ME Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 We are getting asked more and more if we take cards at work so I am going to look into it. Can anyone recommend a credit card facility for business. I want a free or low monthly fee if possible. Al4x, Pacman & others what do you recommend chaps ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 (edited) We are getting asked more and more if we take cards at work so I am going to look into it. Can anyone recommend a credit card facility for business. I want a free or low monthly fee if possible. Al4x, Pacman & others what do you recommend chaps ? I think Barclays are the easiest to get the facility from, or they used to be. Lloyds TSB are cherry pickers, they'll only give the facility to bigger businesses, not sure about Natwest. Barclays gave me the facility before we'd even started the business up, but the others didn't want to know. That was about 10 years ago though We had a PDQ machine at £23.50 per month rental and transaction fees of 1.9% on credit cards or 60p on debit cards, though these fees vary depending on the industry you're in. If you want it as an online facility, it's a completely different game and more expensive, though obviously you don't have the rental on a PDQ machine, unless you want one of those as well as online banking. Edited June 17, 2009 by Chard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter De La Mare Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 RBS Worldpay were pretty good years ago. Dunno what they're like now. www.rbsworldpay.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 I looked into this about a year ago. Stay clear of anyone tying you into a contract with Forrester UK Holdings. Not sure if they're only tied to Lloyds TSB but they're a bunch of bloody crooks. Have a look at any trade association bodies within your industry as you can normally get a good deal with them but make sure you check on the contract and what the deal would be should you decide to opt out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXPhil Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 Paypal do a virtual terminal for £20 per month I have a Mobile one which costs £23 per month rental + £20 Charges Min from HSBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p@cman Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 We have three card terminals on three different sites and do quite a lot of trade with credit cards. We currently use Lloyds TSB Cardnet and have done for years. I was looking at changing providers late last year and got some good quotes on rates through the Forum of Private Business. Went back to Cardnet and they agreed to beat the rates I had been offered so decided to stay with them. Their service is good, reliable and on the odd occassion we have had a problem they have sorted it out quickly with minimum fuss. Only slight downside is that because we don't bank with Lloyds, the cards take a day longer process and get into our Natwest account (four days). When looking at alternative providers, I found that they were all pretty open to negotiation on the rates, so get your haggling head on and do shop around. However, do be wary of some dodgy card service providers who are based overseas and are not covered by FSA regulation. Forrester UK holdings springs to mind. I am aware of some companies having fallen prey to some underhand selling and locked into some nasty contracts. pm me if you want any in depth info. All the best. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppythedog Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Join the Federation of small businesses. Get a Streamline account, I pay various up to 1.8% credit and 18p for debit cards. If you need internet payment facility get a Sagepay account, £20 + Vat/mth, you can also use their internet site to process phone orders so if you don't do face to face sales you won't need to rent a pdq terminal. Avoid Paypal like the plague! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Its a tricky one LV we pay about £20 a month for the terminal plus fees depending whether its credit card, purchasing card or debit etc I think its about 1.6% for credit cards and £0.50 for debit, what I will say is obviously thats a percentage of the including vat amount and we have a 30 day lag of getting paid the money. We do £600 -£1k on a usual month and its not a cheap way of receiving money but if you're doing ad hoc work then you can be fairly sure you will get the money. Ours is through Barclaycard, the real bugbear I have is customers who want to pay on purchasing cards as you end up loosing a fair chunk of the money if you're operating on smallish margins and then waiting 30 days for the money so if I were you i'd try not to give regular customers the option and with ad hocs I usually price the jobs up a bit to make up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I looked into this recently for an e-commerce site I want to set up for the business. Best rates and service I found was with Natwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliebrown Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 We have three card terminals on three different sites and do quite a lot of trade with credit cards. We currently use Lloyds TSB Cardnet and have done for years. I was looking at changing providers late last year and got some good quotes on rates through the Forum of Private Business. Went back to Cardnet and they agreed to beat the rates I had been offered so decided to stay with them. Their service is good, reliable and on the odd occassion we have had a problem they have sorted it out quickly with minimum fuss. Only slight downside is that because we don't bank with Lloyds, the cards take a day longer process and get into our Natwest account (four days). When looking at alternative providers, I found that they were all pretty open to negotiation on the rates, so get your haggling head on and do shop around. However, do be wary of some dodgy card service providers who are based overseas and are not covered by FSA regulation. Forrester UK holdings springs to mind. I am aware of some companies having fallen prey to some underhand selling and locked into some nasty contracts. pm me if you want any in depth info. All the best. P. Your doing well there, im with Cardnet and bank with lloyds, still takes 5 working days to reach our account. But as you say so far its been a reliable service (touch wood). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubix Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Roman Pay coupled with Roman Cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I use Streamline, never had a problem with them. £11.00 per month, Maestro / solo 23p per transaction, visa 1.5% Mastercard 1.54%. I've been with them about 7 years. pm me if you want anymore details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 This is my business.... and I can tell you more and more people are paying by card,they are taking less cash from atm machines,We have seen a huge increase in business merchants wanting lower fees and cheaper hire terms on terminals its never been a better time for us. I must say after reading the posts above it should only take three days to deposit transactions to your business account,the industry will be moving to a next day funding on all electronic transaction. cir end of 2010 Some good rates in your posts however the industry is driving down processing rates for credit and debit cards in order to keep business going. keeping to PW rules, I Supply a huge amount of "mobile terminals" and I spend a fortune on google to be listed almost first! So LV to you get your deal! Regards derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted July 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 One year later and we have been using Paypal virtual terminal for the last year. We have been limiting how much we use it and feel that we need a "proper" facility. I am now reviewing it. If anyone who actually runs a business and uses a credit card facility would like to give me some up to date pointers that would be good Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 pointers, erm don't let them hold the funds for 30 days, try not to let customers settle their invoices by card I've a few that all use corporate purchasing cards that go at the highest wack, other than that the Barclaycard terminal we have is 15.95 plus VAT monthly, plus we do have a minimum charge of £20 monthly. Paypal is a pile of steaming poo for a proper business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliebrown Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 (edited) Im still with Cardnet, used to take 5 days to reach our Lloyds acount now takes 2. Think off the top of my head we pay 3% on Credit cards and 50p per Debit card. Cardnets not too bad, TBH they made it easy when we fist opened so they got the gig. I do get a lot of calls from companys who reckon they can beat our rates as they represent several companys and kind of pool resources or somthing to keep rates down. Dont know the ins and outs TBH. The rates you pay are dependant on how much you use the system, so overegg it a bit when you first speak to them, will make your 1st year a bit cheaper anyway. Your not allowed to charge extra for a customer who pays by card or have a minimum transaction, which really narks me at times. Do you mostly deal business to business or with the public? EDIT, Just checked our rates, Meastro 40p ea, Mastercard and Visa Credit cards 1.65%, Visa Debit 44.4p ea. Gonna have to look around at those rates. Edited July 12, 2010 by charliebrown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 I thought there were loads of firms who added 2% extra if you paid by credit card, is this rule only applicable to cardnet or is it across the board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliebrown Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 I thought there were loads of firms who added 2% extra if you paid by credit card, is this rule only applicable to cardnet or is it across the board? No Idea, we were just told that we couldnt add a charge specifically for taking Credit Cards. We offer a discount for cash or cheque instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 we've been told the same, I just charge more for ad hoc jobs where I know I'm going to insist on card payment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 Matt banks and free service do not go together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted July 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 The guy that came from Cardsave this morning reckoned that it was cheaper for a terminal machine than to use a virtual terminal over the internet He wanted £0.35 for debit cards, 2% for credit cards, £99 set up fee and £20 per month fee. I am specifically interested in an online solution rather than a terminal. I have an office not a shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 12, 2010 Report Share Posted July 12, 2010 remember you pay it on the full including VAT amount no one wanted to give me an online solution when we were looking shouldn't be hard but seems like they don't like you doing every transaction as a cardholder not present one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliebrown Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 The guy that came from Cardsave this morning reckoned that it was cheaper for a terminal machine than to use a virtual terminal over the internet He wanted £0.35 for debit cards, 2% for credit cards, £99 set up fee and £20 per month fee. I am specifically interested in an online solution rather than a terminal. I have an office not a shop. That seems reasonable, we pay about £40 a month in terminal rent and other fixed charges. Any reason that your not keen on a terminal? It just sits there till you need it and dosent interfere with the phone line its in unless your actually using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p@cman Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 We are still with LTSB Cardnet and the money still takes four days to arrive in our NatWest account! We currently rent three card terminals for a total of £49 a month. Rates on the credit cards are Visa 0.93% and 1.68%, Mastercard 1.16% and 1.9% Maestro & Solo at 12p and Visa debit at 16.7p Most of our payments are received face to face and go through the terminals at the sales counter, but we also process a number of sales over the phone as "card not present" transactions, as long as the security details match up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyoftheboy Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 matt i specifically joined the FSB to take advantage of their deal with RBS worldpay. http://www.fsb.org.uk/ we have their web solution and a virtual terminal for phone orders. they are about the cheapest I've found. previously was using EPDQ from barclaycard.... was good, easy to use....but that was quite expensive. http://www.barclaycardbusiness.co.uk/epdq/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.