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The federal reserve board met yesterday and put together their ‘interim’ final rulings on the Durbin Amendment. There was some movement on the proposed debit cap and a deadline extension was granted for the implementation of the Durbin Amendment itself. How frustrating for all parties involved to have this financial reform drag on and on- many questions still remain unanswered and the consensus is, that only time will tell what the real ramifications will be for consumers, merchants, processors & card issuing banks alike. Here are some highlights from the ruling: October 1, 2011 would be the effective date for the interchange fee standards (including, on an interim basis, the fraud-prevention adjustment), as well as the routing restrictions. A delayed effective date of April 1, 2013, for certain

As a business owner or manager, your aim is to generate profit for your business, and preferably lots of it. Before that can happen though, the business has to have revenue. Revenue comes from making sales Sales come from customers Repeat sales are made to satisfied customers Profits result when overheads and costs are less than sales revenue In order to continue to make profits, and for profits to increase, you can either reduce overheads or make more sales.Overheads can only be reduced so far. You can try to cut the phone and power bills, reduce other expenses but that may reduce costs by 5%. That really doesn’t make much difference to the profit line – so all you can do is sell more or buy better.In this

Ready, Fire, Aim! Last week, the bill that would have given congress more time to evaluate the ramifications of the Durbin Amendment, was defeated. This means that congress now has just a few weeks to figure out how the Durbin Amendment will be implemented. Industry giants are frustrated, financial institutions are frustrated and consumers are left wondering how the ‘financial reform’ bill will affect them- the answer to that question is pretty simple: NO ONE REALLY KNOWS YET! Debit Card Questions: Will my limits be reduced? Will my rewards program be eliminated? Will my card now come with additional fees? Merchant Questions: How will the changes impact my fees? Will I need to change the way I accept credit cards? Processor Questions: How do we deal with the

Conflict is a part of our every day lives; families, children, coworkers, business partners and even strangers have many reasons to find themselves in the middle of a ‘conflict’. For some, conflict is an 8 letter word- one that conjures up feelings of discomfort and pain. For others, it is a word that is synonymous with growth and forward progress. Each month at TMC, we gather as a team and review the previous 30 days of work. We look for the things we did well, the areas that need improvement and we work in an educational session on a topic that impacts our team on both a personal and professional level. This last week- we discussed conflict (we even added some role playing exercises which turned out to

The Internet is a wonderful thing and our team uses it every day! Unfortunately, the Internet is also a place filled with hidden dangers and all kinds of risks as it relates to security, privacy and protection of your personal and business data & computers. We thought you might appreciate and benefit from a few tips on how to prevent Cyber Crime- or at least minimize your personal risk! Click on the link below for some valuable information. PREVENTING CYBER CRIME ARTICLE We discuss credit card fraud prevention every day and this is just one more piece of the puzzle! Stay Safe Out There! Cheri PerrySunday, June 5, 2011

We just chatted with a business owner, who once loved her prior processor. The key phrase is “once loved” because we just helped her do the math on her equipment lease. Her old processor “helped” her out with a low monthly lease payment of $44 a month; which she has been happily paying for the past 10 years. Her processor has billed her a total of $5280 in payments for a credit card terminal we sold 10 years ago for $499. Can you hear the love leave the room? At Total Merchant Concepts, we rarely recommend leases. Every once in a blue moon, an attorney or CPA can make the fiscal case for a small business to sign a lease for a credit card terminal. But in most