Merchant Account Provider
"Venue Communications, Inc. recommends Cardservice International as your merchant account provider"
Venue
Communications, Inc. could choose any number of Merchant Account solution providers
to recommend to you. We chose to put our reputation on the line with Cardservice
International. Our research found that extremely competitive Merchant
Account rates and fees were important to you as well as responsive and competent
service in handling your non-cash transaction processing needs. We found by
joining the purchasing power of such a large portfolio of merchants we all
can benefit from some of the lowest rates and fees in the industry. We are
also proud to have partnered with Cardservice
International because of their reputation for service - as the industry "Acquirer
of the Decade"
( as voted by industry peers at the Electronic Transaction Association).
Click any Cardservice International link on this page to open a merchant account.
How Cardservice International (CSI) works?
Editorial By Jack Kimball- Agency Owner
Many prospective clients and existing Merchants call me wondering how all the pieces fit together at Cardservice International. Particularly frustrating is the variances of pricing which can result from talking with different Agencies.
Cardservice
International has a corporate office in
The discount rate and transaction fees that you pay for the privilege of accepting credit and debit cards. A big part of this fee which you see on your Merchant Statement is paid by the Acquiring Bank to the Issuer of the card. This is called the Interchange Fee. See ?Term of the Month?.
The "Selling Arm" of Cardservice International is a network of better then two hundred independently owned Agencies. If you call the corporate office and indicate you are interested in a product or service then you will be referred out to an Agency. A good parallel is Nationwide Insurance which has a big corporate office which services accounts. If you open up the yellow pages you can find a local Independent Agency under Nationwide Insurance which can help you with your insurance needs. CSI works much like this.
Cardservice International independent agencies make money on set up fees, application fees, and the sale or lease of software and credit card terminals. CSI Corporate also pays a residual of your processing fees to it?s Agency offices on a monthly basis. Should you enter into a lease which you get through an Agency Office then basically you are financing the software or terminal purchase. The CSI Agency then sells your lease to the leasing company. The leasing company writes a check to the Agency.
Each Cardservice
International Agency has unlimited territorial rights and can do business
anywhere in the
Be careful about entering into an Agreement with an Acquirer based on price alone. One of the benefits of Cardservice International is that the rates and fees are for the most part set by the Corporate Office. Many Acquirers will offer a ?great deal" on software or hardware only to make it up on rates and fees later. In my experience CSI does not use these type of "bait and switch" tactics. I get a call a week from a competitor Acquirer to leave CSI. Usually the selling point is that I can "increase the rate" and make more in residuals. No thanks.
Three things are important to know.
The new client actually enters into a Merchant Agreement with the corporate office of Cardservice International who then services your account. CSI Corporate, not the Agency, for the most part sets the discount rate and transaction fees.
Each Agency has to make money somewhere. How the pricing is structured is up to the Agency. Some get paid more up front and some get more over time through residuals.
The service levels of different Agencies varies widely so make sure you are doing business with an Agency with the experience and competence to properly serve you.
