accept checks online | High Risk Merchant Account Specialist

Echecks Better for High Ticket Orders

The higher the dollar amount of a specific transaction, the greater the risks involved. The risks and responsibility of fraud and chargebacks. extend to you as the merchant as well as to your processor & acquiring bank.

Some industries process high tickets on regular basis. For example, government and business-to-business sales routinely have high ticket transactions.

And many businesses selling to consumers also have high ticket items. For instance, jewelry, furniture, home appliances, collectibles, electronics, precious metals, and automobiles are all high ticket transactions.

The value of these transactions requires added steps for security. Traditional credit cards are woefully ill equipped to handle such transfers.

Credit cards security in the United States is considered by a number of experts to be the worst in the world. Retailers, banks and payment processors are all trying to pass the buck on the issue and the only clear winners are the fraudsters who attack vulnerable victims.

Even the recent chip-and-pin transition (meant to make cards safer to use) in the US was an utter failure. Expats and foreign businesses have often complained about the lack of security features in America’s card infrastructure. Close to $3 billion was lost due to chargebacks and credit card fraud in the US in 2014.

Card companies charge high rates for high ticket transactions due to the increased risk of security breaches, chargebacks, and fraud. Substantially increasing your cost of sales and your operating expenses.

For these reasons, companies selling high ticket items are far better accepting payments through an echeck payment gateway.

Echecks: Safer, Faster, Cheaper

Electronic payments (such as echecks) are making business transactions faster, safer and cheaper. While the use of paper checks is on the decline, the use of electronic checks for payments is rapidly expanding. More than one-fifth of all transactions in the US are through echeck payment gateways, according to the Federal Reserve Bank.

Echecks electronically deduct the amount of the payment from buyers’ bank accounts. The funds are then automatically settled to sellers’ bank accounts. Echecks are supported by a strong online security system.

Payment processors who offer these echeck payment gateways to businesses can assist with collections, verify customer identification documents and even prevent fraud or chargebacks.

Overall, electronic check processing is quite efficient since most of the processes are automated. By taking humans out of the equation, costs are lower and the service is less prone to errors. The electronic system allows businesses to receive funds faster and manage their invoices more effectively. Administrative costs are lowered.

And rates for electronic check processing is always lower than card processing. Saving you money on processing expenses.

Customers also like the convenience of paying through a bank account. A recent survey found that a vast majority of millennial renters would prefer paying their rent electronically, rather than with cards and physical checks. The convenience is a huge benefit for consumers.

Managing Risks For High Ticket Purchases

Traditional card processors tend to classify high tickets sellers as high-risk merchants. This compounds the problems for such merchants, as the risk of chargebacks prevents them from accepting card payments.

As we’ve seen, card payments are not ideal for high ticket sales. Most merchants selling high ticket items encourage buyers to chose an echeck payment option to reduce expenses. And lower exposure to risk.

For business-to-consumer purchases, high ticket sales can be revoked only within 40 days (for echeck payments) or 60 days (for ACH payments). Customers are also required to provide additional documentation and evidence to support a chargeback claim making it far more difficult to initiate an echeck chargeback than a card transaction.

With a card transactions, consumers can chargeback up to 180 days after the purchase was made. And charging back is easy. Customers simply call their issuing bank to dispute a transactions. Most of the time, the issuing bank sides with the customer against the merchant. Lots of savvy shoppers know how to play & win the chargeback game, resulting in losses to you.

For business-to-business sales, the revoke period for electronic check processing is only three days. Offering businesses much needed protection for commercial transactions.

Adding Electronic Checks to Your Payment Options

Echecks give you significantly benefits for high ticket processing compared to cards.

reduce payment processing risk
decrease operating expenses and cost of sales
lower processing costs
give your customers another way to buy from you

With echeck and ACH merchant accounts, you can accept payment online, by phone, fax or mail, or batch upload to a secure site.

Integration to a website is through an API. MOTO orders are processed through a virtual terminal. Batch transactions can also be submitted if preferred.

The echeck payments gateway is fully compliant with all security regulations. Technical and operational support are available 24/7. And you have a dedicated account manager who provides you ongoing guidance and support.

How are you handling payment processing for your high ticket sales?

Contact us today.

Continuity Merchant Accounts For Recurring Billing

Continuity merchants are embracing the benefits of recurring billing to stabilize cash flow, reduce expenses, and increase sales.

Continuity businesses are quickly catching on that many consumers prefer to pay on a recurring basis. This has long been the business model for online subscription services, newsletters, memberships & or software providers. Increasing, the recurring payments are being used for all types of products and services.

With recurring billing, consumers pay for goods and services on a regular basis, most commonly monthly payments. This lets you count on a steady stream of income throughout the year once you’ve acquired a customer.

Yet, managing recurring transactions is easier said than done. Many businesses struggle to set in place the right payment infrastructure to handle these transactions.

If you operate a business that relies on recurring transactions, here’s what you need to know:

Recurring Billing and Online Marketing

Direct marketing companies can offer subscription and regular sales in a number of ways. The most common tactic is to offer a free trial initially and then convince the customer to sign up for the service on an ongoing basis.

This is effectively the strategy used by a lot of new companies. Experts understand that subscription services and recurring transactions are increasingly replacing the traditional ‘pay-per-product’ model. Netflix offers unlimited streaming, Amazon Prime offers unlimited books or services, Dropbox offers cloud storage and Loot Crate offers monthly boxes.

There is a fundamental shift in the way consumers want to pay for products and how companies can package them. From a marketing perspective, these services take advantage of a growing preference for what Seth Godin calls ‘permission marketing’. From a financial perspective, regular and stable cash flows are immensely valuable for the long term sustainability of the business.

This has encouraged a number of businesses to offer ways for customers to receive goods on a regular basis. The model involves recurring transactions that continue till the customer explicitly asks to stop receiving the service.

While this may be a convenient and effective sales strategy, auto-replenishment and negative opt out sales tactics have been closely monitored by regulators. Most businesses that adopt these sales practices do not appreciate the regulations that apply to them.

Recurring Payments Regulations

The US Federal Trade Commission is primarily responsible for regulating the sales practices of companies in the country. A report by UC Berkeley analysed the effects of these marketing strategies on consumers and businesses. The study found a number of benefits as well as areas of concern. The FTC has d based on the findings of such studies.

Here are their guidelines for companies that offer negative opt out sales programs:

Be clear about terms and conditions
Provide full details on how much a product or service costs
Reaffirm all the details on the order confirmation
Do not use pre-checked boxes for customer consent
Do not apply hidden charges or terms to a free trial

These basic guidelines are meant to ensure that companies limit the number of credit card processing failures. These guidelines are very basic recommendations for the firm, but there are more extensive guidelines for payment processors who can help your businesses accept recurring transactions.

These payment processors are tasked with following strict guidelines so that the recurring transactions are completed smoothly.

Payment processors who specialize in this field offer their services in the form of continuity merchant accounts. These accounts are specially designed to help your business accept recurring payments while following all the regulations.

Reasons Echecks Trump Cards for Recurring Payments

Echecks are the most popular alternative payment method for US shoppers. Millions of Americans regularly pay for goods & services with echecks.

Echecks let you easily accept payments by electonically debited buyers’ bank accounts. Funds are automatically settled to your business account.

Echecks are particularly effective for recurring billing. And protect cash flow in a far more effective way than cards.

Consider this:

Each year 1 out of 5 cards are reissued due to expired dates, lost & stolen cards, and a variety of other reasons. Each time a card is reissued, payment info must be updated. An expensive and time-consuming process.

Compare this with echecks:

Once a bank account is established, it rarely changes. It’s simply too much of a hassle to change a bank account to which direct deposits of wages, monthly debits of household bills and other transactions are associated.

As a result, payment data rarely needs to be updated. Recurring payments consider uninterrupted until the customer cancels. Stabilizing cash flow, increasing productivity, and eliminating an unnecessary reason to contact a customer, which can result in a cancellation.

Payment processors can offer accounts that are designed for recurring transactions. These accounts offer all the security and regulatory features you’d need to navigate through the complex world of online payments.

Payment processors must meet all the regulatory guidelines to be able to offer continuity merchant accounts to businesses.

Conclusion

A continuity merchant account with echeck processing lets you accept regular payments with ease. Accept checks online through a secure API. Take check by phone, mail & fax orders with a virtual terminal.

The more payment options you offer your customers, the more sales you’ll make. Echecks give customers another safe & convenient way to buy from you.

And, and far more effective to protect your recurring billing revenue than are cards.

How is your continuity company handling recurring payments?

Boost Security and Cut Fees with eChecks

eChecks Safe, Secure & Save You Money

Business has moved online in a big way, but payments have lagged behind.

If you deal with customers in the United States, the payment infrastructure you use could be vulnerable to attack. Your customer data is at risk and this lack of security could be affecting your business. Cash and cards are the weakest link, which is why cashless payment solutions like echecks can help you boost security and convenience for your customers.

The banks and traditional institutions that support these payments are still decades behind in terms of security and infrastructure.

Businesses have been paid by cash and checks for as long as banks have been around. Plastic payment options such as debit and credit cards are more recent developments, but they both lack the safety features you’d need to stay safe online.

Credit card fraud is now so common that the US accounts for more than 50% of all credit card fraud in the world. Banks have failed to make plastic payments secure and this has cost the economy trillions of dollars over the years.

Security, of course, is the biggest concern, but let’s not forget the lack of convenience with current payment methods. Cash is hard to manage, checks are unwieldy, and credit card transactions come with extortionate fees.

A Better Way

Boosting security and convenience for your clients in the U.S. is incredibly important. Experts see cash and physical cards as the weakest link in our payment infrastructure. Which is why merchants are encouraged to go cashless for better protection.

US customers account for more than 51% of payment fraud worldwide. Which is why a lot of businesses have turned their attention to newer forms of payments such as echecks.

An echeck is the online replacement for physical, paper checks. They are quick, convenient and a lot cheaper than traditional payment methods.

Types of eChecks

Online payments with echecks has been available for many years. However, the rapid rise of online bill payments has accelerated the demand for the payment method. The vast majority of Americans regularly pay household bills online.

As a result, US consumers now embrace echecks as a trusted payment method. Online shoppers expect to be offered an echeck payment option at checkout regardless of what is being purchased.

An echeck comes in two flavors – Check21 and Automated Checking House (ACH).

Check21 is quicker, while ACH is cheaper. Both the options work in fundamentally the same way – money is debited from the client’s account and deposited to yours.

ACH merchant accounts are designed for regular payments, like a direct debit for bill payments or repeat business. The system also uses a national network of payment providers and banks to process the payment. It could take up to 3 days for such a transaction to clear.

Check21 merchant accounts is a quicker method, where the major banks and institutions in the system transfer cash by the end of the working day or by the next working day.

From, the customer’s perspective, both the transactions appear to be exactly the same. Both echeck methods have a similar method of transaction online and the speed and convenience is nearly identical for the customer.

Not to mention, the security features built into the ACH and echeck system.

You can cut procession fees by up to 60% with echecks compared to credit card processing. And capture sales from customers that don’t have cards, are maxed out on cards, or who simply prefer to pay you with a direct debit from a bank account rather than using a card.

Conclusion

More than 30% of online retailers now offer echecks as an alternative payment method at checkout. Alternative payments will be more widespread in the future. Your business will gain a clear competitive advantage today when you accept checks online.

Have you considered the efficiency and security of your payment options?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

Why Echecks are Replacing Paper

What is an Electronic Check

An eCheck or electronic check is an electronic version of a traditional paper based check.

An echeck account gives you the ability to automatically debit funds from your customers bank accounts. Funds are then deposited into your business bank account.

Customers provide their bank routing & account numbers. Along with an authorization for you to debit their bank account for the money due. That’s all it takes.

Echecks are the modern way to accept check payments. No trips to the bank. No paper to deal with.

Great, But How do they Work?

You can accept checks online with a simple API integration to your website. You can take check by phone, fax and email orders through a virtual terminal.

ACH echecks are remarkably effective for recurring payments. Customers rarely change bank accounts. Payments continue uninterrupted month after month, with no need to update account information.

Compare this with card payments. Since one in five cards are reissued each year, you have to constantly update card data in order for recurring transactions to be approved. Which is time-consuming, labor intensive, and costly.

Numerous Benefits of Electronic Checks

Echecks save you time and lower your operating expenses. And you eliminate the hassle of dealing with paper checks.

You can easily and digitally send and receive payments without moving an inch. However, these aren’t the only advantages of eChecks.

Minimizing Processing Expenses up to 60% – Electronic check processing can save you 50-80% over the cost of credit card processing

Quick Funds – eChecks are processed electronically and clear much more quickly than paper items.

eChecks are Greener – No more dealing with paper. eChecks minimize carbon emissions by saving 67.4 million gallons of fuel and reduce greenhouse gasses and emission by more than 3.6 million tons.

Conclusion

Paper checks are quickly becoming extinct. Electronic checks are faster, safer, and more cost effective. And are rapidly becoming the payment option of choice for businesses that accept check payments.

How are you processing your check payments?

Contact info@paynetsecure.net today

Echecks Reduce Risk for High Ticket Sales

Increased Demand for High Ticket Products

The term “high-ticket” is used to designate an wide categories of products that have one feature in common: they are expensive. Examples of high ticket items include luxury items, such as designer clothing & jewelry, collectibles, electronics, furniture and home appliances.

In recent years, customer demand for high ticket items has soared. Shoppers expect to buy expensive items as quickly and easily online in the same way that lower ticket items are purchased.

Risk of Fraud for High Ticket Sales

Two words best describe the sales of high-ticket items. Profitable and risky.

Merchants selling expensive items are classified as high risk merchant accounts by payment processors.

Expensive products are equally attractive to both legitimate consumers and fraudsters. But cyber-criminals find high ticket items extremely profitable from a cost-benefit perspective.

Electronics, jewelry, and collectibles can quickly and easily be resold before merchants are even aware that the transactions are fraudulent. By the time you have notification of fraud (usually because the legitimate owner of the card charges back the transaction), your losses can be dramatic.

The banks & payment processors also take a big hit. If you are unable to cover the losses for the fraudulent transactions, the banks & processors are obligated to do so.

One of best ways to mitigate risk on high ticket item sales is to promote echecks as the preferred payment option at checkout.

What is an Echeck?

An echeck electronically debits funds from buyers’ bank accounts. And automatically deposits the funds to your business bank account.

There are two ways of processing echecks. An ACH merchant account uses the ACH Network to process the orders. A Check21 merchant account uses bank-t0-bank image transfer instead of the ACH Network.

From a user perspective, both Check 21 and ACH merchant accounts operate in the same way. The buyer provides banking routing & account information at checkout and the payment is authorized. The decision on which method of processing to use depends on the specifics of your business.

Fraud Risk Echecks vs. Cards

While the preference of consumers for echeck payments has increased, this cannot be said about fraudsters who continue to rely on cards for the majority of their illicit activities.

The most recent Federal Reserve Payments Study compares the fraud rate of the two payment methods. It concludes that, in terms of value, cards have a fraud rate of 8.27 basis points. This means that for every $10,000 spent, $84.27 were lost because of fraud.

Echeck payments have a considerable lower fraud rate of just 0.24 basis points. This means that for every $10,000 spent, $2.40 would be lost due to fraud.

Of course, as the payment landscape changes, these figures may be change. But at this time, echecks payments are have far fewer risks of loss to you due to fraudulent transactions than do card payments.

Conclusion

In additon to reducing risk from fraudulent transactions, echecks offer many other advantages to you.

Echeck / ACH merchant accounts are easier to obtain than card accounts for high ticket sales
The more ways customers have to pay you, the more sales you will make. Adding echecks at checkout gets you more orders from buyers that don’t have cards, are maxed out on cards, or who simply prefer to pay through a direct debit from a bank account.
Payment processing fees for echecks are lower than cards, saving you money.
Echecks give you a competitive edge. More than 30% of internet merchants offer the payment option. If you don’t, you risk losing sales to your competitors who do.

Do you want to increase sales while decreasing risk?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

Echecks for Digital Content Merchants

Accept Electronic Checks to Boost Sales

Digital content merchants increase profits quickly when they accept checks online. Echecks give shoppers another convenient method to purchase from you.

Get orders from buyers that don’t have cards, are maxed out on cards. And many shoppers simply prefer to pay you with an electronic check rather than a card.

Explosive Growth of Digital Content & Streaming Media

Whether it is music or video, people cannot get enough of online streaming content.

New results clearly indicate that streaming media industry is expanding while CD sales and online download stores are on the on the way out. The demise of the CD was predictable many years ago. Still, it took until the the middle of 2014 before revenue of streaming websites surpassed those of CD sales and downloads.

Under these circumstances, no wonder Apple finally jumped on the bandwagon of streaming music, hoping to revolutionize it with new features. This reinforces the notion that there is an expanding market fueled by an increasing number of people who are willing to pay for such services.

In fact, according to a study conducted by MusicWatch, a company that develops research on the entertainment industry, found that 3 out of 4 college students would be willing to pay for a streaming music account. The strongest incentives for setting up a paid account were, quite expectedly, the easy access to music that wouldn’t be available for free or that is offered to paid users exclusively for a period of time before becoming available to free users.

Recurring Billing for Streaming Media Stabilizes Cash Flow

Recurring billing is a common business model for steaming media. E checks provide you a more stable source of cash flow than card payments.

Over 20% of cards are reissued each year due to expired dates, data breaches, and lost or stolen cards. Each time a new card is issued, you have to get the updated card information from the customer or the card transaction will fail.

Compare this to echecks. Customers rarely change bank accounts; it’s simply too much of a hassle. Most Americans have direct deposit of wages into their bank account and pay recurring monthly household bills with electronic checks.

Once echeck recurring payments are established, cash flow for recurring billing transactions continue monthly without interruption. The lifetime value of your customer increases. Customer retention costs decrease since you do not have to update card information.

Conclusion

Electric checks are a trusted and convenient payment method for your customers. US consumers commonly pay recurring monthly bills via direct debits from bank accounts and expect to be offered an echeck option at checkout.

Echecks trump cards for recurring billing. Increasing the lifetime value of customers. And protecting cash flow from recurring payments.

Are you interested in increasing profits from your digital content or streaming media services?

Contact info@NationalACH.com