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It’s YOUR Money…..

What should you do if your payment processor holds your funds or freezes your account?

According to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and a host of other sources, the payment giant Square, is holding funds from their merchants and freezing accounts.

This is a common practice among some processors, but during COVID-19, this is causing massive outrage among business owners. The New York Times states:

“Thousands of small enterprises that use Square to process their credit card transactions — including plumbers, legal consultants and construction firms — have complained that the company recently began holding back 20 to 30 percent of the money they collected from customers.”

Over the last month, around 1,300 business owners have signed an online petition asking Square to end the withholding.

“It may not be the coronavirus that puts us out of business but actually the greed of Square that breaks the camel’s back,” said Jesse Larsen, the owner of PennyWise Contracting, a construction company in Olympia, Washington.

What can you do?

If you want a relationship with a trusted merchant services provider contact Data One Merchant Services. We offer next day access to your funds and you will work with a personal representative who knows you and your business by name.

Conclusion
This article was brought to you by Data One Merchant Services. We hope to win your business by exposing you to some of the ways you could be overpaying. We are a company you can trust, with a reputation of transparency and excellence.

Schedule a Call with Us

For a free statement review, quote or consultation, contact us at: 800-818-0420.

At Data One we only succeed when our customers succeed.  This requires us to constantly support them in receiving payments in a fast, secure, and cost effective ways across every channel. Sometimes we also share resources to support their sales and marketing goals.

In a recent conversion, we discovered a new platform for small businesses to target neighborhoods and communities better.

This new platform is called, Nextdoor.

What is Nextdoor? It is a fast-growing social media platform being used all around the world. It focuses on neighborhoods.

On this social platform, you get to know your neighbors and build a community. The idea of Nextdoor is neighbors sharing recommendations, posting things for sale, even being the local crime watch for each other.

How Do You Get Started on Nextdoor? 

First, register using your actual name and address, this is what Nextdoor is all about, the real people living in real neighborhoods, next door to each other. Nextdoor is populated with real people, not bots like Facebook.

 

Getting registered is super easy thanks to a clear and tidy interface. Remember registering on Facebook, the minefield of options, settings, and tick boxes? Nextdoor isn’t anything like that.

 

Once you’re registered as a neighbor, you can set up your business account. After you’ve done that, you’ll need to claim your business listing on Nextdoor. There are two options available when you sign up your business: Individual or Business. Unless you are a freelancer who owns a micro business, choose the latter option.

 

Registered as a small business owner, you’ll have access to recommendations, and track your recommendation reach. You can ask your customers to write recommendations, and even better, you’ll have the ability to reply to recommendations.

Basically, for a business owner, Nextdoor is all about recommendations.

In the beginning, your business listing isn’t going to be visible in your community until you have a recommendation posted. You will be given a link by Nextdoor.  This link you can share with your customers and ask them to post a review.

How Can You Advertise on Nextdoor?

Paid advertising is limited right now for large companies, and it isn’t cheap. Currently, advertising is on an enquire-only basis and has a minimum spend requirement of $25,000.00. For a freelancer, small business, or start-up, they don’t have any advertising options. Not real neighborly is it? 

There is rumor that an advertising platform is being released by Nextdoor soon. The sign-up process will be unique with requirements to be a real account, no fake accounts allowed. Marketing experts are expecting this to be a goldmine without a big expense. 

So, they aren’t providing any concrete marketing options right now, however, getting in with NextDoor now, you’ll be in a position to pounce when those powerful advertising options come.  

Business Options

In contrast with how Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter work, you won’t be posting to your business profile page. There isn’t even a newsfeed really. The business page you have is more static. While at first, this may seem like a dead-end for business use, it is a more natural marketing method with a lot of local business opportunities. 

Just follow these 7 steps:

1. The More Recommendations – The Better

You only need 1 recommendation to get started with your business marketing on Nextdoor. Use the link they provide you when you register your business, share this link with your customers asking for their recommendation.  

2. Respond To Recommendations

You can’t do much with your Nextdoor business profile, but you can respond to other recommendations and get engaged. Then when somebody does recommend your business, be sure to thank them and keep engaging.

3. Host A Local Event

With the personal account you registered, use the neighborhood calendar to add your events with consideration that the events should be neighborhood oriented. If you do add a more corporate type event, you should uncheck the “announce to neighbors” box. 

4. Employee Posts Will Expand Your Reach

For a small business, this is a great idea and marketing tool. Post special offers and particular events and ask your team to post these on their network too. If your employees are registered in other neighborhoods than your business, even better! 

5. Update Your Personal Profile 

By adding your business affiliation on your personal profile. It is simple, and it is a must-do for a freelancer or small business. Since Nextdoor has limited marketing avenues, we have to use what they do offer and this is a simple step that will increase your business’ visibility. 

6. Be Active In The Neighborhood

Don’t be that person that doesn’t talk to anyone or only talks about yourself when you do talk to others. That will get on your neighbor’s nerves and possibly get you in trouble with the community. Be a social mixer and use those other businesses that are in your neighborhood. 

7. Recommend Your Business Yourself

Yeah, this contradicts what we just said, but if you do it right, it works. Use the angle of “I’m a locally owned small business that wants to help others like me.” This is a shameless way to self-promote. 

Being on Nextdoor can bring new customers to your business while benefitting your local community.

Conclusion

This article was brought to you by Data One Merchant Services. We hope to win your business by exposing you to some of the ways you could be overpaying. We are a company you can trust, with a reputation of transparency and excellence.

Schedule a Call with Us

For a free statement review, quote or consultation, contact us at: 800-818-0420.

Many non-profit organizations are in a constant battle to achieve their mission and cater to a wide group of benefactors.

Caring for their communities and continuing their mission (while practicing social distancing) is hard enough without the resources of their generous donors being temporarily closed.

“During times like these, we either pay attention to the negative or double-down on our mission and focus on the positive.” says Brandon Day, Senior Vice President of Data One and board member of various non-profits.

As a key supporter and trusted payments provider of many non-profits, Data One has received several inquiries on best ways to stimulate and simplify cash flow while abstaining from incurring additional costs.

“Negotiating your credit card processing rates and offsetting fees is key,” says Brandon.

Recently, when called by a large non-profit, Data One was able to show a savings of over $80,000 per year by utilizing a cash discount processing platform, called WavIt.

WavIt changes the dynamics of credit card payments for the benefit of businesses and non-profits by balancing the fee structure with patrons.

“Just like making any major purchase in cash, we as consumers expect a better price; whether it be a car, or even at the gas pump, we are used to paying more for a credit card purchase and receiving a discount when paying with cash,” Brandon explains.

For a Non-Profit who needs help negotiating the best rates, Data One is offering free rate reviews and fee reductions to help them save hundreds or thousands of dollars every month!

Call 1-800-818-0420, tell them you are a non-profit looking for a rate review, and a member of our team will help you. You can also schedule an appointment instantly.

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In today’s volatile environment, limiting and controlling business expenses is essential.

While customers expect to use credit cards anytime, many merchants just accept the fees without checking if it’s competitive. As a business owner/CFO, it is in your best interest to review your fees regularly and understand how all costs are calculated.

Just like negotiations with suppliers and vendors, you need to ensure that you’re not paying too much to your credit card processor. But how do you know where to start negotiating with credit card fees?

Schedule a Call with Us

Here’s a look at 5 indications you could be overpaying:

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1. Your bank setup your credit card processing

Banks are not in the business of credit card processing. They store, save, and lend money.

When you set up your business account, and they offer you credit card processing, it’s all about profit for them. Like the wine menus served at a restaurant, it’s all profit. They are not attempting to be competitive. They are offering you convenience, not the best pricing.

9 times out 10, you will see immediate savings by switching your merchant account away from your bank.

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2. You’re using Square, PayPal or Stripe

If you haven’t noticed, prices have changed over time.

When Square was first introduced, they began with competitive rock bottom pricing. This was a strategy to gain marketing share and mass adoption.

Once they became established, their prices have risen and are no longer special. The same holds true with their technology, which began as an innovation but is now considered common.

All three of these, Square, PayPal, and Stripe presume a level of ease and convenience, but their pricing is far from stellar.

If your business is processing more than $2000 a month, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t evaluate an established credit card processor.

3. You have a flat rate pricing

If you utilize a flat rate processing option but do not have the kind of business that would benefit from it then you are just overpaying. Certain cards are less expensive to process while others can be costly. However, the flat rate needs to cover all the costs else the processor may end up losing money.

The claim is that the flat rate makes billing simple and easy. Sure, that might be true.

It’s also true that you could be paying 20-50% more than necessary.

4. QuickBooks processes your credit card transactions

QuickBooks serves as a convenient service to manage your company’s finances. It tracks expenses, manages your books and helps with accepting payments.

The fees they charge for credit card processing are higher than necessary. Just like banks, they have a first-mover advantage because they are already tied into your financials.

The temptation is to just leave it alone and all in one place.

Unfortunately, times have changed, and you must be diligent about investigating your number. Every dollar you pay should prove themselves worth it.

5. You’re leasing your payment terminal

One of the sneaky ways merchant services providers lock businesses into overpaying is by leasing equipment. Rock bottom prices are offered on the processing while the difference (or profit) is made separately in the leasing.

When you agree to lease your equipment for 4 years, you not only pay extra for taking payments, you also are bound to the leasing company for 4 years!

Sometimes the equipment is necessary and beneficial, but not always. Be careful when agreeing to lease equipment and make sure you understand the contractual obligations.

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Conclusion

This article was brought to you by Data One Merchant Services. We hope to win your business by exposing you to some of the ways you could be overpaying. We are a company you can trust, with a reputation of transparency and excellence.

Schedule a Call with Us

For a free statement review, quote or consultation, contact us at: 800-818-0420.

PCI Security Standards Council Publishes Minor Revision to PCI Data Security Standard
—PCI DSS Version 3.2.1 Includes Minor Updates To Account for SSL/Early TLS Dates That Have Passed—

WAKEFIELD, Mass., 17 May 2018 — Today the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published a minor revision to the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which businesses around the world use to safeguard payment card data before, during and after a purchase is made. PCI DSS version 3.2.1 replaces version 3.2 to account for effective dates and Secure Socket Layer (SSL)/early Transport Layer Security (TLS) migration deadlines that have passed. No new requirements are added in PCI DSS v3.2.1. PCI DSS v3.2 remains valid through 31 December 2018 and will be retired as of 1 January 2019.

“This update is designed to eliminate any confusion around effective dates for PCI DSS requirements introduced in v3.2, as well as the migration dates for SSL/early TLS,” said PCI SSC Chief Technology Officer Troy Leach. “It is critically important that organizations disable SSL/early TLS and upgrade to a secure alternative to safeguard their payment data.”

The minor changes in PCI DSS v3.2.1 reflect how existing requirements are affected once the effective dates and SSL/TLS migration deadlines have passed so that organizations can accurately report how their implementations meet these existing requirements after 30 June. Specifically, the changes include:

• Removal of notes referring to an effective date of 1 February 2018 for applicable requirements, as this date has passed.
• Updates to applicable requirements and Appendix A2 to reflect that only POS POI (point of sale point of interaction) terminals and their service provider connection points may continue using SSL/early TLS as a security control after 30 June 2018.
• Removal of multi-factor authentication (MFA) from the compensating control example in Appendix B, as MFA is now required for all non-console administrative access; addition of one-time passwords as an alternative potential control for this scenario.

The updates in PCI DSS v3.2.1 do not affect the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), which will remain at v3.2.

PCI DSS v3.2.1 and a summary of changes from v3.2 to v3.2.1 are available now in the Document Library on the PCI SSC website. Updated versions of the Migrating from SSL and Early TLS Information Supplement, Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) and SAQ Instructions and Guidelines will be published shortly to support PCI DSS v3.2.1.

For more information, read PCI Perspectives blog Q&A with Chief Technology Officer Troy Leach: PCI DSS Now and Looking Ahead.

About the PCI Security Standards Council
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) leads a global, cross-industry effort to increase payment security by providing industry-driven, flexible and effective data security standards and programs that help businesses detect, mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and breaches. Connect with the PCI SSC on LinkedIn. Join the conversation on Twitter @PCISSC. Subscribe to the PCI Perspectives Blog.

Media Contacts
Mark Meissner
PCI Security Standards Council
+1-202-744-8557
press@pcisecuritystandards.org
Twitter @PCISSC

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