Faq's

A Merchant Account enables you to process credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and electronic check transactions. These payment methods are convenient for your customers, and they help you get paid faster.

We do not have one set rate for every customer’s business. Every business is run differently and has different percentages of swiped, keyed, rewards, and corporate cards, as well as different average sales prices. These factors all affect pricing. A member of our trained staff will do a comprehensive analysis of your current processing statements and tailor a program that would best suit your business.

Rewards cards are benefit cards. They are issued by Visa/MasterCard and carry some sort of benefit for the card holder. This may come in the form of miles or store coupons, and are given to the cardholder based on their total purchases in dollars.

These are charges that come directly from Visa/MasterCard. They have different rate structures for different types of cards depending on the various risks associated with accepting that type of transaction. I.E., debit, keyed, rewards, corporate. With that said there is very little regulation in our industry and one of our staff should review these charges to ensure that you are not paying too high a surcharge.

We do not charge a set up cost. The only up-front cost you may incur is the cost of a terminal (if you do not already own one). This also holds true for annual fees. We do not charge an annual fee.

As a general rule of thumb, we can reprogram your terminal. There are very few terminals that we cannot use. In fact, the main reason that we would upgrade your terminal is that it does not have sufficient memory to ask the questions that are required by Visa / MasterCard.

As a result of the Wal-Mart lawsuit, the government forced Visa/MasterCard to charge a lower rate on debit transactions run as credit, because there is less inherent risk. Your processing statement should reflect a rebate for debit. If it does not, you are paying too much and should speak with one of our staff.

A merchant account is similar to an open-end line of credit. You send us your transactions for processing, and we credit your business checking or depository account. Those funds are available for you to use as you wish. The transaction is posted to your customer’s credit card statement and they have the right to dispute any charges posted. If the customer disputes a transaction a chargeback may be generated, which would be debited against your business’ account. In order to assure you have the funds to cover any potential chargebacks we require a credit check.

No. Merchants physically located outside of the U.S. cannot process transactions with an iPayment Inc. Merchant Account. Currently, only merchants with a physical business address in the U.S. and a U.S. checking account may process transactions.

The ownership of the new store must be the same as your existing account with us, and it must also be the same type of business, unless you are opening an eCommerce location. If the business type, and address of your new store is different, you will need to set up a new Merchant Account.

New terminal deployments are generally done within 48 hours. This gives us time to obtain your new merchant number and download a terminal for you. IPayment of NY makes every effort to install the terminals in person.

A discount rate is a fee associated with collecting, assessing, approving, processing, and settling credit card transactions. This fee is often a percentage of the transaction value.

IPayment Inc. determines your discount rate by checking the information you provide in your application to project the transaction services your online sales will require. The services required to assess, approve, process, and settle an online sale may include, but are not limited to: * Charge-back procedures * Risk assessment * Fraud screening * Fraud management * Seller acceptance * Support services * Investigation procedures

Each agent is assigned directly to the Relationship Management Department. This team is your day-to-day contact. Management and staff will contact Merchant Services, Risk and Chargebacks directly for department related issues.

Each member of the Relationship Management Team serves as a backup for each other.

Daily Discount Merchants (default setting): The bank will deposit a merchant’s net daily batch amount (batch minus the qualified rate discount fees). All downgrade discount rates, customer service fees, monthly minimums, and any other monthly fees get deducted between the 1st and 5th of the following calendar month. 

Monthly Discount Merchants (must be approved): The bank will deposit each day’s batch totals in full. All discount rates and monthly fees are taken out between the 1st and 5th of the following calendar month. We submit all merchants to be set-up this way unless otherwise specified.

Your iPayment Agent site login shows you the status on your portfolio in real time. You can track your applications at www.iPaymentinc.com, 24/7 for free. If you need training or a login issued on this system, please contact Relationship Management.

IPayment’s general rule is “in by noon, out by 5." This means the account is approved, the MID and TID are activated, the file is built and the terminal is deployed (if applicable). You can check the iPayment Agent site for status and download information upon completion. Incomplete/illegible paperwork and multiple terminal deployments cannot be guaranteed for same day. Deployments requiring pin-based debit is held overnight to ensure debit is activated and we can test file before terminal is shipped.

This is a Visa regulation. Visa requires that you verify the address of the customer as a method of reducing fraud. Your receipt will actually tell you if the address was a match or not. If it does not match you can call the client and try to verify the address or not ship the product. If your terminal does not prompt for addresses or you bypass those steps you are going to pay a higher rate. This rate may be as much as 1%

You are welcome to use any source you prefer to obtain Merchant equipment. If you choose to purchase equipment elsewhere, please check off “REPRO” on the equipment section of the application. If you intend to purchase equipment through iPayment, you will need to provide the Equipment Deployment Request forms for each MID you are placing an order for. Why does it cost more for Internet, mail, and telephone transactions? It is considered safer by banks to undergo a ‘person present’ transaction. Rates are lower for ‘person present’ transactions and occurrences of fraud and chargebacks are less. What are chargebacks? A chargeback is the reversal of a transaction. Money will be deducted from your account rather than it being inserted. Double-charging, card expirations, customer disagreements, and bank errors all may cause chargebacks.

Your fee invoices are available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Simply login to iAccess: www.iaccess.merchant-info.com

Typically, it takes 24 to 48 hours.

Merchants can process VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.

The Address Verification System (AVS) matches the known address information on file at the cardholders issuing bank’s AVS database against the billing address information provided by the consumer/merchant. AVS plays a crucial role in verifying and securing transactions. Failure to use AVS will increase the percentage you (the merchant) are charged by Visa for that transaction.