Any business that may be using, or considering Volt Payments, www voltpayments.com, a division of Federated Payment Systems should consider the following. The reason for this warning is because the following information is typically not discussed during the solicitation of a merchant account. In fact, many of the sales people at this company know very little about these charges or procedures because they are not provided with the information during training.
1) The standard merchant service agreement that you would sign from Volt Payments is a three to five year contract. This can be found in the small print on the last page of the agreement under the fee section. The typical early termination or cancel fee is $395. Many sales people have been known to tell businesses that the cancel fee does not apply if they close their business. It has been my experience that this is untrue. TYPICALLY, YOUR CONTRACT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW EVERY YEAR. In order to stop your contract from automatically renewing, you will need to contact them directly 30-90 days prior to the renewal date.
2) The rates that you pay to except a credit card will very. Make sure that you understand what a mid-qualified and non-qualified surcharge is along with the full rate. These surcharges are applied on top of the qualified rate that you're given. The qualified rate is usually the lowest rate advertised. Typically, the same section of the contract that discloses the cancellation fee will also disclose your additional charges. Remember, the mid-qualified and nonqualified is added on top of the qualified rate.
2.1) The only time that you will be charged a qualified rate is if you swipe a credit card through a credit card machine and the credit card being used is not a business card or a rewards card. Made a qualified transactions are typically cards taken over the phone or rewards cards. Nonqualified transactions are typically business cards being accepted. What if all of your transactions are over the phone or the Internet? Do not be fooled by the term "Moto". The term multi-is typically used to imply that a business is being given special rates for taking all of their cards over the phone or internet. The same qualified, mid qualified, nonqualified structure will typically still apply.
3) A monthly minimum charge is normally applied. The monthly minimum is an amount that you will be charged no matter what. It is essentially the lowest amount that your monthly statement will ever show in fees. It has been my experience that many sales people will tell you the minimum only applies if you do not use the account. Another explanation of the monthly minimum is, if you process more transactions than the amount of the monthly minimum you will not be charged it. These are both untrue. You will be charged the monthly minimum unless your transaction fees exceed the minimum amount. And remember, not all transaction fees count towards the minimum.
4) Miscellaneous monthly charges may apply. Always remember, if it's not crossed out on the application you can be charged for it. It has been my experience that many sales people will leave blanks or not cross off numbers in the fee section. A business could be charged for those individual items. Make sure that your written agreement only indicates the fees that apply to you.
5) The standard agreement charges an annual fee. You will typically receive your first annual fee on your third billing cycle after you begin. Then, every 12 months from that month, you will receive another annual fee.
6) PCI fees typically apply. PCI fees are loosely described as fees related to security of your credit card transactions. Make sure you understand that you may have a monthly PCI fee and a yearly PCI fee. The yearly PCI fee typically shows up on your January February or March statement. It has been my experience that the annual PCI fee was not announced and added to your statement very discreetly. The annual PCI fee varies between $80 and $200. Most sales people will explain that this is a mandatory fee required by Visa or MasterCard. Remember, Visa and MasterCard are not charging you directly. In this case, volt payments is. It is at the discretion of the processor to charge these fees.
7) It has been well-documented that volt payments reserves the right to charge new or additional fees at any time. If you look at your terms and conditions on the contract it will save this. There are some rules requiring the announcement of new fees. Typically, you'll be given 60 to 90 days notice about any new fees. The notice will be provided within the pages of your monthly billing statements that are mailed to you.
8) Make sure you open your monthly statements that are mailed to you. Make sure that your statements are even getting mailed to you. Remember, your processing fees are automatically taken from your bank account before the bill arrives in the mail.
9) instead of being charged a qualified, maybe qualified, and nonqualified rate, you may be charged was typically considered "interchange plus pricing" or "cost-plus pricing". This is a bit more difficult to understand. Volt payments will charge you a rate, usually a % and a transaction fee, in addition to the cost that they pay to Visa or MasterCard for a transaction. What you need to be aware of is that many additional charges will apply. Similar to your cell phone bill where you have all the little taxes and charges that add up on the last page. It has been my experience that these additional charges are not on the quote sheets that are provided during the initial sale.
10) It has been my experience that the quote sheets that are provided to a business during the initial solicitation are lacking a majority of the actual fees that will be charged. When volt payments provide you with a quote sheet, make sure that you review it closely. Remember, the quote sheet is not the contract that will be signed.
11) You are entitled, and Volt Payments is required to provide you with the terms and conditions that apply. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME AS THE CONTRACT. The terms and conditions are a separate section of information that outline the exact details of your agreement. Typically, if you are provided an original contract with carbon copies, the carbon copies may include the terms and conditions. But if you are provided a faxed contract or an email version, be sure to request the terms and conditions before you sign anything.
12) DO YOUR RESEARCH. You may want to consider the fact that Volt Payments is owned and operated by the same individuals at Federated Payment Systems in Melville, NY.
Volt Payments Reviews
Any business that may be using, or considering Volt Payments, www voltpayments.com, a division of Federated Payment Systems should consider the following. The reason for this warning is because the following information is typically not discussed during the solicitation of a merchant account. In fact, many of the sales people at this company know very little about these charges or procedures because they are not provided with the information during training.
1) The standard merchant service agreement that you would sign from Volt Payments is a three to five year contract. This can be found in the small print on the last page of the agreement under the fee section. The typical early termination or cancel fee is $395. Many sales people have been known to tell businesses that the cancel fee does not apply if they close their business. It has been my experience that this is untrue. TYPICALLY, YOUR CONTRACT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW EVERY YEAR. In order to stop your contract from automatically renewing, you will need to contact them directly 30-90 days prior to the renewal date.
2) The rates that you pay to except a credit card will very. Make sure that you understand what a mid-qualified and non-qualified surcharge is along with the full rate. These surcharges are applied on top of the qualified rate that you're given. The qualified rate is usually the lowest rate advertised. Typically, the same section of the contract that discloses the cancellation fee will also disclose your additional charges. Remember, the mid-qualified and nonqualified is added on top of the qualified rate.
2.1) The only time that you will be charged a qualified rate is if you swipe a credit card through a credit card machine and the credit card being used is not a business card or a rewards card. Made a qualified transactions are typically cards taken over the phone or rewards cards. Nonqualified transactions are typically business cards being accepted. What if all of your transactions are over the phone or the Internet? Do not be fooled by the term "Moto". The term multi-is typically used to imply that a business is being given special rates for taking all of their cards over the phone or internet. The same qualified, mid qualified, nonqualified structure will typically still apply.
3) A monthly minimum charge is normally applied. The monthly minimum is an amount that you will be charged no matter what. It is essentially the lowest amount that your monthly statement will ever show in fees. It has been my experience that many sales people will tell you the minimum only applies if you do not use the account. Another explanation of the monthly minimum is, if you process more transactions than the amount of the monthly minimum you will not be charged it. These are both untrue. You will be charged the monthly minimum unless your transaction fees exceed the minimum amount. And remember, not all transaction fees count towards the minimum.
4) Miscellaneous monthly charges may apply. Always remember, if it's not crossed out on the application you can be charged for it. It has been my experience that many sales people will leave blanks or not cross off numbers in the fee section. A business could be charged for those individual items. Make sure that your written agreement only indicates the fees that apply to you.
5) The standard agreement charges an annual fee. You will typically receive your first annual fee on your third billing cycle after you begin. Then, every 12 months from that month, you will receive another annual fee.
6) PCI fees typically apply. PCI fees are loosely described as fees related to security of your credit card transactions. Make sure you understand that you may have a monthly PCI fee and a yearly PCI fee. The yearly PCI fee typically shows up on your January February or March statement. It has been my experience that the annual PCI fee was not announced and added to your statement very discreetly. The annual PCI fee varies between $80 and $200. Most sales people will explain that this is a mandatory fee required by Visa or MasterCard. Remember, Visa and MasterCard are not charging you directly. In this case, volt payments is. It is at the discretion of the processor to charge these fees.
7) It has been well-documented that volt payments reserves the right to charge new or additional fees at any time. If you look at your terms and conditions on the contract it will save this. There are some rules requiring the announcement of new fees. Typically, you'll be given 60 to 90 days notice about any new fees. The notice will be provided within the pages of your monthly billing statements that are mailed to you.
8) Make sure you open your monthly statements that are mailed to you. Make sure that your statements are even getting mailed to you. Remember, your processing fees are automatically taken from your bank account before the bill arrives in the mail.
9) instead of being charged a qualified, maybe qualified, and nonqualified rate, you may be charged was typically considered "interchange plus pricing" or "cost-plus pricing". This is a bit more difficult to understand. Volt payments will charge you a rate, usually a % and a transaction fee, in addition to the cost that they pay to Visa or MasterCard for a transaction. What you need to be aware of is that many additional charges will apply. Similar to your cell phone bill where you have all the little taxes and charges that add up on the last page. It has been my experience that these additional charges are not on the quote sheets that are provided during the initial sale.
10) It has been my experience that the quote sheets that are provided to a business during the initial solicitation are lacking a majority of the actual fees that will be charged. When volt payments provide you with a quote sheet, make sure that you review it closely. Remember, the quote sheet is not the contract that will be signed.
11) You are entitled, and Volt Payments is required to provide you with the terms and conditions that apply. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME AS THE CONTRACT. The terms and conditions are a separate section of information that outline the exact details of your agreement. Typically, if you are provided an original contract with carbon copies, the carbon copies may include the terms and conditions. But if you are provided a faxed contract or an email version, be sure to request the terms and conditions before you sign anything.
12) DO YOUR RESEARCH. You may want to consider the fact that Volt Payments is owned and operated by the same individuals at Federated Payment Systems in Melville, NY.