What Merchant Account?
A merchant account is a special
account that allows your business to accept credit cards
as payment in person, over the telephone, by mail order,
or over the Internet. You must have a merchant account
if you want to be able to accept credit cards from your
customers.
What is Merchant
Gateway?
A payment gateway links your web site
to the credit card processing companies and your
merchant account. When your customer enters his or her
credit card number on your web site, the payment gateway
obtains authorization for the charge and later handles
the transfer of funds into your merchant account.
How easy is it to
enroll?
If you meet our liberal approval
guidelines, your application can be approved quickly and
simply. In most cases, we can tell you in minutes if
your application will be approved, and can complete the
entire process in a matter of days. Applying for an
account is easy with our one call application.
How long has National Processing been in business?
For
over 30 years, NPC has served some of the largest, most
sophisticated merchants in the world. NPC currently
serves six of the top ten petroleum brands, seven of the
top ten restaurant chains and four of the top ten
retailers and supermarkets. NPC is the second largest
provider of merchant credit card processing supporting
over 645,000 merchant locations, representing nearly one
out of every five VISA® and MasterCard® transactions
processed nationally. National Processing is 85 percent
owned by National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) (www.nationalcity.com),
a Cleveland based multi-billion dollar financial holding
company.
How does NPC differ from the competition?
Significant Scale. Scale is one of the primary
competitive factors that drives success in the
processing industry. NPC authorizes and settles nearly
20 percent of all Visa® and MasterCard® transactions in
the United States - making NPC the second largest
provider of merchant card processing services in the
world. That means nearly one out of every five times
someone in the United States uses his or her Visa® or
MasterCard® to make a purchase, NPC will process that
transaction. Clearly, NPC has significant scale.
Customer Oriented Culture. For over 30 years, NPC has
served the largest, most sophisticated and most
demanding merchants in the United States. Through this
heritage, we have developed and instilled a very
customer-focused culture. We constantly strive to
provide our clients with superior products and
outstanding service. We are able to support a wide
variety of merchant processing needs through our
state-of-the-art technology, an ability to customize
solutions for individual merchant needs and our staff of
highly trained industry experts. Through our “vertical
market approach” we have maintained our customer focus
while rapidly growing our customer base. NPC employees
are trained to be subject-matter experts in key
industries, such as petroleum, restaurant, supermarket,
hotel, health care, etc. This industry-specific focus
enables us to better understand the unique processing
needs of each client. It also allows us to develop
industry-specific solutions, and resolve customer
inquiries with speed and accuracy.
Margin Opportunities through Improved Customer Mix.
Prior to 1997, only 21% of our merchant revenues came
from regional accounts. In 2002, approximately 60% of
our merchant revenues came from regional accounts. This
change in revenue mix is a direct result of the
successful execution of our “dual market strategy”
adopted in 1997. This strategy means we are focusing on
both large national retailers as well as small regional
merchants. Our focus on each of these markets is very
complementary. The large national merchants provide us
with scale and a strong service culture. The regional
merchants provide us with improved margins and customer
diversity. The national merchants also provide us with
instant credibility as we sell our products and services
to the regional merchants. As a result, our goal is to
grow both volumes and profits, while simultaneously
attracting and developing the best sales people in the
industry.
Operational Strengths. NPC focuses on minimizing the
interchange cost associated with card acceptance.
Interchange is the fee that is collected from the
merchant and remitted to the bank that issued the
customer’s credit card and is by far the largest cost
component associated with card acceptance; thus,
offering the most significant opportunity for savings to
our merchants. For a typical credit card transaction,
the interchange fee represents 75% to 95% of the total
cost of card acceptance. Since Visa® and MasterCard®
have created more than 50 interchange levels, the actual
interchange fee on any given credit card transaction may
vary dramatically. The complexity and significance of
“interchange qualification” have provided NPC an
excellent opportunity to differentiate our company
providing superior value through our industry leading
focus on what we call “Interchange Management”. NPC has
led the industry by assembling a dedicated team of
financial analysts, programmers and process specialists
to focus exclusively on ensuring that all customer
transactions qualify at the best interchange level
possible.
NPC
utilizes advanced technology for handling retrieval and
chargeback processing. This technology has automated and
expedited the exception handling process, while
minimizing chargeback losses and operational cost to the
merchant. NPC’s expert system enables us to resolve
approximately 25% of all chargebacks automatically.
NPC’s risk management department uses multiple exception
processes to minimize merchant losses associated with
unauthorized credit card transactions. Our risk
management system is parameter-based, producing
exception reports used to detect and prevent fraudulent
activity that is sometimes perpetrated by cardholders
and/or merchant employees.
Technology Capabilities. NPC has developed a number of
online reporting tools that not only make it easy for
our customers to receive their reports, but also provide
them the information they need to better manage their
business. Each of these products contain advanced
security features that ensure integrity of the
information and prevent the possibility of third-party
access. Examples of these tools include NPC Access® ,
NPC Connect® and Merchant Explorer® .
How many people does NPC employ?
NPC
employs approximately 1,800 full and part time
employees.
How long does
it normally take to get approved for a merchant account?
Normally, it takes
about 24 hours once we have all the required
information. Although, certain circumstances can
sometimes extend that period by a day or two.
Do I have to
buy a new terminal? And if I don't, will I pay a higher
rate?
No and No.
We don't require that you buy a new terminal from us in
any way. We don't except our customers to buy new
equipment, as matter affect we will reprogram you old
terminal for FREE.
If I do
buy a new terminal how will it get to me, and will I
need to do any programming of any kind before I can use
it?
If you do need to
buy a new terminal it will be shipped to you overnight,
and will arrive completely programmed and ready to use.
Some modules might take longer.
If I
begin accepting credit cards how long does it take to
get deposits into my business checking account from the
credit card transactions I do?
Normally, only 24
hours. However, there are certain types of credit cards
you may accept, such as foreign credit cards, which may
extend that time by a day or two. Please check your
account for the first few deposit prior to withdrawals.
How am I billed
for the fees I'll be charged for the credit cards I
accept?
The discount rate
you pay for accepting a credit card as payment is
deducted automatically from the deposits made into your
business checking account for the sale of the item for
which you accepted a credit card.
If I buy
a new terminal will I receive training from a qualified
technician?
Yes; You will be
provided training from a qualified technician, also you
can obtain refresher training or new employee training
as long as you're processing with Meridian Merchant
Services.
What
about changes in the industry that might effect how I do
credit card transactions, and how much I'm charged for
them?
We take our
responsibility to our merchants very seriously. That
responsibility does not only include superior customer
service, and quality products. But also includes the
ongoing responsibility of keeping our merchants informed
of any upcoming changes in the industry that might
effect them. This allows us to make recommendations that
can continually help reduce your expenses in the future.
How do you calculate my
Merchant Account Charges?
For Retail Per NPC 50% of all charges are Check Cards
(Which is at a lower rate):
Number
Credit Transactions (100)
X
Your Credit
Charges ($40) =
Total Credit Sales
($4000)
Number
Check Card Transactions (100) X
Your Bank
Card Charges ($40)
= Total Bank Card Sales
($4000)
Discount
Rate for Check Card (1.49%)
X Total Sales ($4000) = Total
Discount Rate Fees ($59.60)
Discount
Rate for Credit Card (1.69%)
X Total Sales ($4000) = Total
Discount Rate Fees ($67.60)
Number
transactions (200) X Transaction Fee ($0.23)
= Total Transaction Fee ($46)
For Internet:
Number
Transactions (200) X
Your Charges
($40) = Total Sales
($8000)
Discount
Rate for internet (2.24%) X Total Sales ($8000) = Total
Discount Rate Fees ($179.20)
Number
transactions (200) X Transaction Fee ($0.27) = Total
Transaction Fee ($54)