May 5, 2011
If you accept credit cards as a form of payment from your patients, make sure you’re not paying excessive fees for this service by using the simple equation below. The CDA endorses Best Card for credit card processing. They provide personalized service to nearly 2,000 dental practices and they have been saving CDA members an average of $1,066 annually over their prior processors.
Are you paying too much in fees?
Do the Math: Total Processing FEES divided by Total DOLLARS Processed
(i.e. $277 ÷ $8,123 = 3.41%)
If the amount is greater than 2.1%, you could be paying too much!
If you already use Best Card as your processor, you may be able to save even more when new federal regulations take effect in July 2011. Click here to see the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (pages 693-699). Other changes will allow you to decline a card if the transaction is less than $10, and set a maximum amount (see page 698).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
Is your staff properly trained? These tips save your practice money.
1. Are fees higher for keyed transactions vs. swiped? Yes, because the chances of the card number being stolen or fraudulent is higher if a card number is received via Website, telephone, etc. If keying in a number, you can usually save costs by entering the address or P.O. Box and zip code of the cardholder (“AVS” or Address Verification System), as well as the 3-digit CVC code.
2. I made an error in running a sale. What should I do? You run a transaction for $1,000 and immediately know that it should have been for $100 – what should you do? Provided you have not already closed the batch, void the transaction. If the customer is close to their line of credit limit, call the customer’s bank (the phone number is on the back of the card) to release the authorization (the $1,000 from the line of credit limit). Otherwise, the $1,000 release from their line of credit limit may not occur for 3-30 days (depending on the issuing bank’s policy). A void treats the transaction as if it never occurred. Then re-run the transaction for $100 – Best Card will only charge you fees on the $100. If you have already closed the batch for a transaction, you will need to run a return. Best Card does not charge processing fees on the return (most processors do, so you pay for the transaction twice). It can take up to three days for the issuing bank to post the return.
3. Why should I run the return on the same credit card as the original transaction? This is important for several reasons: (1) The credit card processor looks for same card offset and if the returns are for a large amount, the risk department can “suspend the return” until it is researched, causing the customer to not receive their refund in a timely manner. (2) Embezzlement can occur in business so you always want the same credit card to be offset. (3) Some merchants accept Flex Benefit/Health Savings Account credit cards, and if the original transaction used these monies and the return is to a different card, it is improper.
4. I voided the debit card but the customer doesn’t see it online – what did I do wrong? Nothing was done wrong. The void doesn’t post until the batch is closed and settlement with the bank occurs. Tell the customer that the transaction will be eliminated, but it will take a few days before their online banking reflects the activity. You may want to call the bank to release authorization.
For more information, call the Best Card Team at 877-739-3952. You can also fax a recent credit card processing statement to 866-717-7247. Best Card will send you a detailed cost comparison to show you exactly how much your practice could be saving, and a $5 Starbucks gift card. For more information, click here.
