Is your Merchant Processor an Active Member of Your Community?

Merchant Processing Solutions is a local South Florida company that prides itself on Community! 

Yamilet Strauss has been an active member in the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce for more than 10 yrs. She has been an active member holding several board and committee positions over the years! Yamilet is understands the value of business relationships and aiding others in the growth of their business! GFLCC Member

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc supports and is active in the Miramar Pembroke Pines Chamber of Commerce. Claudia Mosley and Stephanie Cates attend the local events regularly. Supporting fellow chamber member businesses by sending them referrals or using them for our company needs! 

It's All About Community! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc is a founding member of the Weston Florida Chamber of Commerce in Weston, Florida. This young chamber has grown over the last 3 years due to the commitment of its members! Stephanie Cates and Claudia Mosley actively participate in the Chamber's Leads Groups, Luncheons and After Hours Business events! Supporting our local business partners if a priority for MPS! 

In 2022, Merchant Processing Solutions joined the ever-growing Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. This chamber is quite active and growing. We are happy to be an Affinity Partner in this Chamber and look for to serving their members with low-cost merchant processing options! 

Being part of a larger business community (via these chambers) and not just looking out for ourselves, has given Merchant Processing Solutions Inc the opportunity to work in conjunction with our local business partners to grow! No business can survive as an island, we need each other to grow and we embrace that philosophy! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE : CLAUDIA MOSLEY & YAMILET STRAUSS

LAS OLAS LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2022

Merchant  Processing  Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420

Do you know which merchant platform is right for you?

Merchant Processing Solutions is a local merchant services company that can place your company on a variety of different platforms! What is a platform? A platform is a term for a system that allow you to safely process electronic payments. These payments can include credit cards, debit cards, contactless payments, mobile payments and ApplePay or GooglePay! 

Why is the platform important for my business? If you are a retail business and see most of your customers in person, you need a RETAIL Platform; your transactions will be run cheaper. If you are an eCommerce merchant, you need to be on a secure/encrypted/SSL gateway platform to ensure the safety of your business and your customers’ data! 

If a merchant services company places you on the wrong platform, you could be shut down for being on the wrong platform. You definitely would pay higher rates and fees if you are an eCommerce merchant and they put you on a Retail Platform. Or if you are mobile and the processor did not give you the ability to take Mobile App payments! 

A meeting with Merchant Processing Solutions helps you and us determine which of the platforms available are right for your business based on: 

• How you take payments

• What POS System you are using

• What additional features are you looking:

o Inventory management

o Invoicing 

o Recurring Billing

o Social Media and Loyalty Programs 

We ONLY want to set your business up to accept payments the way YOU need to! Call us today to discuss your needs! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420

We Give Back ....

Giving with Passion & Heart!

Yamilet Strauss & Claudia Mosley are Non-Profit Promoters! 

Working at an Orphanage 

Yamilet and Claudia have a limitless passion for helping underprivileged children in the South Florida and Latin America. They believe wholeheartedly that the only way to eradicate poverty and crime is through education. To that extent, they have worked with several charitable organizations that promote health, welfare, and education for children! With Yamilet and Claudia, it is not just about fundraising but being part of the actual solution! They have participated in community projects within the US and Latin America; bringing needed supplies and physically working to create better environments for the children they so deeply card about! Having been raised by a single mom, they understand what it takes for children to elevate themselves out of their circumstances. So, whether its building classrooms in Colombia, bringing backpacks to low-income schools in Florida or helping educate tomorrow‘s world leaders, Yamilet and Claudia are committed to making a difference and helping empower children to create their own dreams! 

Feeding families in Ommokalee FL

Helping to establish a school for orphans
in Cartagena, Colombia! 

Helping with the education of our youth in the USA!

Ever since 2010, Merchant Processing Solutions began hosting fundraising events highlighting local nonprofits and their favorite cause in Colombia, Global Dreams USA. These endeavors have allowed them to build amazing relationships with local nonprofit, and our caring business community. The events are an avenue for like-minded people to become more involved, learn how to help and do wonderful things for our fellow man! Many local restaurants and other businesses support the event venues, giving them more exposure and demonstrating their caring nature to the community. Yamilet and Claudia also feel that these fundraising events allow local business professionals an opportunity see explore the different non-profit organizations and decided for themselves which to get involved with. Amazingly enough, their clients are just as excited in supporting the causes. Their merchants value and appreciate their involvement with charities. It speaks to the caring nature of Merchant Processing Solutions and their leaders, Yamilet and Claudia! 

Merchant Processing Solutions 

    954-938-2420

Who are the Owners of MPS?

Claudia Mosley & Yamilet Strauss, owners of 
Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.

 

We are living the American dream! 

Yamilet and Claudia were only thirteen years old when immigrated from Colombia to the United States with their single mom. Their mother was a very hard worker and did everything she could to give them opportunities, even if that meant sacrifices to their family. As kids, they witnessed the result of hard work through their mother, she was their best example of dedication and arduous work. They have never backed down from what is hard to accomplish and as a result, Yamilet and Claudia have grown their business through economic challenges, business changes and even a Pandemic … and thrived!

Early in their careers, they had the opportunity to work together in a large merchant services company, Claudia was the Controller, while Yamilet was the Sales Director. Through their positions within the company, they helped grow that company to the point where is became lucrative enough to be sold. This event opened new opportunities for Claudia and Yamilet, and like Mom taught them, they seized the opportunity! They realized during their time at that their former company, just how much they enjoyed working together and the industry was the perfect fit for these two hard-working entrepreneurs!

In 2006, Yamilet and Claudia formed Merchant Processing Solutions, INC. As a new company, they kept the good they learned and implemented it within their own corporate values. They wanted to bring transparency and trust to an industry with way too many uncertainties. They wanted to solidify their reputation with solid sales; not gimmicks and lies! They also realized that many business owners were not even aware of what they were paying or even understood how to read their statements. Yamilet and Claudia decided to take an educational approach to their sales. For Merchant Processing Solutions, it is NEVER about the SALE but the CONSULTING! They disclose every aspect of their business relationship to their clients. They want their merchants to know and understand their rates, fees, obligations, and the technology, upfront, before they become partners in their business! 

They are better known as a “Concierge Merchant Services Company” or “partner” to their merchant’s business. Their merchants know they have access to them for all their questions and needs. They have earned the loyalty of their clients specifically due to this philosophy! As their merchant's grow, so does Merchant Processing Solutions! Yamilet and Claudia love staying in touch with their “partners” to bring them new, exciting, and innovative technology, better options on rates and informed on how to achieve their business goals!

If you would like a merchant processor that treats you this way, call us today @ 954-938-2420

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.

    

 

Are consumers spending at your business?

Even with consumer fears looking at inflation and recession, consumer spending remains strong! 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which regularly collects data on consumer economic sentiment, reported an increase in short-term inflation expectations on the part of consumers, but a decline in medium- and longer-term expectations. According to the Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, U.S. consumer retail spending, excluding automotive, rose 9.5 percent year-over-year in June; excluding auto and gas spending it was up 6.1 percent year-over-year. (http://www.greensheet.com/emagazine.php)

Want my money...earn it! 

These are some of the trends MasterCard found in several consumer surveys: 

• Consumer spending represents about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, according to the Fed.

• 51 percent of workers are short on money before they get to payday. The last time the survey was run, in 2018, it was 24 percent. 

• This is not just happening with lower income consumers. Over a third of workers reporting household incomes in excess of $250,000 have found themselves in that position this year, the research center said.

So what can your business do to lessen the fear of spending with consumers? 

• Create worthwhile promotions that brings them back

• Offer unique or rare products and services that makes you the ONLY place they want to come to purchase! 

• Offer rewards and loyalty programs to keep them coming back to your business! 

• Continue to offer your products and services via online website!

• Offer delivery services or drop to car pick-up

Each business today is already complaining about supply chain issues, inflation and outrages gas prices effecting their "bottomline"! But you can change that by understanding how to recapture your market and bring in happy customers! 

We have some local restaurants in the south Florida area that promote via FaceBook everyweek and bring in lots of new customers by offering nice promotions! They offer a coupon for the next time they come in along with a take-home menu for them to order online or by phone for takeout or delivery! 

Find a way to connect to your customers; they still want STUFF! They are just less apt to spend if you offer NOTHING! 

Want to save money on your merchant processing fees? Call us today! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420

Understanding Your Rates! We can help!

 All brands of credit cards charge different fees. Within each brand, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, there are card levels such as debit/credit cards/high-end rewards/business/corporate/shopping cards. Each of these is set at different rates depending on the bank issuing the cards and the brand they use. 

WHAT ARE INTERCHANGE FEES?

When a customer pays with a debit or credit card, the bank that issued the credit card gets a portion of the transaction. This is called an interchange fee (or "wholesale" processing fee). It is intended to cover banks' operating costs and the risk of fraud. But they do not approve or finance that transaction. A business processing company does that service. They will add a fee in addition to the interchange fee to cover their processing fees, funding, and potential fraud risk. 

Formula: Interchange Fee (Wholesale Cost) + Merchant Processor Fee = Your monthly business service fees.

 AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATES

The typical interchange rate is 1.7% - 2% for credit cards and 0.5% for debit cards.

Here are the average credit card processing fees for the top 4 credit card networks:

Visa: 1.4% - 2.5%

Mastercard: 1.5% - 2.6%

Discover: 1.55% - 2.5%

American Express: 2.3% - 3.5%

Below, are the most common interchange fees you can find for each card association, starting in April 2022. 

Note: Credit card networks typically update their interchange fees twice a year, in April and October.

HOW IS YOUR RATE DETERMINED? WHICH METHOD IS THE BEST! 

Flat Rate: There are companies that offer a flat rate for qualified/medium/unqualified cards. They usually range from 1.75% to 3.75%. The problem with these types of processors is that they group ALL CARDS in that category and charge more for debit than it should be, more for credit cards, and more if it is in personal or by phone or internet. Most merchants end up paying much higher than if they had used the Interchange Plus Pricing Method. 

Interchange Pricing Plus combines the EXACT price given by the Brands; Visa/MasterCard/American Express/Discover and the processor add a FLAT FEE at the top for your part of the processing that includes device connections to the networks to process transactions, customer credit card transaction approvals, and funds to your bank account. You can't just use the BRANDS to process, you need a merchant processing company to help you combine the approval network with your bank account! 

Diner's Club, Carte Blanc & JBC are cards we rarely see in the United States. Those cards, if taken, are paid through a check to your business at the end of the month. They are about 3% on each transaction. 

I hope this explain has helped business understand why Merchant Processing Solutions offers a better pricing method, by offering Interchange Plus Pricing instead of a flat rate method. You save money and ALWAYS know what we are charging! 

If you would like to know more about your rates, call us for a free analysis! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-935-2420

 

MX Merchant BackOffice Platform is Terrific!

Merchant Processing Solutions, offers MX Merchant as a centralized platform for its merchants. Completely free of charge! There is no need to have a separate gateway company, remote capture company and a retail POS, its all here!

MX Merchant’s backoffice is a solid solution to have payment data from multiple connection points in ONE location! This product is a useful tool for merchants, and it caters to a variety of niches and industries instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all approach onto merchants. 

Products & Services

Unlike a lot of other platforms and packages that offer similar services, MX Merchant offers the standard product for FREE!  Merchantscan choose from multiple apps and build a custom package tailored to your business. 

Mobile Point Of Sale - MX Merchant Express App

Offers an iphone and android app that allows mobile payment acceptance and deposit. This product is free with MX Merchant. 

Virtual Point Of Sale - MX Merchant Quick Pay

Offered on the Dashboard, Quick Pay accepts over the phone payment acceptance for credit cards, checks, cash and ACH. Transactions are tracked by customer and maintained in the Dashboard History. Payment receipts can be emailed, text or printed. 

Invoices & Recurring Payments - MX Dashboard Product

The core of any sort of payments platform is always the web-based dashboard. The MX Merchant Dashboard not only allows Virtual Payments with the auto-tracking of customer payments and data, but it systems allows for the creation of Invoices and Recurring Billing. These latter options come with a variety of options and notifications that go far beyond other payment platforms.  

eCommerce - MX Dashboard Product

The dashboard also offers API payment integration with software programs, payment gateway options for Websites and Payment links for email/text/QR Codes payment acceptance.

Integrated & Customizable Reports  - MX Dashboard Product

When you log in, you’re taken directly to a pretty page with a couple of basic reports on it. Dig around and you’ll find a reports page where you can pick from an assortment of reports, a customer database that you can fill with information, and even a page with all of your invoices, a summary of their terms and the current status.

The customer database is fairly comprehensive, which is nice. You can put in a lot of information to get to know your customers. Plus, the database syncs even with MX Merchant Express. You can search for customers in the database from within the app. That’s definitely not something you find in every merchant platform.

The unified dashboard is what makes MX Merchant impress! Despite how many apps you add to the dashboard (we'll explain in our next blog), they all play nicely with the dashboard and you can easily run your business from practically anywhere.

If you would like to know more about MX Merchant Dashboard and Platform, call us today!

Merchant Processing Solutions @ 954-938-2420

Is Pin-Debit still cheaper? Depends...

Merchants can WIN BIG with Pin-Debit and Signature Debit Cards! 

It used to be cheaper to take pin debit cards via the debit networks instead of through the credit card interchange networks. A customer would enter his pin number onto a Pin-Pad instead of a signature for payment acceptance. The debit networks are Pulse, Maestro, Interline, Jeanie, NYCE, Star and others.  But with the Dodd Frank Act, it is cheaper to take debit cards just like a regular credit card, without the pin entry.

The Dodd Frank Act regulated the large banks so that they couldn’t charge more than .05% plus $.22 for a debit card.  Congress thought that the large banks were gouging people who wanted to use a Signature Debit Cards. Small local banks and credit unions won the right to be able to still charge merchants a higher rate for debit cards run through the Visa/MasterCard network.

There are good reasons why a merchant would still want to utilize the debit networks and accept pin entries.  Merchants who have a lot of chargebacks would want to encourage their customers to enter their pin with their debit card.  Transactions that go through the debit network are as good as cash.  They cannot be charged back.  So, liquor stores, for example, many times want to keep using the pin debit network. You would probably can save another .75% off the Interchange Rates. The debit networks charge, on average, 1% plus a transaction fee of $.15 compared to .05% and $.22 for a regulated debit card. Both are excellent and should be accepted, when possible, by all retail merchants! (Pin-Debit is NOT available for account where card is NOT PRESENT/KEYED!)

For consumers, however, there are more issues to consider when using a Pin-Debit Card to make payments. Since it is linked on one's bank account, if that information is ever compromised, the perpetrator could have access to the consumer's entire bank money! There is also the issue of overdraft. If the customer purchased a higher ticket item and there was not enough funds to cover the transaction, the bank will implement a Non Sufficient Funds Fee ($30-$50) per incident! Ouch! 

If you are NOT ACCEPTING Pin-Debit and want to know more about it, give us a call! 

Merchant Processing Solutions
954-938-2420

Yamilet Strauss talks about our consultative approach with merchants!

 

Yamilet Strauss, President and CEO, of Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. is a pillar of the business community in South Florida. She has been active in the merchant services industry for more than 20 years! She opened Merchant Processing Solutions in 2006 along with her twin-sister, Claudia Mosley. Together these ladies have created a trustworthy brand in the merchant services industry! 

Yamilet talks about here Consultative Approach when working with Merchants! 

If you would like to speak with Yamilet, Claudia, Stephanie or Camilo 
please give us a call @ 954-938-2420

What do you know about alternative merchant service programs?

 The following video explains the difference between: 

• Convenience Fees
• Service Fee or Service Charge
• Surcharge Fees
• Non-Cash Adjustment

It is very important that merchant know these difference upfront before working with a merchant processor that puts them into the wrong program. The penalty for not implementing or operating these programs correctly can result in temporary or permanent suspension from Visa, MasterCard, Discover & American Express. 

If you have any additional questions about these programs, call the experts at 

Merchant Processing Solutions

954-938-2420

Let's talk Clover!

Unique Software Product that works terrific for some industries! 

Merchant Processing Solutions is an expert on the Clover Suite of Products and Services! We have years of experience implementing the products in many different businesses. However, the following are the industries that MOST prefer the Clover Products due to their reliability and performance! 

Clover Flex and Clover Mini

Retailers: 

• Retailers have both brick and mortar stores and mobile stores, like flea markets/Kiosks/mobile.
• The Clover Flex and Clover Go devices allow the flexibility to be remote while the Clover Mini or Clover Flex has a more permanent position within a store environment. 

The Clover Restaurant Suite is an essential for
managing the restaurant & saving money! 

Restaurants: 

• Features on Clover POS systems for restaurants are outstanding! Unlike other POS systems that have limited features, Clover Market offers a multitude of add-on apps to customize a restaurant's system to meet their needs.
• Restaurants have multiple points of payment connect like at the table, at the counter, over the phone and online. Clover can manage all payment connections in real-time. 
• Clover offers the Clover Station, Clover Mini, Clover Flex, Clover Go payment collection points of sale. They also offer kitchen printers for orders. 

Clover Flex and Clover Go allow for quick payment acceptance on the road! 

Service businesses:

• Service Professionals need to be fluid in their payment acceptance. Clover Flex Clover Go allow real-time payment acceptance while on the road. 
• Clover Flex can create a paper reciept while Clover Go can email or text a receipt to the customer. 

If you have been thinking about a great payment acceptance device and an even better back office dashboard, look no further than our Clover Suite of Products! Call Merchant Processing Solutions today for a free consultantion on these and other products! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420

QR Codes for Payment Acceptance

 

QR codes are fast becoming the most popular way to upload information into your smart phone. Many restaurants, fast food establishments and other retail vendors are using QR Codes to dessiminate information to customers or potential customers. But did you know they are equally useful to collect payment on sales? 

So what is a QR Code? QR (Quick Response) codes have been around since the 1990's. Created by Japanese car manufacturers to track cars and auto parts during the manufacturing stage. It has since taken on a life of its own and is used to convey all kinds of information including marketing, contact, instructions, menus, promotions, and more. They can be seen in brochures, signage, business cards, flyers, posters, billboards, and even television. A person using his phone camera can scans the QR Code a link appears and the customer clicks on that link to take the person to the shared information. 

QR Code for Merchant Processing Solutions 
Click on this to go to our Website! 

Merchant Processing Solutions can help merchants create a payment QR CODE that can be sent to your customer to accept payment. 

1. Create a Payment Link with Merchant Processing Solutions. 
2. Go to the Internet > Search for a QR Coder Generator Website (many are free)
3. They will ask you to to add the Payment Link you want your customer to open and then it will create the QR Code. Some Website even allow you to enhance the color and more! 
4. Once the QR Code is generated, copy is as a picture. I keep mine (for our website) in my files on my phone. 
5. When I need to send someone my website or contract info, I just upload the picture to the TEXT or EMAIL I am sending and the customer gets all my information or can pay me by just clicking on the QR Code. 

QR Codes can be: Text, Emailed, Air Dropped, embedded in an email/letter/flyer.

Pay quickly without waiting online! 

Currently, we have a couple of fast food restaurants that are asking their credit card patrons to use the QR CODE to make payments so that they can free up staff to service the customers faster! 

If your business is interested in using our Payment Link method to collect payments without having to haul around cumbersome/expensive terminals, call us! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.
954-938-2420