Common questions. Straight answers.

A merchant account is the account that lets your store accept card payments and receive the money. You need one to take cards. We set it up alongside your register so the two are configured together rather than bolted on afterward.

Every merchant account goes through underwriting before it is approved. The processor reviews your business type, your expected volume and your average ticket. That review sets your final pricing, which is why no honest quote can be final before it happens.

Your business details, a recent processing statement if you already take cards, and the basics on what you sell and how much you run monthly. If you are opening a new store and have no statement yet, we work from your projections instead.

No, and neither can anyone else honestly. Approval is the processor and sponsor bank decision, not a sales decision. What we can do is tell you up front if something in your setup usually causes friction, so you are not surprised.

A merchant category code classifies what your business sells. It affects your interchange cost and your underwriting. A liquor store and a gas station carry different codes and different economics, which is one reason a single flat quote across store types is a red flag.

In-person cards are 2.50% plus $0.10. Keyed and online are 2.90% plus $0.25. Zero cost processing puts the fee on the cardholder at 3.95% and you pay 0%. Your pricing is still subject to underwriting and your merchant agreement.

No monthly fee, no annual fee, no setup fee, no statement fee, no PCI fee, no customer service fee and no batch fee. A monthly minimum of up to $25.00 applies only to idle accounts, and it is waived once your processing charges pass $25 in a month.

Month to month, with no early termination fee. If you rent equipment and do not return it, that carries a $395 fee. That is the only exit cost.

Deposits land the next business day. Batching at the end of your day is what starts that clock, so a late batch pushes the deposit, not the sale.

Flat rate charges one percentage on every card, which is simple and usually costs more as volume grows. Interchange plus passes through the card networks actual cost and adds a fixed margin on top, which typically wins for an established store. We run both against your own statement instead of guessing.

Disputes are $25.00 each, and $25.00 per representment if you contest one. The account includes real-time dispute alerts and tools for responding, because the cheapest chargeback is the one that never becomes one.

A register screen, a card reader, barcode scanning, inventory software and reporting. On our setups the processing is configured with the register rather than added later by a second vendor.

Tap to Pay is included with every merchant account. A handheld smart terminal is $199.00 to buy or $24.95 a month to rent, with one free per location. An all-in-one terminal is $399.00 to buy or $49.95 a month to rent.

Sometimes. It depends on the make, the model and how it was locked down by your last processor. Tell us what is on your counter today and we will tell you honestly what carries over.

Yes. Multi-store owners see every counter in one dashboard, with reporting per location and across all of them.

Inventory management, an analytics dashboard, unlimited invoicing, recurring billing, text-to-pay links, QR scan and pay, a secure customer vault, contactless payments and over a hundred integrations. These come with the account rather than as paid add-ons.

Yes. Tap to Pay on a phone, a handheld terminal, a virtual terminal in a browser, invoices and payment links by text all work off the same account, so a delivery or a sidewalk sale reports with everything else.

Yes. EBT and SNAP acceptance is core to the corner stores we serve, including item eligibility at the register and split tender when a basket has both eligible and ineligible items.

Yes. ID scanning for age-restricted sales is standard on liquor and convenience setups. The scanner reads the license barcode and confirms the date of birth, which is faster and more consistent than a clerk doing the arithmetic during a rush.

The state runs its own lottery terminal, so the work is reconciliation rather than integration. We set the counter up so lottery sales and register sales stay straight at close instead of turning into a nightly hunt.

Scan data programs pay based on the sales detail your POS reports back to the manufacturer, which means the register has to capture and transmit it correctly. We configure that during setup so the payments are not left on the table.

Yes, where the rules allow. The distinction matters: cash discount, surcharging and dual pricing are three different programs with different legal treatment by state and different card brand requirements for how prices are posted. We set it up correctly or we tell you it is not a fit for your store.

Yes, and it is where most systems fall over. You buy by the case and sell by the bottle, so the system has to hold both units for the same product and keep the count honest when a case becomes twelve.

Yes, and switching is the normal case rather than the exception. Hardware ships pre-configured, your item library moves over from most common systems, and someone stays on the line for install day. The counter keeps selling while the switch happens.

It depends on underwriting, the hardware you pick and how clean your current item data is. Rather than quote you a number we cannot control, we confirm the timeline for your store before you commit to anything.

Your old processor keeps its own records, and you should download your statements before you close the account. We migrate the item library and pricing that the register needs to run, not the historical transactions.

Card data is encrypted and tokenized, so the sensitive number is not sitting in your store system. The account also includes a PCI compliance program: complete the checklist and the non-compliance fee, which can run up to $79.00, is waived.

You call and reach a person, and replacement hardware ships. Nobody is going to tell you to unplug it and read a manual.

We set up stores across the US. Setup and support happen by phone, video and shipped, pre-configured hardware, so a store in Memphis gets the same setup as one in Queens.