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CardReader Plus FAQ's

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List of FAQs
	What is Card Reader Plus?
	What is Transaction Central?
	Is there an extra charge for this service?
	Who can use this service?
	What is a Magnetic Card Reader, and why would I want to use one?
	What is the Swiped Rate?
	What is your Pre-Approved Merchant Account?
	Will I be approved?
	What about High Risk Businesses?
	Can I sign up without a business checking account?
	Can I sign up without a business name?
	I just opened (or am going to open) a checking account. Can I use my temporary checks?
	What does the $24.95 monthly fee include?
	Is this real, Why do others charge $200 to $500 to set up a Merchant Account?
	I already have a merchant account, can I just use it for Pocket Verifier Professional?
	What credit cards can I accept with this system?
	Now that I have signed up, what happens?
	When do I receive my money?

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What is Card Reader Plus? CardReader Plus is a complete package that includes a magnetic card reader, which plugs into the RS-232 (serial), or USB port of your Windows based PC.  It also includes advanced software that connects your card reader to Transaction Central.   When you use CardReader Plus, you are transmitting special encoded information on the back of the credit card to the credit card company.  This allows us to give you better rates.  The rate for swiped transactions is 1.69%

What is Transaction Central? Transaction Central is our Web-based credit card authorization system.  You can use it to accept credit cards, electronic checks, issue credits and voids, and generate all of your reports.  Since it is a Web-based application, you can use it on as many workstations as you want.  You can also use it on other types of computers, like MAC's, UNIX and Linux machines.  We have complete documentation on the operation of Transaction Central here.

	Is there an extra charge for this service? Absolutely not!  Of course, you need to purchase the CardReader Plus package, but after that, you actually SAVE MONEY every time you use it!.
	Who can use this service? This product is perfect for all businesses, that perform any sales or service where the customer brings their credit card to you.  As long as you physically wipe the card through the reader, you get the better 1.69% rate!!.
	What is a Magnetic Card Reader, and why would I want to use one? A magnetic Card reader is a device that can attach to your computer that actually 'reads' the information off the magnetic stripe on the back of all credit cards.  When you use CardReader PLUS, all of the cardholder information is entered for you, making the transaction much, much faster.  Best of all, when you use a credit card reader, the bank gives you a better discount rate.  This is called the 'swiped' rate.
	What is the Swiped Rate? When you use a card reader, the bank knows that you have the credit card in your hand, have checked the cardholder's identification (you are required to do this), and the cardholder is present to give you a signature (you need to do this too).  This makes for a much safer transaction, for both you and the bank.  In return they offer a much better discount rate on your transaction, 1.69% instead of the standard 2.2%.   You are probably asking why you cannot get this better rate if you enter the data yourself.  The reason is that unless the data encoded on the magnetic stripe is transmitted to the bank at the time of the transaction (information that does not appear on the face of the card), they cannot be absolutely certain that you have the card in hand.

What is your Pre-Approved Merchant Account? Most business owners are pre-approved for their Mobile Merchant Account, provided they have a U.S. based checking account (personal or business), Have no liens, judgments, or collections, and are not in the Terminated Merchant File (TMF or MATCH).

Will I be approved? Accounts are automatically approved for monthly transactions of $2000 per month, with the qualifications stated above..  Your account will go active once we receive your hardcopy application with signatures, voided check from the account we will be depositing into, and evidence of business (business card, permit, tax certificate, web address, or similar). Higher monthly transaction amounts (with no upper limit), are approved commensurate with the applicant's credit history.

What about High Risk Businesses? Visa requires that certain high risk businesses (casino, travel, and others), register their businesses with them.  Visa will require an annual $500 registration fee.  This fee is directly between you (as a merchant), and Visa.  We will handle the paperwork for you, with no additional fee, but we have no control over this requirement.  Some new businesses may be asked to have a small percentage (3%-10%) of their deposits held for a short time (2 to 5 days) on a rotating basis to cover chargebacks unforseen by a new merchant. This is called a reserve account.

Can I sign up without a business checking account? Yes. The processor has agreed to allow MerchantAnywhere.com members to process with a personal bank account and can change the bank account at any time by simply faxing a voided check to MerchantAnywhere.com from the new bank account. There is a small ($15) charge to change your checking account once your account is set up.

Can I sign up without a business name? Yes. Your registered Legal business name, will be your name as it appears on your social security card, but you can have your merchant account set up as "Your Name Enterprises" or "Your Name and Associates".   Whatever name you use as your DBA Name, corporate or otherwise, make sure that your customers know that your DBA name will appear on their credit card billing statements.

I just opened (or am going to open) a checking account. Can I use my temporary checks? NO!  However, when you go to the bank to open your account (and many businesses open an account just for their credit card processing), get a letter from the bank manager, stating the account name, account number, and the bank's transit (ABA or Bank Routing) number on the Bank's letterhead.  You can include that in your application instead of waiting for your imprinted checks.

What does the $24.95 monthly fee include? The $24.95 covers everything except the 2.2% credit card charge and thirty cents ($0.30) per transaction charge. When you sign up for the account, it will include access to Transaction Central in order to give you access to your merchant account reports. There are NO equipment costs, NO application fees, NO set-up fees, NO down payments, NO statement fees, NO monthly minimums, NO leases, NO cancellation fees, and NO time commitment (Other processors typically charge a costly set up fee of about $300.00, a statement fee of $10.00 to $12.00, and a monthly access/gateway fee of about $30.00 dollars. When you add up all the charges, it can be very costly).

Is this real, Why do others charge $200 to $500 to set up a Merchant Account? Traditionally, merchant account providers pay a referral fee those those that refer them.  Many on the Internet, now pay as much as $250 for a referral!  Application and setup fees are used to pay these fees. Pocket Verifier Professional is being sold in thousands of stores nationwide.  We do not pay any referral fees, ever.  With thousands of packages, bringing qualified merchants to us, we were able to pre-negotiate this ZERO ENTRY COST merchant account, with a FLAT RATE!

I already have a merchant account, can I just use it with CardReader Plus? In order to achieve all of the functionality with CardReader Plus, specialized programs and servers have been implemented at our processor.  Without the support of these servers and programs, CardReader Plus and Transaction Central could not offer all the features and functionality that it does.  If you are currently processing with another merchant account, have significant processing volumes, and are getting a better rate than 1.69% swiped and 2.2% keyed, please call our offices.

What credit cards can I accept with this system? Visa and MasterCard are automatically approved. MerchantAnywhere.com will also apply for (at no additional cost), American Express, and Discover merchant accounts, although everyone is not automatically approved. Amex and Discover will set their own rates with you directly, and we have no influence or control over these.  In addition, Discover has recently begun to charge it's new merchants $25 upon acceptance.  This is a direct charge from Discover, and we have no control over this.  Discover has also informed us that they now require businesses to be at least two years old for acceptance.

Now that I have signed up, what happens? We begin processing your application as soon as you enter it online.  Since we are dealing with FDIC Insured banks, banking regulations apply, and some of the final steps cannot occur without your physical application, with pen-and-ink signature.  Your account is generally completed and ready to use within two business days of the receipt of your signatures.

When do I receive my money? In most cases, funds are available in the checking account you specified within two to three business days after your transactions are batched (reconciled). We will automatically process your batch for you every business banking day, so you can't forget!.  This can save you time, and help you get your funds faster.

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