Merchant Account Advice

How many customers do you have anyway? If you have thousands, or even hundreds, then you know how important it is to have accurate records on each account. Did you know that your merchant account can aid you in keeping track of who has paid and who has not? They can also help you to keep your accounts receivable list short by storing the credit card information of frequent customers so that you have it right there at your fingertips.

It’s called Customer Information Manager, or CIM. CIM is an extremely secure way to store sensitive payment information on their servers. As mentioned, this simplifies payments for returning customers and recurring transactions, but it also helps you to comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

The credit card does not get stored at your location. Instead, this feature which can be added to many merchant accounts gives you a place to store them for a small monthly fee. Imagine the convenience of saying, “Yes, Mr. Jones, I can take your payment right now – I have your card on file.” You save him time and you save yourself time – in both cases that means that you can focus your energies on other tasks instead. Mr. Jones will appreciate the ease of just saying “yes” to a question instead of having to read off a 15 or 16 digit number, and then listen to it being read back. If they are online, then they will appreciate that they will not have to re-enter it every time. This can also assure accuracy because the fewer times that the number is typed, the more likely it is to be accurate.

When you sign up for CIM with your merchant account, you can also allow the customer several ways in which to pay for products. He might list a credit card but also use e-check or PayPal at times. Furthermore, you can provide options for the items to be shipped to more than one location. Companies may have several stores or locations. Even an average shopper might want to order an item shipped to a relative’s address rather than paying for shipping twice.

It’s a feature that can be a part of your merchant account if you want it to. The extra cost won’t seem “extra” if it actually saves you on office staff time. It may also save on legal fees since the compliance will be assured, and it is more secure than a locked file cabinet.

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