 When you partner with an ETA Certified Payments Professional (CPP), you’re choosing more than just a payments provider — you're choosing someone who is qualified, ethical, and committed to helping your business thrive.
A CPP is recognized by the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) as a professional who: ✅ Has a minimum of 1–3 years of experience in the payments industry ✅ Has passed a rigorous, third-party exam developed by industry experts ✅ Has been recommended by a supervisor or industry leader ✅ Abides by a strict code of conduct ✅ Completes continuing education to stay up to date every 3 years What That Means for You By working with a CPP, you can trust that you're getting expert advice, transparent solutions, and a long-term partner who puts your business first. Ray is here to help your business. Call First Coast Payments at 904-638-8804 today!
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 A charge back / dispute is when a card holder contacts their bank to file a claim to have their funds returned on a credit card or debit card transactions. Why might a customer dispute a charge? Fraudulent activity, Dissatisfaction with a product or service, Errors made by the business, Unauthorized transactions, and Nondelivered of goods or services. What are the consequences for businesses? Chargebacks can result in financial losses, damage to reputation, and higher fees from payment processors. Have you had a charge back yet? If not, statistically it a matter of time. According to data found in Chargebacks911’s annual Cardholder Dispute Index, in the United States alone, cardholders on average disputed about six transactions throughout 2023. This means an astounding $65.21 billion worth of transactions were overturned through chargebacks. When you factor in Visa’s report that up to 75 percent of all chargebacks are a form of chargeback abuse or misuse—commonly known as “friendly fraud”—and that each dollar lost to friendly fraud costs merchants more than three times the transaction value in fees, fines and lost merchandise, according to LexisNexis, this means that U.S. merchants lost more than $183 billion last year to illegitimate chargebacks. Also, the Merchant Risk Council issued a critical alert regarding a surge in organized chargeback abuse, meaning that methods to game the chargeback system are becoming widespread and more malicious. With retailers only winning 18 percent of their chargeback representation cases and cardholders facing essentially zero consequences, the problem is approaching uncontrollable levels. A business cannot stop a cardholder from initiating a charge back / dispute. What you can do is always keep good records of all transactions, invoices and the terms of your sale. In other words what records do you have if you need to “defend” the transaction? Make it your standard operating procedure that every transaction will be disputed and you have the records available. A good resource to refer to is: Dispute Best Practices Guide October 2024 We are here to help your business by helping you flight disputes. In addition, by giving you competitive rates and great service. Give us a call at First Coast Payments 904-638-8804 
 5 million US Credit Cards Leaked Online
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/12/5-million-payment-card-details-stolen-in-painful-reminder-to-monitor-christmas-spending?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b2c_pro_oth_20241223_decemberweeklynewsletter_paid_v4_1_173452521105&utm_content=Card_details_stolen I read headlines like this and I see it from a different perspective. Most read these headlines and think, as a consumer, how their cards might be exposed in a data breach. That is not a problem for consumers as most fraudulent charges on a credit card is covered by the bank or issuer. Any fraudulent charges taken by a merchant may be liable in most situation. This is why as a merchant it is so important not to let your guard down. The fraudster is looking for cash and always searching for the weak link in the system. Here are few things to be aware of: If you are a retail business and need to manually enter a card there are certain rules you must follow. If your account is a card not present account, always input the billing address, zip card, and the CVV at the time of sale. Look for the response to see if all the info matches. This helps to prevent fraud and helps should there be a dispute due to fraud. Be suspicious of large orders that are shipped to an out-of-town address. Many times, it could be fraud and a stolen credit card involved. Just because there is an approval is no guarantee it is legit. For a retail business that accepts cards in person, if a CHIP Card will not read, ask the customer for another form of payment. There is more info. Now is a good time to revisit this post about protecting your business against disputes. Click the link: https://www.firstcoastpayments.com/blog/chargebacks-disputes-rising We are here to help you should you have questions about disputes/chargebacks and anything related to Point Of Sale systems or credit card processing solutions. Give us a call at 904-638-8804.  Ever wonder why gas stations list prices with a "point" typically ending in 9/10 of a cent? It is a practice that goes back to the early 1900s when adding even a single penny to the price of gas seemed like a significant increase due to lower overall gas costs at the time. It's a marketing tactic that makes prices appear slightly cheaper to consumers, creating a psychological perception of a better deal compared to a whole number price.
How does this relate to credit card processing cost? There are many companies in this industry that may only tell you what you want to hear, instead of giving you the truth. They might mention a very low rate of 1.25% cost to accept credit cards, however not mention the other fees. Like, transaction fees, annual fees and termination fees, just to name a few. To really see ALL of the cost you need to look at the monthly processing statement. To see the statement can take a lot of effort by requesting a login to a portal and the effort of login monthly. Many time the statements can be hard to understand. Just like gas stations marketing tactic, this is a way to keep the info difficult hard to view. As it is stated, “Out of sight, out of mind”. We are here to help your business and earn your business and keep your business! By giving you great rates and service, you win and we win. We are here for the long haul. If you want transparent info and at your finger tips every month, give us a call at First Coast Payments! 904-638-8804 It is important to know the severity about using your account to process a transaction for a friend. What do I mean by this? So, let's say you have a friend John that owns a roofing business. John does not have his own merchant account; he calls you up you and ask if you can take a credit card payment for him as a favor. Seems like a win / win situation. You help your friend out and your friend John can take a card from his customer. We all want to be good people in general and want to help our friends out when we can.
Not every situation will be exactly like how I'm describing but you must know that this is considered a form of money laundering. You can lose your services per the card brands and any future processing services you may inquire about in the future with another company. It could also cause issues with the IRS; these are just some of the worst-case scenarios and we want you to be informed. At First Coast Payments we are here to help you should you have questions about this post or anything related to Point-of-Sale systems or credit card processing solutions. Give us a call at 904-638-8804!  Although I work in the payment industry, I too am a consumer of goods and services like everyone else. Since I work in the payments industry, I notice things that the average consumer may not notice.
I am beginning to notice is many businesses have not adapted to the new Visa Rules when a fee is added to a card transaction. In April 2023, Visa made changes to their compliant Surcharging regulations. Non complaint programs using the non-cash adjustment, service fee or some other line-item fee on the credit card receipt will be considered non- compliant Surcharging and may cause a business to be subject to fines by Visa and Mastercard.
If your business charges a cardholder a fee to use a credit card or debit card and your terminal receipts show a fee you may not be compliant with the new rules. Visa is being very aggressive in seeking out businesses that are not in compliant and assessing penalties. This is being accomplished with secret shopper programs and consumer complaints. If your current company has not updated your terminal or your Point of Sale to adhere to the new rules, you should give us a call so we can help you become and stay in are in compliance. At First Coast Payments we are here to help you should you have questions this post or anything related to Point-of-Sale systems or credit card processing solutions. Give us a call at 904-638-8804  You press the 'pay' button, and within a couple of seconds, you receive an order confirmation. It’s a success! That’s the typical way most consumers perceive credit card transactions — essentially, they don’t really think about them at all. Whether it's an in-store, online, unattended, or embedded payment, the behind-the-scenes operations are inconsequential as long as it's simple and functional.
Here is an insight of the journey that a customer's card information, personal data, and funds traverse every time a purchase is made. In the end you will have a better understanding of how credit card payments function and how to enhance the purchasing experience for your customers. The General Path of a Credit Card Payment We'll commence with a broad overview of the processing steps and gradually delve into the details as we progress through the process. Every credit card transaction generally undergoes five primary steps: submission, authorization, authentication, clearing, and settlement. The interface for most consumers is a terminal, point of sale or a payment gateway is like a secret helper during card transactions, handling sensitive card information and sending it to banks for approval. It's crucial for both online and in-store payments. The interface doesn’t just send data—it also protects it. It uses encryption to secure the information. Sometimes, extra security steps like 3DSecure are required before the transaction goes through. Once secured, the interface sends the data to the acquiring bank, the card network, and the customer’s issuing bank. The acquiring bank is the merchant's link, the card network helps with rules and authorization, and the issuing bank evaluates and approves the transaction. It is worth noting that just because there is an approval does not guarantee the card is not fraudulent. Finally, the issuing bank checks for available credit and approves or denies the transaction. The decision is then sent back through the network, and the process, from submission to approval, usually takes seconds. However, for the merchant and the banks, approval isn't the final step. Clearing: Initiating the Movement of Funds The initial stages determine if a transaction can proceed without any exchange of money occurring yet. The movement of funds happens in a separate process, starting when the merchant sends the accepted transaction for clearance. Clearing involves the three parties—acquiring bank, card network, and issuing bank. It begins with merchants batching transactions together for submission. Typically, they send these batches once a day after business hours. These batches are sent to the acquiring bank or payment processors. They can contain hundreds or thousands of transactions, which need to reach the right issuing banks for settlement. To manage this, the acquirer sends the batch to the card network, which sorts and routes each transaction to the respective bank for the final settlement. Settlement: Funds Deposited in the Bank Settlement involves the issuing bank deducting the amount from the cardholder's available credit and sending it to the card network, which transfers the funds to the acquirer. The acquirer then deposits the funds into the seller's merchant account, known as funding or settlement. Unlike authorization that happens in seconds, clearing and funding usually take longer—around two to three business days. This delay, a standard hold in the industry, serves as an extra safety measure to prevent fraud and ensure financial security. While a standard two-day delay is common, some payment processors offer faster funding services, granting brief credit to merchants until the settlement is complete. In Summary The entire payment process involves numerous intricate steps, often without a second thought by most consumers. However, when examined in detail, it's fascinating to comprehend the complexities behind the scenes of processing transactions when one realizes this takes place around 1.86 billion credit card transactions daily. At First Coast Payments , our dedication lies in ensuring that a business will take payments quickly and smoothly so they can focus on their customers. We provide with seamless, cost-effective, and transparent payments, while the business will maximize payment revenues. We are here to help you should you have questions this post or anything related to Point-of-Sale systems or credit card processing solutions. Call First Coast Payments at 904-638-8804! 
*Per requirements of the card brands. We are here to help you should you have questions about Best Practices or anything related to Point Of Sale systems or credit card processing solutions. Give us a call at 904-638-8804  We posted back in January 2021 “Protect Your Business Against Disputes and Charge Backs” Click here to view previous post.
Since then we continue to see chargebacks / disputes increasing for all types of merchants. While it’s impossible to avoid charge chargebacks / disputes entirely, the good news is there are simple steps you can take to reduce the number of chargebacks / disputes your business receives and protect your profits. We outline what to do if you receive a chargeback / disputes and the actions you can take to reduce their occurrence.  Have you ever noticed it seems like most companies don’t want you to call them? When you go to their website the phone number is almost impossible to find! It would seem that they don’t want their contact number to be located easily. After several maneuvers of verification and hold you finally reach a live customer service individual, only to then be transferred to yet another. The whole endeavor can be most frustrating!⠀
⠀ With our service we are your dedicated contact. We offer white glove service! After your business has been boarded, we continue to support you. We can help you with bank changes, address changes, credit card dispute and more. If you need to talk about your statement we are here to help you and answer your questions. Best of all there are no phone tree to go through. We are available, by phone, email and text. It’s called SERVICE after the sale and we mean it!⠀ |
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Credit Card Processing for small to mid-size businesses. We eliminate the junk fees.
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© 2024 First Coast Payments. All Rights Reserved.
Serving Northeast Florida, including Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, and beyond.
Admin | Privacy
Site powered by eCoalitions.net
First Coast Payments is a registered agent office for several ISO/MSP. Disclosure.
© 2024 First Coast Payments. All Rights Reserved.