Merchant Programs  /  Extra Features  /  How Do I Get Started?

Chargeback Tips  /  Reading Your Merchant Statement 

Merchant Programs

Electronic authorization and draft capture may be made from a desktop computer, a card swipe terminal or touchtone phone.  Transactions are deposited in the merchant’s checking account, usually on the second business day following the sale. A merchant activity statement is generated monthly to summarize all charges by card type. Discount rates are competitive and there are no hidden fees.   Merchant accounts are set up to accept MasterCard and VISA automatically.  We do offer the option to accept American Express and Discover.  (Please see Extra Features section.)  Review the following merchant programs we offer and choose the one best suited for your business.

Terminal
Merchants who generally choose this program are those who have face-to-face contact with their customers.  A credit card is presented and swiped through an electronic terminal, a receipt is printed, and the customer’s signature is required.  With this program, the merchant is required to purchase a terminal and printer.  Equipment can be paid in full at once or spread over 12 months with no finance charges.  We recommend having a dedicated telephone line so transaction processing is not disrupted due to other phone line activity, such as telephone calls, faxes, etc.  To get more information on the terminals, supplies, and prices, click here.

Touchtone
Do you have a small business?  Are you looking for a way to process credit cards with minimal upfront costs?  Our touchtone program involves the merchant using a manual slip imprinter to imprint the customer’s card information and obtaining an authorization by use of a touchtone telephone.  The merchant is required to retain all copies of the sale transactions and no trips to the bank are necessary for processing.  Merchants who choose this way of processing generally have little or no face-to-face contact with their customers and/or have very little credit card volume.  Processing credit cards over the telephone can be slightly time consuming if your credit card volume is high.  If this is the case, you may want to consider another means of processing. To get more information on supplies, prices, and to see instructions on how to process a touchtone sale, click here.

Software
The use of a software application is the optimal choice for mail order/telephone order merchants or merchants who require recurring billing capability.  Using a software application can eliminate the need to purchase electronic equipment and reduce the amount of interchange you pay for keyed transactions.  The number of software applications are endless and we will be glad to help you determine what application will best suit your needs.  We suggest that you start here: www.icverify.com.  ICVerify is a highly recommended payment processing product that meets the needs of most of our merchants who are using a software application.

Internet
Thinking of starting a business online?  Give your customers the ability to pay online with their credit or debit card and watch your business grow.  Because of security requirements that have been established in the e-commerce world, you want to make sure you are processing your credit card transactions through a well-known gateway that is compliant with all MasterCard and VISA regulations.  We recommend you visit www.yourpay.com or www.authorizenet.com.  We will be glad to help you decide what gateway is best for you.

TOP MENU

Extra Features

Gift Card Program
It is the most rapidly-growing merchant product of all time.  We offer two gift card programs designed to help your business thrive.

Jump Start
For only a one-time start-up fee of $99 and $39 a month, your business can start selling gift cards as early as next week.  This special package includes 100 Gift or Loyalty cards personalized with your business name, display materials, and live phone training.  For more information about this program, click here.

Launch-box
If you know your business would thrive selling Gift or Loyalty cards, this is the program for you.  Get more Gift or Loyalty cards with your choice of standard designs or custom cards.  For more information about this program, click here.

Debit Card Program
Terminal merchants can choose whether or not they want to accept pin-based debit card transactions.  With just the purchase of a pinpad, your customers can use their pin number when purchasing merchandise.  If your average credit card sale is over certain dollar limit, accepting pin-based debit would be like putting money in your pocket.  We charge 75¢ per authorization for debit card transactions and that’s it!  So if your percentage rate on credit card sales is higher than our per authorization charge, you should consider getting a pinpad.  For more information about pinpads, click here.

Accepting American Express and/or Discover
If you would like to accept American Express and/or Discover, we require that you call American Express and/or Discover to set up a merchant account with them.  You will be asked various questions about the business, given the rate you will be charged, and given a merchant number.  You will then be required to provide us with your American Express and/or Discover  merchant number(s) before you can begin processing these card types.  Once the merchant number(s) for American Express and/or Discover is/are given to us, you will be able to accept these cards the next business day.  We charge a 25¢ per authorization fee for these card types.  If your business is turning away potential customers or if you want more information regarding the acceptance of American Express and/or Discover credit cards, please call the following numbers to get started today.

American Express – 1-800-528-5200

Discover – 1-800-347-2000

TOP MENU

How Do I Get Started? 

If you like what you have read so far about our Merchant Services program, you can contact the Bankcard Center at (434) 246–1134 or (800) 619-5211.   Branch officers can provide you with a Merchant Questionnaire, Agreement, and Information Sheet to complete and forward to the Bankcard Center for processing or you can download these documents by clicking here and drop them off at any branch.  If you would like an estimate of your merchant rate, you can contact the Bankcard Center.

TOP MENU

Reading Your Merchant Statement

We take pride in the simplicity of our credit card merchant statements.  We have no hidden fees.  Your monthly credit card transactions are separated on your merchant statement by daily batch totals, which you can use to reconcile your checking account, and by card type.  You will also notice your merchant discount (the charge for all credit card sales run during that month) is only charged one time each month to your checking account, usually during the first week of the month.  If you would like to take a look at a sample merchant statement, click here.

TOP MENU

Chargeback Tips

A chargeback is a processed credit card sale that is reversed because of an authorization-related issue, a processing-related issue, or a cardholder dispute.  Here are a few guidelines to follow:

If you are unable to get a magnetic stripe reading of a credit card, you should make a manual imprint of the credit card using an imprinter and a sales slip.  Fill in the date, authorization number, dollar amount, and a description of the merchandise.  The customer must sign this sales slip.

Keep copies of all receipts for at least 3 years.

Respond to any and all requests for copies of transactions immediately.

Use our NetTeller service to help reconcile your batches daily to make certain your total credit card sales match the ACH deposit to your checking account.

TOP MENU