Member Benefit News

Pin Debit -- An Attractive Payment Alternative

PIN-based debit, an increasingly popular consumer payment method, can be a welcome payment option for your customers. Debit cards allow consumers to deduct funds from their bank accounts directly at the point of sale to pay for goods and services. This is accomplished in one of two ways - by signing for the transaction, just like a credit card, or by entering a personal identification number (PIN) on a keypad device at the point of sale. By adding a PIN pad to your POS solution (or upgrading to a newer terminal with a built in PIN pad), you can provide your customers an attractive payment alternative, while saving money on your transaction processing expenses at the same time.

Transmission & Settlement
PIN and signature-based card transactions differ not only in the way a customer authorizes the transaction at the point of sale, but also in terms of the networks that carry payment information and the timing of the payment settlement. Unlike signature-based debit cards (also called "check cards") that use Visa® and MasterCard® authorization networks, PIN-based debit transactions are routed to electronic funds transfer networks, such as Star, NYCE, and Pulse.

Costs
Signature-based transactions carry a charge like any credit card transaction, based on a percentage of the total sale. A flat fee per transaction may also be assessed. Many merchants prefer to accept PIN-based debit card transactions because the associated fees are generally lower than those for signature-based debit card transactions, unless the ticket value is very low. If your average ticket is above $35, your business will benefit greatly from PIN debit.

This information is brought to you by Elavon. Feel free to call Kimberly Layton with any questions or for more information on the credit card processing program at 1-866-638-8614.

Reprinted from Floor Care Professional, May 2010