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- ACCEPTING CREDIT CARDS WILL INCREASE YOUR SALES !
-
- Jim Krause, President of Axin Financial Services, Inc. has agreed to
- write a series of articles for "Sharing Ideas News Magazine" to help its
- subscribers and advertisers understand how they can increase their sales
- by accepting credit cards. Axin Financial Services, Inc. is an
- equipment finance leasing company specializing in merchant electronic
- draft capture equipment. Axin's lease portfolio includes many
- home-based businesses, seminar providers, consulting companies, and
- telephone order sales companies as well as retail stores. Axin
- Financial Services, Inc. is a member of the Brea Chamber of Commerce and
- is also an Associate Member of the Bank Administration Institute that
- has eighty-eight member banks in the two chapters that Axin is
- associated with. Axin's CompuServe User Identification is #74271,1045.
- Contact Axin Financial Services, Inc. and Jim Krause at (310) 694-0565.
-
- Most businesses find that accepting credit cards (American Express,
- Discover, MasterCard, Visa) substantially increases sales by taking the
- immediate cash availability factor out of the prospective buyer's
- decision making process. With credit card acceptance, the prospective
- buyer only has to decide if your product will be a benefit in his or her
- life and is the price appropriate in relation to the perceived benefit.
- The customer's present lack of cash availability eliminates numerous
- sales opportunities that would be closed by accepting the prospective
- buyer's credit card! Michael Haschka, owner of Graphic Impact, in
- Camarillo, California (a home-based business specializing in developing
- and selling Windows Shareware utilities and small applications) recently
- remarked in an interview for CompuServe Magazine: "My volume of orders
- has increased approximately 70% through the usage of the merchant card
- account! I am now able to process many more orders from foreign
- countries since it does not require a common currency or system of
- banking. The sign up process was dead simple with the help of Axin
- Financial Services. The entire process has been virtually effortless
- and hassle free for me!"
-
- Only a small percentage of U.S. banks are merchant sales draft
- "acquiring" banks and most "acquiring" banks will only sponsor retail
- store fronts to access the credit card acceptance networks. However, a
- few progressive thinking banks will accept merchants operating in the
- non-standard retail setting. With "home-based businesses," "off-premise
- sales, " and "mail / telephone order sales" increasing much faster than
- traditional retail store front sales, banks that will look at the
- merchant's total situation instead of just the retail store front are
- understanding sales in the 90's!
-
- There are two main criteria considered when merchant banks review the
- "non-standard" merchant. The first criteria is the personal credit
- history of the owner(s) of the company. A clean credit history shows
- the individual can control his/her finances and is not a high risk to
- defraud the credit card system if money problems arise in the future.
- The second criteria is the product(s) to be sold in credit card
- transactions. The product must be clearly described and should not make
- any promises that might not be delivered, which would cause buyer
- remorse and "charge-backs." If the merchant can pass these two
- criteria, chances are excellent for merchant credit card processing
- approval.
-
- Most merchant credit card processing banks will deposit the credit card
- sales proceeds directly into the merchant's existing business bank
- account and do not require that the merchant open an account with their
- bank. The money is transferred electronically to the merchant's
- business bank account via the Federal Reserve Automated Clearing House
- and is in the merchant's bank account two business days after the charge
- transaction. The merchant receives a monthly bankcard statement that
- provides a breakdown of all transactions and service charges.
-
- Future articles in this space will deal with reader's questions
- regarding credit card acceptance issues. Please send your questions or
- topic requests to:
-
- Jim Krause
- Axin Financial Services, Inc.
- 581 Charwood Ct.
- Brea, CA 92621
-
- (310) 694-0565 or fax (310) 694-0565.
-
- Axin Financial Services, Inc.'s CompuServe ID# is 74271,1045