Creek Financial Services — Explaining the payments industry so you can manage costs and risks

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Make sure your customers remember your name!

May 5, 2009

Will your customers remember your business name? Will they recognize it when their credit card statement arrives? If these seem like odd questions, consider how today’s consumers and businesses operate:

Would you turn off security features to save an order?

April 28, 2009

One of my larger e-commerce clients called the other day. This merchant has been with me for about a year. The owner originally signed with me not because of the savings (and yes, there were savings), but because of the experience I had as a prior Internet business owner. Because this merchant [...]

Why you should always use AVS for protection

April 21, 2009

If you own or manage an e-commerce business, and you’re not using the Address Verification Service (AVS) to help validate orders, you’re increasing your exposure to chargebacks. Like most security measures, AVS is not perfect. For instance, it only works with participating banks, which limits its effectiveness overseas. But, at the very least, it [...]

Which comes first, the merchant account or the gateway?

April 14, 2009

To do business on the Internet and accept online credit card payments, e-commerce merchants need both a merchant account and a payment gateway. The gateway secures the transactions and collects CC authorization numbers, guaranteeing that you (the merchant) will receive payments from your customers’ credit cards. The merchant account works with an acquiring bank [...]

Digging for the truth in a deceptive merchant statement

April 7, 2009

Recently, I was reviewing a merchant statement from a large import/export broker. I had already provided them with a quote, and at the request of the merchant, I was trying to calculate their expected monthly savings. After studying the nine page statement for a half-hour, I gave up. Not because it was [...]

Long live the knucklebuster!

March 31, 2009

Are you old enough to remember knucklebusters? If not, let me explain. Before credit card terminals made instant authorizations possible, merchants used imprinters to make physical imprints of credit cards showing the amount and date of the sale, along with the store’s name and address. The customer would sign the copy, thereby [...]

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Explaining the payments industry so you can manage costs and risks

Are you responding to a special invitation?

Make sure your customers remember your name!

Would you turn off security features to save an order?

Why you should always use AVS for protection

Which comes first, the merchant account or the gateway?

Digging for the truth in a deceptive merchant statement

Long live the knucklebuster!

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