Smooth, even, steady… Apparently Square not only lets you accept credit cards, but it also makes you look cool to the opposite sex.

This is a video Square’s co-founder Jack Dorsey (of Twitter fame) used at this year’s DEMO conference. It stars Jackson Walker and a speechless blond.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

With new credit card laws now in effect, consumers are better protected. But there are still loopholes hat may leave you vulnerable.

New credit card laws ban credit card companies from pitching to unsuspecting college students on campuses in Florida and elsewhere. A new report claims those issuers are finding a back door into college campuses.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

Your credit can be the difference between getting or not getting a mortgage, car loan, or even the job you want as employers are looking more and at credit history. Knowing what goes into your credit score and practicing good borrowing habits has never been more important.

Your credit score is an assessment of the information found in your credit report, which presents a snapshot of how you pay your bills.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

MasterCard said it expects China to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest credit card market by number of cards by 2020, citing the country’s rapid urbanization.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean MasterCard will benefit, as China UnionPay Ltd. owns a monopoly on processing card payments.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

College students everywhere are now heading back to campus. At most schools there is a change on campus this fall and it has to do with credit card vendors who a few years ago you couldn’t avoid.

Something is missing on college campuses this year. The tables set up by credit card issuers offering free t-shirts and frisbees to anyone signing up for a credit card are no longer there.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

The amounts of money Americans owe on their credit cards dropped to its lowest level in nearly a decade. But is it necessarily a sign that people are paying off more or the economy is turning around?

The most recent numbers show that the average amount of credit card debt has dropped below $5,000, down 13 percent from the same period a year ago, and the lowest since 2002. Credit.com’s John Ulzheimer breaks down the statistics.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

Nearly 10 million people had their identities stolen in 2003. Credit card fraud remains the most common form of identity theft.

Here are some tips to protect yourself: make sure you don’t leave credit card mail in the mailbox, shred unwanted credit card applications, and guard your PIN numbers carefully.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

Travis Ford of the Missouri Department of Insurance gives some tips regarding changes to the laws on opting-in to overdraft protection for your credit card or ATM card accounts.

The most important thing you need to know is that overdraft protection applies only to ATM and debit cards. If you want the coverage, you would have to opt in for it. If you do nothing, you would not be enrolled in the program.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

More people are focused on paying down their consumer debt. The AP reports that the amount that consumers owed on credit cards in the second quarter “dropped to the lowest level in more than 8 years,” as consumers continue to pay off balances in this uncertain economy.

According to figures provided by TransUnion, the average combined debt for bank-issued credit cards dropped to just under $4,951 in the three months ended June 30 – that’s down more than 13 percent from $5,719 in the same period a year ago.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

Big changes are coming to your debit and credit cards this month. For the most part, these changes are aimed to protect consumers from unreasonable fees.

Penalty fees are now capped at $25, while late fees cannot exceed the minimum payment amount. Banks can no longer charge inactivity fees and are required to re-evaluate interest rate increases every six months.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

A lengthy discussion on the credit card rules that were enacted this past Sunday. This latest set of rules was the latest batch of provisions of the CARD Act of 2009.

The panel features Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Credit.com and other experts who talk about how rules on over-the-limit fees, gift cards and interest rates have changed.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

At a time when interest rates are dropping across the board, credit card rates are hitting new highs.

The research firm Synovate says the average rate on existing credit cards is nearly 15 percent, up from 13 percent in 2009 and it is at its highest level since 2001. By comparison, the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 4.52 percent, down from 5.52 percent a year ago.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

A batch of new rules that went into effect on Sunday will protect consumers against unfair credit card practices.

These protections include provisions for more proportional penalty fees and the elimination of card inactivity fees. Late payment fees, for example, are now limited to $25.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

FICO, the company that provides the most widely used consumer credit scores in the U.S., recently revealed that one in four consumers has a credit score of 600 or less. That can make it difficult to get credit, insurance, or even a job.

Credit.com’s Gerri Detwieler explains the implications of FICO’s report and offers tips on raising your credit score.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 is now in full effect, but will it work?

This video analyzes coverage of the issue by CNN, the Washington Post, the Miami Herald and KIFI.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

The third and final phase of the Credit Card Act of 2009 went into effect Sunday, Aug. 22. These rules include some pretty significant changes that you’ll want to know about.

Adam Levin, chairman and founder of Credit.com, helps explain what these final changes mean for consumers, including the new 6-month interest rate review mandate and new gift card rules.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

Credit.com’s John Ulzheimer talks about the new credit card laws that protect college students, back-to-school credit tips for parents who want to help their children build credit responsibly.

Never co-sign for a 18-year old’s credit card, is one advice Ulzheimer gives. A better option is to add your child as an authorized user on an existing credit card. If the child mismanages it, you can take him or her off the account.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

They’re called our generation of bank robbers, and they’ve got their eye on Oklahoma and you’re credit card information.

Consumer Watch’s Amanda Taylor shows you what you need to know to stay one step ahead of the criminal.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept credit and debit card payments at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account set-up.
• No fixed monthly fees.
• 24 / 7 customer support.

The right card builds credit while the wrong card slaps you with penalties. Here’s how to tell one from the other.

You will need time to investigate various offers. Read the fine print on each offer. Then find a card with no annual fee and make sure it comes with a grace period of 25 – 30 days. Make sure the APR is as low as possible.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

The third and final installment of provisions of the CARD Act of 2009 take effect Sunday, August 22, completing the most comprehensive overhaul of the credit card industry ever.

These latest rules will regulate penalty fees, over-the-limit fees and inactivity fees, as well as require regular re-evaluation of rate increases. New rules on gift cards will also be enacted.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Have you ever tried to read your credit card agreement? If you didn’t get through it, you are not alone. It’s tough reading all that fine print.

A CreditCards.com study found that the average U.S. credit card agreement is written on a 12th grade level. That means 4 in 5 Americans can’t understand their agreement, since the average adult reads at a ninth grade level.

(Via YouTube.com)

Accept card payments quickly and safely

Accept online payments via credit and debit cards and electronic checks at the lowest processing costs. You will get:

• Free merchant account and Authorize.Net gateway set-up.
• No monthly merchant account or gateway fees.

Reuters reports that a J.D. Power and Associates poll released Thursday shows that U.S. consumer satisfaction with their credit cards rebounded from a 3-year low in 2009.

For the fourth year in a row, American Express, helped by its rewards program, ranked first in the satisfaction survey, followed by Discover Financial Services. JPMorganChase, the largest issuer of Visa credit cards fell below the average this year.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Could all those credit card reward points you’ve been stacking up soon be a thing of the past?

Well, a hidden provision in the financial overhaul act may make rewards points obsolete, replacing them with discounts for paying with cash. Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey weighs in.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

“Out of the Rough” host Fred Arnold and Mortgage Professional Fred Kreger discuss credit scoring and how you can better your credit score.

There are different types of credit scores: mortgage scores, rental scores, car scores and consumer scores. Scores that consumers can get themselves are only consumer scores.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A surprising series of reports from the Federal Reserve Bank came out last week. These reports suggest that for the first time, student loan debt in the United States is actually greater than credit card debt.

Peter Kerwin from the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority talks about this development and what it means for students.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Credit card companies are doing their best to find new ways to profit in the wake of the new credit card laws.

John Fisher with nonprofit credit counseling service Take Charge America says the next time you get your statement you’ll want to look out for increases in fees like the annual fee (up 18 percent), cash advanced and balance transfer fees (up 33 percent), as well as increased processing fees and minimum finance charges.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Personal Finance Expert Pete the Planner explains how to decide whether you should have overdraft protection on your checking account or not.

New changes to the law went into effect Aug 15, 2010, and now you have to notify your bank if you want to continue with your overdraft protection coverage. If you don’t, you could have your debit card declined and your checks could bounce.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Say goodbye to those overdraft fees. You are waking up to new rules that are supposed to protect you from excessive bank fees, but that doesn’t mean that your bank is going to try to stop making money of you.

From now on, when you try to make a purchase or a withdrawal with your debit card and there are not enough funds in your account, the transaction will be denied.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Instead of processing transactions chronologically, the banks do the biggest ones first, saying that ensures the most important payments are made. But that can be costly for low-balance accounts, consumer columnist David Lazarus says.

The industry term for this way of applying payments is called “high to low processing” and it is how Wells Fargo does it, Lazarus adds.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Nobody likes the idea of spending time in court, but sometimes it’s the only way to get justice.

But if it’s justice you want from a dispute with American Express, Discover or AT&T’s Universal card, don’t expect to find it in a courtroom. Because you’ve already agreed to avoid courtroom conflict in favor of arbitration.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Today there are new rules meant to protect you from excessive bank fees but your bank is already getting creative in order to make money off of you.

From now on, when you try to make a purchase or withdrawal with your debit card and there are not enough funds in your account, the transaction will be denied. That new rule kicked in Sunday.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

There are simple things you can do to improve your credit score. You will not get immediate results, but you can see improvements in as little as one to two months.

The first thing you should do is to pull your credit reports and challenge the negatives dragging down your score, which are mistakes or might not be able to be verified.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Debit and credit card fraud is on a sudden rise, warns the Oklahoma Bankers Association (OBA). There are simple things you can do to protect yourself and this video offers a few tips.

You should be looking at your statement regularly, says OBA’s Elaine Dodd. Look for small amounts that you don’t recognize. Often a scammer will send a “test charge” at a small amount (between $1 – $5). If that goes through, they will often swoop in and clean you out completely.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Wells Fargo & Co. has been ordered to pay over $200 million back to customers who were alleged to have been charged millions of dollars in faulty overdraft fees, The Wall Street Journal reports Wednesday.

Northern California court Judge William Alsup ruled that the bank attempted to generate additional fees for customers using excessive overdraft fees.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Nationally, Australia has one of the lowest debt levels in the world, but as individuals Australians seem to be addicted to credit. Australians owe more than A$47 billion, up A$17 billion from just five years ago.

Some cards are better than others and easier to manage. This video looks at a comparison study of more than 100 credit card reward programs to find the best on the market, based on low fees, high point earnings and best rewards.

(Via Yahoo.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

If you’ve checked your mail recently, chances are that you’ve probably received one or two or ten credit card offers. Despite the slumping economy, solicitations are up 29 percent in the first quarter. But before you sign up for more credit cards, study the terms carefully. Credit card companies may be taking you for a ride.

USA Today’s Sandra Block offers helpful tips on how to read the fine print.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A new report says that even while Americans are cutting their use of credit cards, some consumers who live in major cities are less likely to part with their plastic.

Experian, which tracks credit reports and scores, among other data, found that nationwide the number of credit cards opened by consumers has dropped by 26 percent since before the worst of the nation’s financial crisis.

Out of 20 major metropolitan areas they survived, they found consumers holding, on average, three open credit cards.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

When registering for school, signing up for sports, or even at the doctor’s office, parents now need to take extra care when handing over their kids’ birth certificates or social security number.

A pre-approved credit card in your toddler’s name might seem like a funny mistake, but it is a huge red flag that their identity may have been stolen.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

The next time you go to pump gas you may be paying more than the meter reads. The fee is called a pre-authorization hold and is charged by your bank.

When you pay with your card at the pump, you expect to see that amount show up on your bank statement, but imagine the surprise when your statement reads $100 more than you pumped.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Take a close look at your credit card bill. Now that the recently passed CARD Act requires banks to give you more notice about raising your rates, they are finding new ways to make money.

One such way is raising fees, which are largely left unregulated by the new regulations. Here are some statistics:

• Annual fees are up by 18 percent.
• Cash advance and balance transfer fees are up by 33 percent.
• Foreign transaction fees are up by 50 percent

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

You get your credit card bill every month and you go over it. If everything looks kosher, you pay it. But what if there is a really small charge on your account, maybe just a few cents? You look at it, you can’t verify it, what are you going to do? Well, if you are like most Americans, you probably are just going to pay it.

That is exactly how criminals recently ripped off $10 million dollars from American credit cards. Yours could have been one of them.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Go into your wallet and pick a card, any card. Chances are that you can get hit with hidden fees you didn’t even know about. Some credit card companies are using the new consumer protection rules, introduced with the CARD Act, as an excuse to find ways to make you pay more.

WalletPop.com editor Beth Pinsker Gladstone on how to protect yourself from hidden credit card costs.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

What do you do to protect your credit when your fiance has $150,000 in credit card debt and marrying him may well cause you to share his problem? That is exactly the pickle a CreditCards.com’s reader has found herself in and she is asking Sally Herigstad, the financial website’s credit expert, for advice.

“Don’t let old baggage from your fiance’s ex keep you from becoming happily married,” is Herigstad’s response. “If you’re careful, your husband’s old credit history and debt shouldn’t hurt your credit at all.” She does warn, however, of several potential consequences:

• Buying a home. Buying a home together will require both incomes to qualify and your spouse’s poor credit score could lead to rejection or a higher interest rate.
• Paying down the debt. If paying down your spouse’s debt makes it harder for you as a couple to keep up with all other bills, your credit will suffer.
• Bad financial habits. If, as it seems likely, your fiance’s credit management skills are not his strongest point, that can eventually affect you, too.
• Creditors. Legally you shouldn’t be liable for any debt your future husband has accumulated prior to the marriage, creditors can still try to make you pay.

(Via CreditCards.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Credit cards can really get you into trouble. But they can also be a huge help. For example, there’s protection in plastic when you make big purchases, like a TV. Because if it’s damaged or defective, you can withhold payment while you and your credit card company work with the vendor to resolve the issue.

Another thing some credit cards offer that no debit card does? Extended Warranties. So if you’ve got a card that offers it, take advantage, especially on expensive stuff.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A rash of crimes targeting your debit and credit cards when you pay at the gas pump and other places where you swipe your card. Thieves have found a way to steal your information and clean out your account.

How to protect yourself? Check your debit and credit card activity every day. If you notice anything suspicious like a $1 charge, report it! Also take a look at the pump when you gas up. if the gas pump cover looks like it was tampered with, don’t use it. And try to use a pump that’s clearly visible from the street or station attendant.

(Via KKTV.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Credit card companies lost $6.89 billion to fraud in 2009 and are now as eager as ever to beef up their fraud prevention capabilities and catch potentially suspicious transactions before it is too late, even if that means inconveniencing completely legitimate cardholders in the process, reports CreditCards.com’s Melody Warnick.

How is that affecting you? Well, Warnick has identified seven reasons why your credit card may not be accepted the next time you try to use it:

• Shopping at a place for a first time. “I’ve had calls from my card company saying, ‘We’ve detected unusual activity.’ It wasn’t unusual, but it was a different pharmacy than the one I normally went to,” says Denise Richardson, a certified identity theft risk management specialist.
• Making purchases in a quick succession. Checking out of three stores in an hour can be a reason your card company to block a transaction by the time you get to the third one.
• Making a small-amount purchase and then a much bigger one. A criminal may first use a stolen card to buy something small, just to check whether the transaction will be approved, before going for a bigger purchase.
• Shopping away from your home area. “If my billing address is Massachusetts and I’m buying a washer and dryer in Idaho, that’s an anomaly, because why would I buy a washer and dryer in Idaho if I live in Massachusetts?” explains Robert Siciliano, a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert.
• Charging travel expenses. As with the the previous item, using your card on the road can trigger a block.
• Using your card in different geographic areas in the same day. Even purchases from online merchants located in different parts of the world can trigger a block.
• Multiple purchases at the same merchant. If you have just used your card at a merchant and attempt a second one shortly afterward, the second charge can be blocked.

(Via CreditCards.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

The lower a consumer’s credit score, the more likely he or she is to use a debit card for payment, rather than a credit card, a new study found.

According to the study, published by credit card giant MasterCard and citing data from Lightspeed Research, an online market research firm, consumers with an average credit score of 650 or below, what the industry refers to as “subprime,” are far more likely to use debit cards for their purchases than credit cards. Subprime consumers used debit cards on average 28 times per month, while using credit cards for only 27 percent of their card purchases, the study reports.

Conversely, consumers with credit scores above 720 – the “superprime” borrowers – prefer credit to debit cards, according to the study. Superprime consumers use their debit cards on average 11 times per month for 28 percent of their card purchases, spending only $324 on them.

Stuck in the middle are the “prime” borrowers – those with credit scores in the range 650 – 720. They use their debit cards an average of 20 times per month, spending just over $600 on them.

The inverse relationship between consumers’ credit scores and card preference is not all that surprising when we consider that credit cards are simply not easily available to consumers with lower scores. Moreover, credit card terms tend to worsen, as credit scores drop. Additionally, the most attractive rewards programs are reserved to consumers with the highest credit scores, providing another incentive to using credit cards.

(Via Credit.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The average national interest rate on credit cards with fixed interest rates remained unchanged at 13.74 percent for the sixth consecutive week, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted Aug. 5, 2010.

The average interest rate on credit cards with variable rates this week was also unchanged at 14.31 percent after falling by 0.08 percent a week ago, according to the survey.

In other news, the Federal Trade Commission published last week new rules regulating the way “debt relief” firms market their services over the telephone. Once the rules take effect in October, debt relief companies will no longer be allowed to charge a fee before services are provided. Additionally, new disclosure rules and other restrictions will take effect in November.

Bankrate.com is a personal finance website that allows consumers to compare rates on mortgages, home equity loans, credit cards, automobile loans, checking and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and online banking and ATM fees.

(Via Bankrate.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A new study by CreditCards.com found that several new fees could raise your credit card bill significantly.

Hidden fees are popping up on credit card statements, surprising consumers and credit counseling experts. Some credit card companies now charge you a paper statement fee. Bank of America, for example, charges $9 a month. Another fee is the payment protection fee. Some issuers are charging $0.80 – $1 per $100 spent to provide job loss protection. Among the other fees are: inactivity fees andad foreign transaction fees.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is giving a warning about expensive credit cards tied to doctors and veterinarians offices. Cuomo’s office is investigating CareCredit, a credit card issued by GE Money. CareCredit is offered by 10 health care providers who have been subpoenaed, along with CareCredit, in the investigation for predatory lending practices.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Credit card skimming is the process of illegally copying, or “skimming,” of the account information stored in the magnetic stripe of a credit or debit card. The skimmed information is then used to make copies of the card to be used in fraudulent transactions or the information itself may be sold to criminals.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The average U.S. credit card interest fell rose slightly this week, after rising by a couple of basis points last week, according to the latest CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report, released Wednesday.

The average interest rates on new credit card offers for this week was estimated at 14.37 percent, down 0.07 percent from last week, but 0.25 percent higher than six months ago, when it stood at 14.12 percent. The highest average recorded by CreditCards.com was 14.70 percent, reached in April 2010.

The slight dip in this week’s average was caused by the reintroduction of Walmart’s Discover card, issued by G.E. Money. It replaced in CreditCards.com’s database the Walmart’s fixed-rate credit card, which had a 22.9 percent APR. The Discover card, on the other hand, is offered with a variable rate in the range of of 13.9 to 22.9 percent. As CreditCards.com’s algorithm uses only the lower end of the APR range, the average went down.

CreditCards.com has estimated that, if a consumer borrowed $5,000 on a credit card today and made regular monthly payments of $150, at today’s average interest rate the consumer would have to pay $6,420 to pay off the debt – $186 more than what would have been required on Jan. 1, 2010.

(Via CreditCards.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Jim Stickley of TraceSecurity demonstrates how thieves can skim credit cards and use that information to make purchases. Skimming is the secretly copying of your credit card account information.

To protect yourself, use credit cards, rather than debit cards in restaurants or any other places where card payments are processed out of your sight.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched an investigation of CareCredit, a credit card issued by GE Money. CareCredit is offered by 10 health care providers, who have also been subpoenaed in the investigation for predatory lending practices.

Seniors and other vulnerable patients were being pressured into using GE Money’s CareCredit credit card through “fast-talking sales pitches and deceit,” the AG office charges.

“People are being tricked by misleading offers that have them paying for services they never received as well as interest charges they never knew about, and they are ignored and given the runaround when they try to get their money back,” Cuomo said in a statement.

CareCredit credit cards were offered to consumers as a way to cover out-of-pocket costs. The cards had promotional zero-percent interest rates, however they often carried retroactive interest of over 25 percent if the balance was not paid in full during a promotional period, according to the AG office. GE Money paid health care providers bonuses depending on how much patients were charged.

(Via ABCNews.go.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

So you have a credit card with a high interest rate and a substantial outstanding balance. You make your monthly payments on time but you are just not able to bring down the balance, as the interest eats up most of what you are paying. So what do you do? That is exactly the question a CreditCards.com’s reader paying interest at the rate of 24.5 percent poses to Erica Sandberg, the financial website’s personal finance expert.

A balance transfer with a low promotional interest rate (preferably at zero percent) is one obvious option, but only if you qualify. And, as Sandberg points out, if your credit card’s interest rate is as high as this reader’s, chances are that you will not qualify for a good promotional rate. If that is the case, Sandberg offers a three-step plan to help you bring your debt down:

1. Sell some assets and reduce your balance. You probably have a few things that you can sell on eBay or through a yard sale and use the proceeds to pay down your debt.
2. Pay at least twice the minimum payment due. Reduce spending where you can or work more to increase your income. Or do both.
3. Contact your credit card company. Tell them that you are working on repaying the balance in full as soon as possible and request an interest rate reduction. They may or may not do it, but it is worth the try.

(Via CreditCards.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are teaming up to compete with credit card companies by allowing customers to pay for products with their smartphones.

The mobile carriers plan to use Discover, the fourth-biggest credit card processing network, and British bank Barclays to process the transactions.

The service will first be tested in Atlanta and three other U.S. cities.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Credit card skimmers are used to steal private financial information that crooks use to get rich, most often at ATMs, gas stations or other self-service terminals.

The Department of Weights and Measures is working to detect and prevent thieves from stealing your identity. Skimmers can be as small as two inches and slide right inside the gas pump.

(Via MyFoxPhoenix.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

MasterCard’s profit jumped by almost a third in the second quarter, the second-biggest credit card payment network reported in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Although it beat most analysts’ expectations, MasterCard’s profit lagged that of bigger rival Visa’s 38 percent increase, reported earlier this week.

MasterCard’s income was $458 million, or $3.49 per share, up from $349 million, or $2.67 per share, a year ago. The number of transactions processed by the company remained virtually unchanged at 5.6 billion, however cross-border transactions grew by 15.2 percent.

Internationally, the Purchase, N.Y.-based payments processor’s volume grew by 8 percent, while in the U.S. the growth was less than 1 percent. Worldwide, there were more than 1.6 billion MasterCard and Maestro credit and debit cards in use.

MasterCard’s revenue was $1.37 billion, up 7 percent from $1.28 billion a year ago. The company said the increase was due to the higher cross-border volumes, higher gross dollar volume of processed transactions and the impact of pricing changes of approximately 4 percentage points.

Operating expenses fell by 10 percent to $648 million, as a result of layoffs in 2009.

(Via MarketWatch.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The next time you check into a hotel, someone may be checking you out. Credit card thieves can turn your stay into a financial nightmare. Here’s how the thieves operate and what you can do to protect yourself.

When you check into a hotel, chances are you’ll be asked to provide a credit card. It’s information is then entered into the computer system, making it convenient for you to charge at the restaurant, bar and for other services during your stay. The problem is that it also puts you at tremendous risk of credit card theft. Here’s how the thieves operate and what you can do to protect yourself.

(Via ABCLocal.go.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Six months after the bulk of the CARD Act took effect, consumers are benefiting from the new protections, without suffering from the legislation’s predicted drawbacks, writes AP’s Eileen Connelly. The new regulations made it harder for credit card companies to increase interest rates and charge overdraft fees, while requiring them to apply payments exceeding the minimum due to the balances accruing the highest interest charges and to provide consumers with more information about the terms of their accounts.

To make up for lost revenues, resulting from compliance with the new regulations, issuers were widely expected to reintroduce annual fees, cut back on rewards programs and limit zero-percent promotional interest offers.

It now appears that these fears have been unfounded. New credit card offers featuring annual fees have gone down from 33 percent a year ago to 28 percent, according to Mintel Comperemedia, a consultancy tracking direct mail and print advertising in the United States and Canada. Moreover, 80 percent of new card offers come with a rewards program. Additionally, 56 percent of card offers now come with some kind of a promotional interest rate, up from 37 percent a year ago.

“I think some of the doom and gloom speculation from a year ago was probably exaggerated,” concludes Andrew Davidson, Mintel senior vice president.

(Via Google.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Your cell phone bill and credit card bill may soon be one and the same. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are said to be planning a venture to replace credit cards with smart phones, taking aim at Visa and MasterCard.

Bloomberg News has reported that they will test the technology at stores in Atlanta and three other cities. It would work like Visa’s contactless technology, allowing customers to pay by simply waving their phones.

(Via ABCNews.go.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A Queens flight attendant puts a $10,000 down payment at a used car dealership only to see the salesman take off with her money. It took four months and a call from a local TV station for the dealership to refund the deposit. The bigger lesson here: always try to use a credit card when making a down payment. Credit card payments leave a paper trail, so you can dispute incorrect charges.

(Via ABCLocal.go.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Virgin Group’s Richard Branson goes to Australia to launch two new Virgin Credit Cards – the Virgin Flyer Credit Card and the Virgin No Annual Fee Credit Card, and a new high interest online savings account – the Virgin Saver. How can he do it? “We don’t have to make hundreds of millions of dollars,” explains Sir Richard.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Visa, the world’s biggest credit card payment network, launched on Monday a shopping comparison website – Rightcliq.visa.com – which also features a social component. In addition to enabling consumers to compare products from different internet merchants, Rightcliq will let users collect, organize and share images of products they are interested in and seek advice from friends.

Rightcliq is a plug-in that is placed within a user’s browser, after he or she creates an account. It enables consumers to store personal information and credit card details to be used later in checkout forms.

Rightcliq gives users a “Wishspace,” where they can place items they want to compare or take notes of or monitor the shipping status of already placed orders, as well as to review shopping history.

The tool’s social component allows users to get friends involved in their purchasing decisions via email or Facebook. Once a decision is made, users can make a purchase directly from their Wishspace.

(Via Rightcliq.Visa.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Wells Fargo will be eliminating penalty interest rates on its credit cards, according to a report by the Associated Press. Penalty rates are imposed when customers are 60 days or more late on their payments. Wells Fargo will notify its cardholders in their August statements.

Previously, the San Francisco-based bank charged customers who were 60 days past due on payments a penalty rate of 27 percent. While delinquent payments will no longer trigger increased interest rates, chronically late customers may see their credit limits slashed or their accounts may be closed altogether, following a 45-day notification, as required by the recently passed CARD Act.

However, the penalty-rate elimination will only apply to accounts that became delinquent on or after July 6. All accounts that triggered the penalty rate increase before that date will continue to incur the higher interest charges.

Moreover, despite the elimination of penalty interest rates, penalty fees will still be assessed. Wells Fargo will charge the lesser amount of $25 or the minimum payment due as a late fee. Repeated offenders, who are late on a payment within six months of the first one, will be charged the lesser amount of $35 or the minimum payment due as a late fee.

(Via AmericanBankingNews.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

AT&T and Verizon, the U.S. biggest mobile carriers, are teaming up with Discover Financial and Barclays Bank to enable consumers to use their phones to make credit and debit card payments and take on industry giants Visa and MasterCard, according to a report by Business Week.

The partners, which also includes Deutsche Telekom AG unit T-Mobile USA, will be offering a contactless service that allows users to pay by waving their phones by a specially equipped device at a store’s checkout. Similar services are already available in Japan, Turkey and the U.K.

The venture will be using Discover’s payment network to process the payments, while Barclays will be managing the accounts. Discover is currently the fourth-biggest U.S. payment network, behind Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

These developments are coming in the wake of Congress passing a law requiring the Federal Reserve to ensure that fees Visa and MasterCard issuers charge merchants for accepting card payments, are “reasonable and proportional” (read lower). Now the U.S. Department of Justice is considering suing Visa for banning merchants from charging customers who use credit cards instead of cash.

The pressure is clearly being felt. “If we change our rules in these areas, this could cause a material, adverse effect on our business,” Visa said today in a regulatory filing.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

BBB’s Julie Wheeler, President of Better Business Bureau of Western Virginia, puts debt consolidation under the microscope. Debt consolidation scammers typically charge big upfront fees and offer little relief for families suffering from overwhelming debt.

Here is what Wheeler warns you should watch out for:

• High upfront fees. Money spent paying upfront fees may be better used paying down your debt.
• Promises that are too good to be true. If a company says they will cut your debt in half before they have even looked at your situation, this should raise a red flag.
• Claims that it’s a fast, easy and painless process. Reducing debt is typically a long process and can take years.

(Via WDBJ7.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Charge-offs among prime-rated U.S. credit card borrowers declined in June, compared to the same period last year, for the first time January 2007, according to a report released by Fitch Ratings, a New York City-based credit rating agency. Charge-offs are loans lenders do not expect to collect and write off their books as losses, typically 180 days after the last payment on the account.

Fitch’s prime credit card charge-off index also fell on a month-to-month basis – to 10.57 percent from 11.13 percent in May. Most of the largest credit card companies, including Bank of America, Chase, Capital One and Discover, reported lower charge-off levels in June.

The consumers’ monthly payment rate (MPR), measuring the proportion of the outstanding balance paid by cardholders at the end of each monthly cycle, also improved. The MPR rose to 19.61 percent, up 0.59 percent from May and 14 percent from a year ago, reaching its highest level in 29 months.

Late payment levels are also improving, according to Fitch, falling below 4 percent for the for the first time in 18 months. Late-stage delinquencies, measuring payments that are 60 days late or more, fell 0.15 percent to 3.86 percent, the sixth monthly decrease in a row. The early-stage delinquency rate, measuring payments that are late between 30 – 59 days, fell 0.14 percent to 5.13 percent, its fourth consecutive monthly decline.

(Via FitchRatings.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Find out what happens after you swipe your credit card with this animation showing the complex, multi-party operation that is credit card processing. It may surprise you to learn just how many links there are in the payment processing chain.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

John Ulzheimer of Credit.com explains what ‘rapid rescoring’ is and why you should not agree for it to be done for you. It works like this: mortgage lenders modify information on a consumer’s credit report in 2 – 3 days and then reorder his or her credit report and get a new, hopefully higher, credit score. The problem is that its effect is only minimal and temporary on the consumer’s credit score and it misleads the lender. Moreover, there is a fee for the service.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

All credit card companies allow you to dispute a charge but what happens when a company adds an unexpected charge to your account and more specifically when it places an authorization hold?

Authorization holds are typically associated with bookings of hotel rooms and rental cards and can be viewed as an insurance policy for the credit card company against unexpected additional charges, usually for damages.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

A new study by the Boston Federal Reserve shows that the more people are using their credit cards, the more it ends up costing other shoppers to buy every day goods. This is having a big impact on both rich and poor households.

(Via MyFoxPhilly.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

An identity thief steals a victim’s identity, then gets caught on camera buying a $4,095 Gucci watch, a $1,345 Gucci watch and $270 Prada sunglasses.

Watch to learn what you can do to protect your sensitive personal information from criminals.

(Via ABCActionNews.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Visa Inc., the world’s biggest credit card network, reported on Wednesday a decline in its third-quarter net income, yet it exceeded most Wall Street estimates for a 10th straight quarter as consumer card spending continued its upward trend.

Net income for the three months ended June 30 was $716 million, or 97 cents per Class A common share, compared with $729 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier, the company said. Analysts expected Visa to make 93 cents a share on average.

Visa’s net operating revenue was $2 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 23 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the company.

The San Francisco-based company said it processed 11.7 billion transactions in the three months ended June 30, up 14 percent from last year.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

A legislation that would regulate internet gambling was approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, overturning an existing law that bans online gambling. Consumers will be allowed to use debit and prepaid cards to make online bets, but not credit cards.

The ban on credit card use is intended to keep consumers from overspending, according to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the committee’s chairman. “We’re saying you cannot make these bets with a credit card. You can do it with a debit card or prepaid arrangements,” Frank said. “I think that’s a reasonable way to ensure that people won’t get carried away with this,” he added.

Under the existing law, credit card companies were responsible for determining whether a credit card transaction was with an online gambling website. If confirmed as such, they were required to reject it. The industry was opposed to this requirement, arguing that complying with it amounted to performing police functions.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

The average national interest rate on credit cards with fixed interest rates remained unchanged at 13.74 percent for the fifth consecutive week, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted July 28, 2010.

The average interest rates on credit cards with variable rates this week fell 0.08 percent to 14.31 percent, according to the survey. The decrease was caused by the replacement in Bankrate.com’s database of GE Money Bank by PNC Bank.

In other news, the newly passed financial reform legislation gives consumers who have been penalized due to their credit rating the right to automatically receive a free credit score disclosure. Consumer access to credit score could be further enhanced when the overlapping risk-based pricing rules go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011.

Bankrate.com is a personal finance website that allows consumers to compare rates on mortgages, home equity loans, credit cards, automobile loans, checking and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and online banking and ATM fees.

(Via Bankrate.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The average U.S. credit card interest rates rose slightly this week, after falling by a single basis point last week, according to the latest CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report, released Wednesday.

The average interest rates on new credit card offers for this week was estimated at 14.44 percent, up 0.02 percent from last week, but 0.73 percent higher than six months ago, when it stood at 13.71 percent. The highest average recorded by CreditCards.com was 14.70 percent, reached in April 2010.

The slight increase in this week’s average was caused by a change in one of Chase’s offers. Chase’s Slate card is now offering APRs between 13.24 percent and 22.24 percent, compared with an earlier range between 11.24 percent and 22.24 percent. CreditCards.com’s average is calculated using only the lower end of any APR ranges, so Chase’s adjustment caused it to move higher.

CreditCards.com has estimated that, if a consumer borrowed $5,000 on a credit card today and made regular monthly payments of $150, at today’s average interest rate the consumer would have to pay $6,430 to pay off the debt – $100 more than what would have been required six months earlier.

(Via CreditCards.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Some credit card companies are threatening annual fees and higher interest rates and that has many people canceling their cards. But before you make the call, understand you could be doing more damage to your credit score and wallet.

(Via ABC15.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Customers paying with cash are in effect subsidizing credit card users, is what The Economist takes out of the recent report from the Boston Federal Reserve, which stated that interchange fees and credit card reward programs “generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash).”

The Economist’s analysis goes like this: credit card companies charge merchants 1% – 2% of the transaction amount when customers pay with cards; merchants raise prices to compensate for the extra cost, but they don’t charge less customers who pay with cash, because this is against the rules established by the credit card companies. So the upshot is that credit card users get subsidized by cash payers. Moreover, because card users tend to be richer, the subsidy represents a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.

The Boston Fed’s report provides some numbers to back up this claim:

On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year.

(Via Economist.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

High interest rates and fees may have you considering closing those credit card accounts, but before you do, be warned there could be some hassle involved.

(Via KFOR.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

A new service, called blinging, allows you to pay without cash, debit or credit cards. Blinging works by placing a small microchip sticker called a Bling Tag on the back of the cell phone. You pay your bill by tapping your phone against the hand held Blinger in the restaurant. The machine sends a signal to your bank and money is transferred from your checking account to the business.

(Via NewsChannel5.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

FICO score components.

FICO, the provider of the most widely used credit score algorithm in the U.S., announced today that “more than 2,500 banks and financial institutions” are now using the FICO 8 Score, the company’s new score model. FICO 8 was first introduced in 2009 and the company claims it improves credit risk prediction by up to 15 percent over earlier models.

The main difference in FICO 8’s algorithm over previous versions is that it does not penalize consumers as harshly for one-time mishaps. However, “if that happens quite often they actually get penalized more than in the prior versions,” cautions Robert Duque-Ribeiro, vice president and general manager of scores at FICO.

FICO 8’s key differences include:

• Leniency toward rare missed payments. Moreover, collection accounts and public record items with an original balance of less than $100 are ignored.
• Higher sensitivity to credit usage. The amount of credit used, as a proportion of the total available credit, known as credit utilization, plays a bigger role in the new algorithm than in previous generations.
• Minimized importance of authorized-user accounts. FICO 8 treats less favorably accounts on which a consumer is only an authorized user, rather than a primary cardholder. The goal is to make sure that consumers “don’t get the benefits of lining up on the back of a consumer’s good credit,” says Duque-Ribeiro.

(Via Bankrate.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

A telemarketing company is accused of credit card fraud for offering consumers with poor credit history a secured credit card, but providing them with a catalog that was the only place the new card could be used. Criminal defense attorney Roger Futerman comments on the case.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Is the bulge of your waist due to the bulge in your wallet? Consumers who pay with cards at restaurants spend on average 30 percent more than those who pay with cash, according to a study by Visa of 100,000 restaurant transactions.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Last year President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act. The law was meant to protect consumers from some of the worst practices in the credit card industry. Most provisions of this law have been phased in over the past year and the last provisions go into effect next month. Jim Hedemark, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition, talks about the new law’s effect on college students and other changes.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

The City of San Francisco is rolling out today its first credit- and debit-card-accepting parking meters. About 200 of the high-tech meters are part of a new program, called SF Park. Their number is projected to grow to 5,100 in three months, or about 20 percent of the metered parking spots.

The City touts the new meters’ convenience of use and claims they will help alleviate traffic, although the reason is not immediately apparent. “Circling for parking accounts for 30 percent of The City’s traffic congestion, and this will help reduce that,” said Paul Rose, spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which governs most of The City’s meters.

One thing is clear, however. With parking cost at a metered space of anywhere from $2 to $4 an hour in San Francisco, using a card is much easier than carrying a pocketful of quarters. “People will avoid so many tickets if they can pay with a credit card,” says Robby Pixton, who lives in Hayes Valley. “How can they charge up to $4 an hour and expect people to pay with change?”

(Via SFExaminer.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

More and more Americans say their debit or credit cards are being compromised, with hundreds even thousands of dollars wiped out of their accounts. Police say it is a growing crime and another reason you should treat cards just like cash.

(Via KLTV.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Merchant fees and credit card rewards programs in effect transfer wealth from the poor to the rich, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Boston study released Monday. Merchant fees are the fees issuers charge merchants every time they accept a credit or a debit card for payment.

Here is what Boston’s Fed concluded:

Merchant fees and reward programs generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash”) users because merchants generally do not set differential prices for card users to recoup the costs of fees and rewards. On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year. We build and calibrate a model of consumer payment choice to compute the effects of merchant fees and card rewards on consumer welfare. Reducing merchant fees and card rewards would likely increase consumer welfare.

(Via Bos.FRB.org)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

Farnoosh Torabi, Credit.com’s Money Expert, explains how big banks are finding new ways to get more of your money. She also shares tips on why it’s important to use your cards and keep them active, what you should do when a bank raises your annual fee on a credit card, why it’s not a good idea to close your cards and more.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

U.S. credit card companies losses decreased for the third month in a row in June, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service. Additionally, the losses decreased on a year-over-year basis for the first time since the end of 2006, the data revealed.

June’s charge-off rate was at 10.3 percent, down from 10.7 percent in May and 10.8 percent a year earlier. Charge-offs are loans lenders do not expect to be repaid. Issuers typically write off such loans as losses 180 days after the latest payment on the account.

The rate of credit card delinquencies also went down in June. Measuring the proportion of payments late by 30 days or more, the delinquency rate is a good indicator for future losses. In June, the 30-day delinquency rate stood at 5.08 percent, the lowest monthly rate since November 2008.

Although the early-stage delinquency – measuring payments late between 30 – 59 days – was virtually flat in June, which probably means that it would rise in the fall, “overall, compared to a year ago, delinquency trends are clearly improving across the industry and are consistent with our expectation for lower charge-off rates in the months ahead,” says analyst Jeffrey Hibbs.

(Via WSJ.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

As new regulations are making it more difficult to make money the old way, credit card companies are trying out new fees on customers to see how much they will tolerate, says Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist for The New York Times, in an interview on NPR. Some of these fees include a card inactivity fee, an annual fee, or maybe a balance transfer fee.

So what happens, for example, if you don’t use your card at all? Well, banks view this as a potential risk, because “if you have a $10,000 credit line you’re not using any of it, well, if things go bad in your life – say if you lose your job – you may run that credit card up to that $10,000 limit and then potentially declare bankruptcy.” That’s where the inactivity fee comes in, a form of protection. Not to mention that banks want their cards to be used anyway, because that’s how they make money.

It seems like there is not much a cardholder can do to avoid such fees, unless he or she has a good credit score, which would allow them to simply open up an account with better terms. “If you are a credit card customer with good credit, you have all sorts of leverage, because you can turn around and walk anytime you want to,” says Lieber. Moreover, you can “call up and remind the card company that you do have the ability to walk away, because sometimes they’ll waive the fee for a year or more. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask,” he adds.

(Via NPR.org)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

If you are to have any chance of getting a bank loan for your small business or a high credit card line, you would need an excellent credit score in today’s economy, writes small business owner Rhonda Abrams. While not a guarantee, a high credit score is a prerequisite.

But what can you do if your score is less than perfect? After all, it only takes one late payment to damage it. Abrams offers three tips:

• Get help. If you can’t take good care of your bills, you should probably outsource them. “One of the big lessons I learned from my first go-round as a freelancer was that taking care of my finances was not one of my strong points – keeping track of invoicing, payments and taxes,” says one of Abrams’s contractors. “Quarterly taxes sneak up on you fast. I’d be all messed up,” she adds. What did she do? “I hired a small-business accounting firm. They make sure my invoices get out, I receive payments, that tax money comes out, and I pay my quarterly taxes. It’s a relief for me not to deal with that stuff, and I can stay focused on client projects.”
• Check your credit score. Small business owners are typically required to provide a personal guarantee for business loans, so you need to pay attention to your personal credit report. If you notice any mistakes there, contact the credit bureaus and take the necessary steps to correct them.
• Use different types of credit. You should rely on more than your credit cards, which can be a very expensive type of credit, if you don’t pay in full each month. Alternatives that may be available to you include lines of credit, term loans, vendor financing and SBA loans.

(Via USAToday.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

The founders of a new start-up, called Plastic Jungle, estimate that American families have a $300-worth of unused gift cards lying around and think they have found a solution for what to do with them. CEO Gary Briggs and President Bruce Bower have attracted $13.4 million in funding to help them build a business of acquiring unwanted cards at a fraction of face value and then marking them up for resale.

The idea behind the business model is fairly simple: that $70 in cash is worth more than $100 that can only be spent on things you don’t actually want. Plastic Jungle buys unwanted gift cards for a portion of their nominal value and then offers them to people who might find them useful, at a mark-up, but still below the nominal value of the cards.

The main drawback of the service seems to come from the necessity to physically handle the cards, rather than just process the information, causing hassle and delays to the transactions. Yet, appears that business is going well. Plastic Jungle has done as much business in the first four months of 2010 as it had done in the entire 2009, according to Briggs who expects revenues this year to be eight times greater than last year’s.

(Via BizJournals.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

President Obama signing the financial regulation overhaul bill affects the way you can use plastic. The new law lifts the ban on purchase minimums for private businesses. Stores can now require at least a $10 sale when credit cards are used.

(Via Fox6Now.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

One in four people now have a credit score of 599 or less, according to FICO, the provider of the most widely used credit score in the U.S. Such score prevents most consumers get any kind of credit, or get it at a high interest rate.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Should credit card companies hike interest rates on cardholders who fall behind on payments? Hear two opposing views on the subject.

( Via MSNBC.msn.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).

American Express tripled its income in the second quarter, the biggest U.S. credit card issuer by volume reported in a regulatory filing Thursday. AmEx said its second-quarter net income was $1.02 billion, or 84 cents a share, up from $337 million, or 9 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Cardholders increased spending by 16 percent in the quarter, to $175.3 billion. The average spending was $3,288 per account, up 21 percent from a year ago. AmEx set aside $652 million for future loan losses, down 59 percent from the $1.6 billion loss provision a year ago.

American Express had the lowest delinquency rate among the six biggest U.S. credit card issuers in June. Payments late by 30 days or more fell to 2.7 percent of outstanding balances.

The issuer’s charge-offs – loans it does not expect to be repaid – fell to 5.7 percent in June to their lowest level since the economic crisis began. Just a year ago AmEx’s charge-off rate stood at 10 percent. Charge-offs are typically written off as a loos at 180 days after the latest payment on the account.

Unlike Visa and MasterCard issuers, American Express will not be affected from the legislation regulating interchange fees for debit card transactions, because it doesn’t issue debit cards or process debit transactions.

(Via Google.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

Capital One reported its net income in the second quarter was $608 million, or $1.33 per share, versus a net loss of $277 million, or $0.66 per share, a year ago. The bank’s quarterly revenue was $3.9 billion, up 25 percent from the $3.12 billion a year ago, but down 9 percent from the previous quarter.

Capital One’s net U.S. charge-offs – loans the lender does not expect to be repaid – fell to 9.28 percent on an annualized basis in June, down from 9.48 in May. Payments delinquent by 30 days or more accounted for 4.79 percent of total balances, according to the bank’s regulatory filing.

The bank’s net interest income was $3.1 billion, up from $2.95 billion in the same period a year ago. However, it was down from $3.23 billion in the first quarter of the year.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
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The CARD Act of 2009 has successfully put an end to most of the “unfair” or “deceptive” practices it was enacted to eliminate, according to a report released Thursday by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Credit Cards Project. Not all of the developments were encouraging, however.

“Most of the news is good, but we are seeing the rise of new harmful behavior,” said Shelley Hearne, managing director of the Pew Health Group.

Such “harmful behavior” includes increasing fees for cash advances and balance transfers from a median of 3 percent in July 2009 to 4 percent as of March of this year, according to the report. Credit union also raised cash advance fees – to 2.5 percent from 2 percent.

Penalty fees, which are not subject to CARD Act rules, have also risen, the study found, although not as steeply as cash advance and balance transfer fees. 94 percent of bank cards and 46 percent of credit union cards now include terms for penalty rates. The median penalty rate rose to 29.99 percent in March from 28.99 percent in July 2009. Some issuers, however, did not disclose the size of their cards’ penalty interest rates.

“Federal regulators should pay attention to this problematic new trend,” said Nick Bourke, a Pew director and co-author of the report. “When issuers withhold vital pricing information, it leaves cardholders in the dark and puts their financial security at risk, which is why federal regulations have long required issuers to disclose their rates and fees up front.”

(Via Money.CNN.com)

Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost

Learn how to accept credit and debit cards at the lowest processing costs. The Payment Card Acceptance kit contains a video and an e-book:

• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).
• E-Book – Payment Card Acceptance Guide (19 pages).

John Ulzheimer, of Credit.com discusses FICO’s recent report that 35 percent of consumers now have credit scores (650 or less) and how that fact may deliver a huge blow to an economic recovery.

(Via YouTube.com)

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and fraud

Learn how to minimize chargebacks and reduce your processing costs. The Chargeback Management kit contains a video and an e-book:

• E-Book – Chargeback Manual (40 pages).
• Video – Card Acceptance Best Practices for Lowest Processing Costs (18 min).