| Expense Item |
Typical Cost Ranges
|
Description |
ECHO's Fee
|
| Application/Setup |
$95 - $300+ |
This is a one time fee. All providers have an
application fee. Some charge it right out at the beginning, while others
add it into the solution purchase/lease costs.
|
$149 Application Fee, refunded if not approved,
includes business location site verification visit (home or store). |
| Hardware/Software for Transaction Processing |
Purchase: $99 and up for Software, $300 and up for Hardware
Lease: $20 per month and up
|
You need to have either a hardware device or software (may have optional
card reader) for transmitting your credit card transactions to your Merchant
Provider.
If leasing, be aware that the lease fee may not include your state sales
tax or the amount charged for the damage/loss waiver. Always determine
the lease's buyout clause, end of lease terms, and especially beware of
clauses that allow the lease company to continue charging you even after
the 48 months have passed (they say that you should contact them in writing
one month prior to the end of the lease, or you can just let them keep
charging you).
|
Hardware devices offered from $400 and up depending on features.
Electronic Payment System (EPS) is an
easy to use payment processing software with more features than
what a credit card terminal has.
The Multilevel Management System offers you
a complete point of sale system with the optional Integrated
credit card processing module for less than the cost of many credit
card terminals.
|
| Programming Existing Equipment |
$0 - $100+ |
This is a one time fee charged to reprogram your hardware
to work with a different Merchant Provider when switching providers. |
No Charge |
| Discount Rate |
1.59% - 4% per transaction |
This is the fixed percentage amount that is deducted from the purchase
cost and retained by the Merchant Providers and credit cards companies.
The lower discount rates are for retail stores while the higher rates
are for given to Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) and Internet-based
businesses. The instances of credit card fraud are much lower for retail
stores so banks are able to charge a lower percentages for these types
of businesses. A typical discount rate for US business is right around
2.49%, perhaps a little higher or a little lower. Non-US businesses will
pay a higher discount rates closer to the 3% to 4% range.
Be sure that the discount fee is credited to you when a customer returns
an item for a refund.
|
ECHO's rates vary based on type of business but are generally between
1.69% and 1.89% for retail businesses that have 90% or more of
their transactions magnetically captured or swiped (swiped transactions
(when the customer is present and you can physically swipe the
credit card through a reader).
For MOTO, Internet, and other businesses where less than 10%
of their transactions are swiped, the rate is from 2.29% and 2.69%.
ECHO refunds you the discount rate for any refunds credited back to the
customer through their credit card.
|
| Transaction Fee |
: $0.20 - $0.50 per transaction |
In addition to the discount rate a transaction
fee is also deducted from the purchase cost for the processing of the transaction.
Just like with discount rates, transaction fees are lower for retail businesses
and higher for MOTO and Internet establishments. Address Verification (AVS)
may either cost an additional fee, or may be included in the base transaction
fee. The typical transaction fee for US businesses is right around $0.30. |
ECHO's transaction fee for retail swiped transactions s is only $0.25.
For MOTO, Internet, and other businesses, the transaction fee is only
$0.30.
Also, AVS is included at no extra charged with ECHO.
|
| Monthly Minimum |
$20 - $25 per month |
The fee is based on your transaction and discount rate fees
from your credit card sales each month. For instance, say your Merchant
Provider charges $25 as a monthly minimum, the transaction and discount
rate fees collected by the bank must equal or go over $25 each month. If
this is the case no monthly minimum will be charged. However, if the fees
collected for that month do not meet the $25 minimum, you will then be charged
the difference. Not all processors have a monthly minimum fee, however
most do. |
ECHO has no monthly minimum. |
| Gateway Access |
$0 - $25 or more per month |
In most cases, the Secure Payment Gateway provider (e.g. Authorize.Net,
VeriSign, etc.) is a separate company from the Merchant Processor, they
charge extra fees. For every month that you are on their system, you pay
an access fee. The usual fee to pay for gateway access is around $10. |
There is NO Gateway Access charge with ECHO. They provide
free access for processing credit card and check transactions on the Internet. |
| Statement |
$10 - $15 per month |
This is charged at the end of each month for receiving your
statement of charges and credits. |
ECHO's statement charge is only $10 and is waived if you have
no activity. |
| Daily Close-Out |
0 - $0.15 each day |
This fee is for software and terminal processing solutions
where at the end of every business day you close-out all your transactions.
Most providers no longer charge this fee. Avoid those who do. |
ECHO has no closeout fee. |
| Address Verification System (AVS) |
$0 - $0.05 per transaction |
The AVS service checks to see that the billing address and
zip code given by the customer matches their credit card billing address.
If you do not to use AVS, VISA and MasterCard will charge you an additional
0.17% to 1.25% on those sales. Most merchant accounts come with AVS at no
extra charge. If there is a charge, it is combined in with the per transaction
fee in most cases. The AVS service works only with US credit card holders.
Currently, there is no AVS service in place for non-US credit card holders. |
The is no additional charge in using AVS with your transactions
with ECHO. |
| Chargebacks |
$5 - $25 per instance |
A chargeback is when the purchaser disputes a
charge that they found on their monthly credit card statement. A large number
of chargebacks can cause your merchant account to be dropped totally and
make it difficult to get another merchant account for your business for
several years. Chargebacks needs to be reduced and eliminated as much as
possible by be upfront with your customers' purchases. |
ECHO includes the first 5 (five) chargebacks
each month at NO COST to you. $5 per chargeback after five in the
same month. |
| Additional Service Fees |
Varies |
There may be separate monthly fees for each service you have
through the Merchant Provider (credit card, debit card, check verification,
Internet access, etc.). Make sure you know these fees before using a certain
provider. While you may not use a particular service at this time, you may
wish to add it later. |
All of ECHO's services are included in the $10 monthly statement
charge no matter how many of them you offer to your customers. |
| Customer Support |
Varies |
You may have situations where you need assistance in completing
a transaction due to an unknown error code or other problem. How readily
available is the customer support at your Merchant Provider is very critical
and do they offer a toll-free number? |
ECHO's customer support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week through a toll-free number or email. |
