Southeastern Merchant Systems

Businesses are noticing the increase in small ticket credit card transactions.

Have you noticed that you don’t have to sign your credit card receipt when you go to Starbucks for that cup of coffee?  You will start seeing it happen at more places since Visa has announced that it is expanding the No Signature Required Program.  Lower transaction fees and faster checkout have been the reward for fast food restaurants, movie theaters, taxi cabs and other select merchant categories that have low average credit card transactions. (more…)

Many merchants provide services on the go and look to the ability to process credit cards away from the office. With the advantages of wireless credit card processing there does come the expense as well, right? It all depends on how you look at it.

Some businesses can make the move to accept credit cards with a wireless merchant account and see enough in savings to pay for the service and keep some of their hard earned money in the bank. We can look at a few factors to help you weigh the cost and benefits. (more…)

Should you void or refund that transaction?

Often a retailer will have to perform a return and refund a customers credit or debit card.   This brings up the question as to which way is best to return the funds to the cardholder.  Should you void or refund the transaction?

The general rule is that you want to void the transaction since voiding stops the transaction from fully processing.  If you process a refund you will pay the full discount fees (percentage) since you are performing the whole transaction.  It seems quite simple but there are limitations to how you can void a transaction. (more…)

PCI does not have to be so scary

We have been receiving numerous calls about PCI DSS Compliance. It seems confusing and frustrating so we will try to give you a simple explanation.

PCI is the basic practices that you hope everyone that accepts credit cards uses. By becoming PCI Compliant you are not only protecting your customers private information but you are helping to reduce fraud and keeping merchant rates low for all.

All merchants that accept major credit cards must be compliant.

Whether you use a credit card machine or a wireless terminal, all merchants are required to be PCI Compliant. Merchants at smaller transaction levels are able to do a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). There are several SAQ’s depending on the way a merchant processes credit card transactions.
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