Default HubSpot Blog

• Credit Card Sale
• Credit Card Void/Refund
• Transaction Reporting & Merchant Defined Fields
• Additional User Account Creation

This blog is intended to detail the features and functionality of the Maxx Merchants virtual terminal and payment gateway.

The Maxx Merchants virtual terminal is a web based interface for transacting electronic payment processing functions. The features that will be addressed in this blog include the following:

• Credit Cards
  • Credit Card Sale – Enter your credit card details to transact payment. The Maxx Virtual terminal lets you configure what fields are presented to the user to capture. This allows your business to customize the sale screen with just the info you require for the sale.
  • Credit Card Authorization – Separate authorization lets you authorize a sale and then capture the funds at a later time. Great for businesses that want to authorize the sale with the order is placed and then capture the funds when the order is shipped.
  • Credit Card Capture – Capture funds at a future date.
  • Credit Card Void / Refund – The terminal has full void and refund capabilities.
• Electronic Checks
  • Electronic check sale – Electronically capture a check account number and routing number to complete the sale. No longer have your customers mail a check only to then take the check to the bank for deposit. The process happens electronically and speed the whole process up.
  • Electronic check void and refund
• Recurring Billing – Recurring billing lets you set up intervals with which to bill a customer’s credit card. A very nice option to set up a subscription billing.
• Customer Vault – Store your customer’s credit card information off site for easy encrypted retrieval. Each customer’s sensitive data is tokenized and stored off site on our secure servers. Customer data is easily retrieved by looking the customer up by last name and is returned with all credit card information masked.
• CertifyPCI – This module offers additional certification pertaining to the payment card industries data security standards.
• iSpyFraud – This module offers robust and configurable fraud detection rules that examine incoming sales to limit potential fraud losses
• Reporting – The reporting module lets you examine all transactions run through the virtual terminal or payment gateway and holds those transactions for up to 7 years.

If you would like take advantage of a virtual terminal solution for your business please provide us with your contact information and a representative will be in touch shortly.

When signing up for a new merchant account for your business you have many options when it comes to the merchant account terminal you will need. This article is intended to clarify the various merchant account terminal types to help you identify the terminal that is best for your business.

Merchant account terminal types:

• Retail terminal
• Virtual terminal
• Mobile terminal
• Point of sale terminal (POS)

A retail terminal is the most common type of terminal and the type you see at most retail stores across the country. This is the terminal you will need if you have retail store front that your customer visit and hand their credit card to you for payment. There are numerous manufacturers such as Verifone, Hypercom, Nurit, and Ingenico to name a few. You will want to select a manufacturer and terminal that offers the features you are looking for.  Some common items to consider:

1. Do you have a phone line for the terminal to communicate on?
2. Do you have an Internet connect (IP) for the communication?
3. Do you need wireless capabilities?
4. What is your budget for the terminal?

A virtual terminal offers the same functionality as a traditional retail terminal however the interface is typically enabled through a computer. This is the terminal you will want to select if you do not perform face-to-face transactions.

A mobile terminal is a merchant account terminal that is enabled through a smart phone. Years ago the only way you could accept credit card payments in a mobile environment was to purchase a costly wireless retail terminal. Not only was this equipment expensive, but  you are also required to purchase a wireless data plan from one of the major wireless carriers which added a great deal of costs. Now, with the abundance of smart phones most credit card processors have a mobile credit card processing terminal that can be downloaded to the phone. The application will be accompanied with a small piece of inexpensive equipment that will allow you to swipe your customer’s credit card to complete the sale.

A point of sale (POS) terminal  is a merchant account terminal that is integrated or a part of a larger system that is set up to manage the entire business. POS systems are usually comprised of a computer, monitor, bar code scanner, credit card swiper and has lots of functions that stretch beyond payment processing. If you have a POS system you will want to make sure that the system supports the credit card processor you select. Not all processors work with all POS systems.

Let’s face it, the Internet is as big as the industrial revolution in how it is reshaping the landscape for commerce. That being the case your business’s website is a giant extension of your brand and ability to deliver goods and services. So, are you making it easy for your customers to buy from you on your ecommerce site? We have put together a list of things you should try to avoid in the hopes of stream lining your online offerings.

Speed is everything in this instant gratification society. If your customers have to wait around for your site to load you are going to lose them. It’s that simple.

However, site speed can be a tricky. You want to make sure you have a good hosting company that understands your business type. You also want to make sure the shopping cart you select is optimized for your site. Little site improvements can speed up the load time and will result in more conversions.

 2. Your website is cumbersome

It is very important that your customers be able to buy from your site in less than 5 clicks. Research shows that conversions rates drop considerably once the 5 click threshold is breached. The lesson, condense the site and improve the flow. Customers want a clean, easy and quick check out.

3. Your credit card capture page is not intuitive

There is an industry standard for the order in which credit card information is to be entered. Do not waiver from this standard. Statics show that customers have become trained in how they enter credit card information. If the order is altered the customer is likely to make a mistake and their experience is degraded.

4. Overcharging for shipping

Some sites see shipping as a revenue generator. Others try to lower prices below the competition and make it up in shipping.  Savvy consumers are factoring shipping as part of the total cost to purchase. The best thing you can do is reduce your shipping cost to as low as possible and pass those savings on to you customer.

5. Poor browser optimization

If your website is not optimized for all the different browsers that your customers are using, you are losing sales. Have you ever been to a site that was missing information or formatted incorrectly? What did you do? Did you stick around to try to navigate through to find what you were looking for? My guess is no, you simply hit the back button and when to another site. That is what you customers are doing if you’re not browser optimized.

A merchant account virtual terminal is a cloud based application that allows credit card payments to be transacted from any internet enabled device. This includes laptops, desktops, smartphones and tablets. The beauty of the virtual terminal is that it is accessible from the internet so you can accept payment from anywhere there is access to the internet.

When you sign up for virtual terminal access your business is given a unique user name and password to access the virtual terminal website. Depending upon how you are accessing the virtual terminal there are a few devices that can be incorporated with your account to enable your business to swipe credit cards. Swiping credit cards ensures you receive the very best credit card processing rates. Devices include a MagTek external card swiper that connects to a laptop or desktop via USB cable. There are also a number of swipe devices that are compatible with smart phones.

In addition to credit card acceptance, the virtual terminal also includes a number of value added functions that are not available through a traditional credit card terminal.

• Recurring Billing
• Electronic Check Acceptance
• Electronic Invoicing
• Robust Reporting

Recurring billing allow you to set up automatic billing to happen at a predetermined intervals each month, quarter or on an annual basis. The parameters are fully customizable to meet your specific business needs.

Electronic check acceptance gives your business the ability to accept check payments by simply entering the customers checking account number and routing number.  This additional functionality helps you cut time and expense associated with traveling to the bank to deposit checks.

Electronic invoicing is a convenient feature that lets you create an invoice that is directly emailed to your customer. Within the invoice is a link for the customer to visit and pay their invoice either by credit card or check.

Reporting gives you access to every transaction processed through the virtual terminal. Transaction information is held in the virtual terminal for 7 years and is accessed through an easy to use reports tab.

If you would like take advantage of a virtual terminal solution for your business please provide us with your contact information and a representative will be in touch shortly.