Do you accept credit card payments?

[Possi]

I use TaxWise, also a CCH company. I have used iTransact with the software for many years without a problem. Last November they automatically signed me up for 2 different "programs" that cost me dearly. When I realized what was happening, they told me that the notice was on one of my statements and that I would have had to opt OUT in order to NOT be slammed.

If you use iTransact for credit card payments, check your statement!

So, my question is this, if you take credit cards, do you use iTransact, another software-linked CC company, or Paypal or Square?

I'm a lone ranger here, so my son-in-law did some research and he advised me to shift to Paypal. He have me a little processor box to use for "live" credit card transactions. There is a slightly higher fee for credit cards that are entered remotely.

Thanks for any info you can share.

[Lee B]

I don't take credit cards, but if I did ( based on several clients very positive experience ) I would use Square.

[Possi]

24 minutes ago, cbslee said:

I don't take credit cards, but if I did ( based on several clients very positive experience ) I would use Square.

When you are doing a lot of credit cards, and a lot of volume, it pays to compare prices. If I hadn't gotten slammed with itransact, which CCH endorsed by incorporating it with the program, I would have stayed with them. The price was very competitive and the software was easy to use. The operative word in this statement is "WAS."

[Roberts]

I take credit cards and I use Square. Honestly, I only do maybe 3-4 per year but it's exceptionally easy with my cell phone. No monthly fee, they just take the 2.75% fee. Every once in a while I have to key in the credit card number but not that often. I have a few clients that don't have checking accounts (boggles my mind).

I have a paypal account but really only make payments with it. (office supplies since I don't have a corporate credit card)

[Possi]

2 minutes ago, Roberts said:

I take credit cards and I use Square. Honestly, I only do maybe 3-4 per year but it's exceptionally easy with my cell phone. No monthly fee, they just take the 2.75% fee. Every once in a while I have to key in the credit card number but not that often. I have a few clients that don't have checking accounts (boggles my mind).

I have a paypal account but really only make payments with it. (office supplies since I don't have a corporate credit card)

Wow. 2.75 is not bad at all. Thanks!

[Catherine]

I use PayPal on my web site, Drake e-pay from within the tax program, and QuickBooks otherwise.  I only take 5 or 6 credit card payments a year so it only makes sense to use a per-transaction service.  No smart phone, so the little swipey readers are not useful to me.

[Possi]

Just now, Catherine said:

I use PayPal on my web site, Drake e-pay from within the tax program, and QuickBooks otherwise.  I only take 5 or 6 credit card payments a year so it only makes sense to use a per-transaction service.  No smart phone, so the little swipey readers are not useful to me.

I don't have a web site. I really do not want to use the software company after this year. I feel like I got robbed. I have several hundred transactions a year, so it's a pretty weighty decision for me. I need to have only one source so I can track it easily, too.

[Catherine]

1 hour ago, Possi said:

I need to have only one source so I can track it easily, too.

Sounds like one of the smart phone swipey options will work well for you, then.  PayPal, Square, Capital One's SparkPay, QB's GoPayment, PayWare Mobile from Verifone, Chase Mobile Checkout, and SwipeSimple are some of those out there.

[Catherine]

You might want to talk to your bank and see if they have someone they recommend.  Or at least will play nicely with.  Silly to do tons of research and decide, say, on the Verifone product - only to find that your bank doesn't accept payments from them.

[Lion EA]

A client with LOTS of transactions (inn & restaurant) shopped around.  The lower the price, the worse the customer service.  She went with lower price.  Her daughter (bakery) compromised to include better service for reports for sales tax and phone help.  Not sure about either one, but they have small local PA banks, so not much good comparing them.  My point is that you need to shop around.  Contact everyone and give them your typical pattern and have the salespeople work for your business by pricing out what they have to offer you.  Start with your bank for help and recommendations.  I don't have a lot of transactions, so I use Intuit (ProAdvisor saves me monthly fees, so just the transaction costs) and have PayPal on my website also.

[MAMalody]

For the few that I do, I use ProPay. (This is not to be mistaken for PayPal).

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

I use square . When a remote client wants to pay via credit card I have square send an invoice directly to the client. I think the fee for that is the same as a swiped charge. 

[Jack from Ohio]

Square is the only way to go.  PERIOD.

[Tax Prep by Deb]

I'm with Jack on this one.  Square is great!  I have never had a problem and they are very generous with their hardware.  I have several swipers including the one that is used for the chip cards.  Money is usually in my account the next day.  Never ever had an issue.  Paypal on the otherhand, well I don't want to go into it right now, but if they were the only ones out there I would never use them.  We did not part on good terms!  I won in the end, but they lost in the long run!

[BulldogTom]

18 hours ago, Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana said:

I use square . When a remote client wants to pay via credit card I have square send an invoice directly to the client. I think the fee for that is the same as a swiped charge. 

Lynn,

How hard was it to set up the emailed invoice option with Square?  I have the reader attached to my cell and that works fine, but I have some out of the area clients that would like to pay by credit card and I would like to do the emailed invoice through square for them.

Tom
Newark, CA

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

Tom, I log into my Square account via my desktop.  Granted you have to recreate the invoice in Square and have to know the recipient's email address, but as far as I am concerned it is easier for me to do it this way for my remote clients.  I find it is easy to do and does not take very long. 

 

[Lion EA]

If you use QB for your own accounting, you can email an invoice with a link your client can click to pay you.  One of my clients has been using it.  $0.50 per use, at least it was the last time he mentioned it to me.

[BulldogTom]

2 hours ago, Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana said:

Tom, I log into my Square account via my desktop.  Granted you have to recreate the invoice in Square and have to know the recipient's email address, but as far as I am concerned it is easier for me to do it this way for my remote clients.  I find it is easy to do and does not take very long. 

 

Yep, I know how it works because I have seen it.  My question was if it was hard to add that feature to your Square Account?  Or is it automatically there somewhere on the website when I log into my account online.  Hope I am making sense?

Tom
Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

It is automatically there on my square account. 

[Possi]

I definitely do not want to send invoices to clients. This needs to be seamless! That's the reason I was using the TW software company. Now that I'm getting ripped off, I have to make the change. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll talk to the bank first, then shop.

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

We almost exclusively deal with charge cards.  We have shopped around many times over the years.  Currently, we use the service available through Costco.  Fees are reasonable, service is excellent. The main issue for volume card acceptance is not what the processor advertises as their rate, but the fact that many affinity cards cost much more (the high rewards from some cards are not free, the merchant has to pay, which actually affects those not using a high reward card).

For a volunteer group I am a part of, we use a smart phone reader.  Since it is not high volume, not all the time, the fees are reasonable enough to tolerate.

Ignoring the per transaction fee, since they are fairly fixed: Since some cards can be processed at less than 2%, and some are more than 3%, services like PayPal can be profitable charging just under 3%.  For lower volume, this is the way to go, so your cost is predictable.  For high volume, using a service which accounts for and charges based on the card is the cheapest, but takes some getting used to, to avoid thinking they are overcharging you on some items.

The difference in charge card fees is why brick and mortar stores always default to debit (if you have a combined card).

[BulldogTom]

19 hours ago, Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana said:

It is automatically there on my square account. 

I logged in and it was there for me as well.   The processing fee is just a tad higher with the $0.30 per invoice charge added on.  I think it will be worth it for the 5 or 6 times I might use it during the tax season.

Thanks for your help Lynn.

Tom
Newark CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

[Terry D EA]

I use Square. It is completely trouble free, no hassles, no monthly fees, no PCI insurance, no maintaining proof of destruction of client records. I bought the chip reader as well. Again, no troubles. I get my funds always within two days.