Master Card and Visa is no longer a luxury. Consumers everywhere expect to be able to use their plastic where ever they go. As the economy slows to a hault, small business owners are challenged every day with the prospect of losing customers if they do not accept charge cards, or losing profits if they do.

In an industry where 99% of the providers are resellers, the dialogue between processor and business owner is so dilluted by unsanctioned/unregualted Independent SalesOrganizatons that the merchants have no idea what to believe and what is a lie.

Think about it -

There are over 16,000 businesses that offer merchant services, yet less than 20 actual process MC/Visa transactions.

Now, let's do the math 20/16000 = 99.99875%

That's not all -

Almost every one of those processors is using an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) to distribute their services. So even if you happen to process with one of the 20 that actually processes transactions, that does not mean you are neccesarily getting direct pricing.

When a processor engages an ISO to distribute their services, that ISO becomes a much more important customer than you. The processor needs that ISO to continue to distribute for them.

The fastest way to stop that from happening is to go into their selling region and undercut their pricing. The truth is many of these ISO have relationships with many Processors and only push the processors that pay them the most.

As an industry insider, it is my goal to educate small business owners everywhere how to avoid the half-truths, flat out lies, tricks and unethical business practices of most of the 99.99875% of Merchant Services Providers.

Every week I will give you access into my world. You will read about all of the real life examples I run into every single week in talking to small business owners throughout Western Mass and New England.

In my next post you will here about the perils with "No Contracts."

I hope you enjoy reading, but more importantly I hope you learn how to avoid the headaches shared by so many "victims" of the Merchant Services Industry.

Welcome!