Credit Cards Online Information

The following article was originally published in Michigan Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media publication.

DETROIT - If you deal with collecting retainers from your clients, accepting credit cards can be a very intimidating option to consider as a sole practitioner or small-firm attorney.

The word merchant service has developed an almost ominous connotation among solo professionals and for good reason. Most people associate the phrase with ludicrous fees, minimum transaction volumes, equipment rentals and restrictive contracts. And all too often, that notion is entirely justified.

In fact, several professionals simply choose to forget about accepting credit cards altogether because it's just one less hassle to deal with.

Unfortunately, this can actually cost you quite a bit of business, whether you realize it or not. It's been continually proven that providing your customers the option of paying with credit will increase sales - in this case, client volume - in practically every industry.

Furthermore, the main advantage for an attorney to accept credit cards wouldn't so much be an increase in client volume as it would eliminate waiting for checks in the mail, not to mention having someone make a bank run to get them deposited. And credit card payments don't bounce either.

The truth is that, while there are some very affordable and flexible services available to solo professionals, they are also very few and far between and, in most cases, they aren't easy to recognize.

Let's explore some of the terms and terminology of the merchant industry so as to de-mystify the process of choosing a merchant company that will effectively suit your practice.

Statement fees - Most merchant account providers will charge you to simply receive your billing statement, normally about $10 per month. This is, for the most part, a pointless fee for the purpose of generating additional revenue for the merchant company as it much more than covers the cost of distributing a statement. Not all companies have a statement fee, though.

Monthly minimums - Several programs include a minimum, which is not a minimum amount of sales volume, but rather it's a minimum charge in regards to transaction fees. Normally, this is $25 per month. This does not mean that a $25 sale will waive the minimum.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:41 AM