Credit Card Transaction Processing, Merchant Account Software

I’m not sure what terminal, equipment or software I should buy. What is best for my business?

Whether you are starting a new business or expanding an existing one, First Data Independent Sales has the payment solution to support your processing needs. First Data Independent Sales serves traditional and Internet businesses, as well as restaurants, mail order/telephone order and home-based businesses.

Suggested services are:

How long before I can accept credit and/or ATM/debit cards (i.e., the account is live)?

Once your merchant account is approved, which usually takes two business days, you will be able to accept cards the very next business day.

What types of merchants does FDIS sign up?

First Data Independent Sales processes credit and ATM/debit card transactions for more than 161,000 traditional and Internet businesses. Whether you are building an e-commerce Web site, a traditional brick-and-mortar business or a mail order/telephone order business, you will want to open a First Data Independent Sales merchant account, which enables you to accept credit cards and/or ATM/debit cards as payment for customer purchases.

How does LinkPoint® Connect integrate with my Web site?

To manually enter credit card transactions, you do not need any additional integration. You log on to a secure Web site and complete the credit card transaction using your LinkPoint® Connect virtual terminal.

How is First Data Independent Sales allowed to process credit cards?

First Data Independent Sales is a registered service provider for clearing and settlement institutions that sponsor FDIS to enter MasterCard® and Visa® transactions into the interchange system. The settlement banks are our clearing banks and are members of MasterCard® and Visa® associations; therefore, both card associations are obligated to guarantee the settlement of merchant funds.

Can I be approved if I have bad credit or no credit?

We maintain one of the highest approval rates in the industry.

How do I get my money?

There are four steps to getting your money. Initiating, authorizing, completing the transaction and receiving your funds.

Step 1 - Initiating the transaction to verify that a card is active and within the approved spending limit:

Brick-and-mortar and retail or restaurant environments swipe the card or key in the number through a point-of-sale terminal (i.e., card is physically present).
Mail order/telephone order environments enter the card identifiers the customer has provided you by mail, telephone or fax (i.e., the card is not present).
Internet environments where the customer provides your Web site with card identifiers (i.e., card is not present).

Step 2 - Real-time authorizing, which reduces chargebacks and catches card-entry errors:

Credit card number is entered.
Terminal or software transmits the credit card number and expiration date and sales total to FDIS.
First Data Independent Sales transmits data to customer’s credit card-issuing bank.
Customer’s issuing bank approves or declines the transaction.

Step 3 - Completing the transaction:

Merchant’s terminal or software transmits transaction details to First Data Independent Sales in a batch at close of the business day.
First Data Independent Sales forwards transactions to each credit card company, which redirects the transactions to appropriate banks.
Bank debits credit cardholder’s account and credits First Data Independent Sales.

Step 4 - Receiving your funds:

First Data Independent Sales credits your merchant account, within two business days.

When do my transactions get funded?

Within two business days after you submit your batches to First Data Independent Sales.

How is my money protected?

First Data Independent Sales is equipped to address the key protection issues of both traditional and Internet merchants, including fraud, loss prevention and chargebacks. The company uses state-of-the-art security technology, and the LinkPoint® Secure Payment Gateway uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology designed to protect all merchant and payment information.

What if I need help with my account?

First Data Independent Sales has more than 200 customer service representatives available to serve you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 140 languages and dialects. In addition, Mymerchantoffice.com, FDIS merchant-dedicated Web site, allows you to access your merchant account information online at any time, from any location.