Taking Credit/Debit Card Payments

lang8er

Hi there,
I need some advice (Hope I am in the right place - apologies if not x).
I have an HSBC Business Account and am a sole trader. I was selling clothing over the internet for several months but then fell pregnant and was quite poorly for a while so was unable to trade. Since being better I have started to sell at local fayres as well with slightly different goods and have a few party plans lined up and several stalls at local businesses. I now need to start taking payments by credit/debit card and applied to Streamline but they declined. I thought they would have the cheapest rates etc after reading these boards. I have a meeting with the Business Manager at HSBC tomorrow to find out their rates but have been told that they go through an assessment as to what rate they can offer you.
Does any one have any advice as to what they will be looking for and the sorts of things they might ask. It is quite difficult to show how much I have been selling etc as I haven't been due to the illness. If HSBC decline as well then I am really stuck!.
Sorry if I have rambled on and on but hope this all makes sense to someone!!
Thanks
x

iian

Hi, I am a sole trader as well with HSBC. I currently use their merchant service, I pay

2.99% for credit cards
29p for debit
£149 per year for rental

my contract ends with them soon and I am hoping to go to streamline through a professional body which more than halves what I am paying now. I would try and knock them down, say your waiting for some quotes from other providers.

Also gonna get rid of my business account with them as i dont think that the service they provide is good enough for what I pay them.

Sorry I cant help more.

Ian

leet_first

Generally, they will want to know what transactions are for, what level you expect and how they will be processed.
May seem a lot of info, but are you going to just do cardholder present (person in front of you) or cardholder not present as well (internet / mail order). The latter are more risky and the rates tend to be higher.
Also what do you expect the average value to be, and the number of transactions per week / month. They will also look at the likelihood of refunds / chargebacks.

Have only dealt with streamline in the past, but in a company doing circa £400k per year through cards, so do not know what rates are like for lesser values.

Hope this helps

Mark7799

See this thread from earlier

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=97608

lang8er

Hi there,
Thanks for all of your help!.
It would only be card holder present (no internet or mail order).
I went to the bank today and they are going to call me on Monday.
They were pretty helpful. I think it is probs best if I stick with HSBC for a little longer and then once I have some eveidence of the sort of money I am turning over I can always change then.
Ta x

lang8er

Hi again,
HSBC contacted me today and gave me the following offer...
£35 set up fee, 2.28% for credit cards, 25p debit cards and £24.99 per month rental. If you don't reach £20's worth you have to pay £20 each month.
Anybody got any suggestions on whether I should approach another company now and see if they can beat that offer - or any other suggestions as to how I can knock that offer down??.
Thanks x x x