We are the credit card processors for both AED and the AED Foundation.

I’d like to save you some money on your credit card processing also.

My company info can also be found at The AED Marketplace here

I wanted to send you some info on myself and my company so you can feel comfortable dealing with us. If it looks good to you email or fax (847 381 4289) me a recent MC/Visa statement. We have a lot of merchants that use POS Systems, gateways and cc terminals so I can easily load the hierarchy info for their POS/gateways. Below please find some info on myself and my company. As I had mentioned because of my long hours and the fact that almost 100% of my accounts come from client referrals I am very proud of the service I give my clients. This is because I am involved in an industry which unfortunately often still resembles used car sales as far as reputation and rightly so. However that eventually works to our favor as we demonstrate to our merchants and prospects that we are a beacon of honesty, great customer service and true fair pricing in an otherwise tarnished industry which I’m sure that you have gotten a taste of firsthand.

The reasons date back to the original days of cc processing when no or very little residuals were paid on a merchant account to the ISO and rep after it was opened. So the only way a rep could make money was to get a new account bonus and sell or even worse do a lease/purchase equipment at vastly inflated prices. Even though the opportunity now exists to make a marvelous annual residual stream most ISO’s, acquirers and banks have not outgrown that mindset as their typical “training” is a day of hard sell, hard close instruction and then they release the new rep with instructions to haunt restaurants and shopping malls. Consequently the average rep quits in six months or less.

Also I am involved in an industry were unfortunately almost 100% of my competitors quote rates that if true would be under water so consequently they quote you a teaser rate and than proceed to downgrade all of your rewards, business and corporate cards to a higher rate. In addition they charge hidden fees, annual fees, etc. I’m in the industry and sometimes it takes me awhile to properly interpret a statement. Also there are currently about 200 different types of cards which all carry their own rates so we have to make sure that although we give our merchants the best rate possible we also have to make sure we won’t lose money on an account. That’s why I need you to email or fax (847-381-4289) me a recent MC/Visa statement. And of course with us you have 24/7 Level 2 support without having to hit multiple prompts and get put on permahold just to talk to an inexperienced “customer service” rep. The average firm in our industry loses 35% of their merchants per year. Matrix loses less than 1/10 of one percent so there must be a reason for that.

Recently talking with two of our acquirers we asked how many of their ISO’s concentrate on not having their merchants suffer transactions that downgrade to a higher rate. One that has over 1,000 ISO’s said just one-us. The other one has 298 ISO’s and they said two.

Sincerely,

Bill Hoidas
Consultant Manager Larger B2B/MOTO/Internet Accounts
Product Development Manager
Matrix Payment Systems
847-381-3482 office
847-381-4289 fax

http://www.paymentconsulting.net/

http://www.greensheet.com/emagazine.php?story_id=3208

Square called unlicensed

Meanwhile, Illinois issued Square the cease and desist order after the IDFPR’s finding that Square is in violation of the state’s Transmitters of Money Act. The act requires any business “selling or issuing payment instruments, transmitting money, or exchanging, for compensation, payment instruments” to be licensed by the IDFPR.

The department ordered Square to stop doing business in the state and produce documents on all Illinois customer account activity, money transmissions and “independent reviews of Square’s Anti-Money Laundering program.”

The order called for Square to file those documents with the IDFPR by Feb. 19, 2013. IDFPR spokeswoman Susan Hofer told The Green Sheet that she could not say if Square had met the deadline. A Square representative stated, “We’ve been in close contact with the Illinois Division of Financial Institutions for several months and are addressing their concerns.”

SRG is pleased to provide this update regarding the progress of your claim in the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement.

Dear Client,

SRG is pleased to provide this update regarding the progress of your claim in the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement.

On November 9, 2012, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted “preliminary approval” of the Interchange Fee Settlement, and SRG has pre-registered claims on behalf of merchants who have signed up for their claim with the Settlement Administrator.  You may have recently received a lengthy notice from the Settlement Administrator detailing the terms of the Settlement and advising of its preliminary approval.

By April 11, 2013, Class Counsel will file papers seeking the Court’s “final approval” of the Settlement Agreement.  The final approval hearing will be taking place on September 12, 2013.

I will be communicating any important developments in this case as they become available.  Please contact me with any questions.

******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the Computershare legal notice: http://www.computershare.com/disclaimer/americas/en

Veuillez visiter le site Web suivant afin de prendre connaissance de l’avis juridique de Computershare: http://www.computershare.com/disclaimer/americas/fr

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Don’t be fooled by Dorsey’s latest idea.

Don’t let anyway talk you into using Square. CC info isn’t properly encrypted so if someone suffers identity theft you could be out thousands of dollars.
Here’s the real deal regarding “The Square” mobile credit card acceptance. They are an aggregater so be prepared to wait for your funds and no customer service and zero help with chargebacks. There are much better options. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57574759-10391709/twitter-creator-the-importance-of-tweeting-mom/

Our suite of products for B2B/ Mail Order/eCommerce clients

I am very proud of the products we have developed for all merchants accepting credit cards and other forms of payment. These products will integrate with ERP software, Quickbooks, etc.

I always believe that merchants too often get the “short end of the stick” when they process credit cards.

These are products that we have spent hours researching to make sure they stand above other solutions as being the most effective, economical and user friendly while having great customer & tech service should you need it.

We have arranged special pricing for less than they offer direct and are the only processor that has built a system to integrate all or some of them together.

Most importantly unlike many solutions offered in the payment industry you are not held hostage to just one company to be your credit card processor.

The below and attached will integrate with any processor should you choose to leave Matrix. Its my job to make sure you never do.

https://paytrace.com/front.default.pay A robust payment gateway that will default all your credit card transactions to the lowest available rate.

http://www.qbautomation.QMerchant/index.html com/ Probably the best plugin for Quickbooks

http://www.gosmartpay.com/features/ Invoice your customers online and have them click and pay online!

http://billandpay.com/ similar to SmartPay but for Quickbooks

  http://www.globaletelecom.com/Checks-by-Web-Check-Program.htm allows you to accept ACH/check payments from your customer’s checking account.

Whether you are considering upgrading your business system or not let me know if any of these are of interest to you.

MC/Visa settlement payout nears completion-there is still time to sign up

This is found money. You definitely should sign up immediately!
On February 11th I was notified that the claims administrator is now starting to actually make moves on the settlement.
The MC /Visa settlement is a good sum of money figure $400-$600 for every $100,000 MC/Visa processed since and including 2004. If you accepted Visa and/or MasterCard Credit and/or Debit Cards in the United States at any time from and after January 1, 2004, you are entitled to monetary compensation. Your company would be compensated based on your processed credit card transactions.
Please read the below and contact my friend Marc. Besides just getting you “in line” for your portion he will assure you get the maximum amount that you’re eligible for and it should decrease the amount of time you have to wait for funds. There are no upfront fees and no compensation due unless your claim is funded. Just make sure you call Mark direct at 1-212-805-7210 or Cell 1-917-957-2082
On Friday, November 9th, as we anticipated, the settlement won initial approval.
A New York federal judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc.’s proposed $7.25 billion multidistrict litigation settlement over the companies’ alleged collusion on interchange fees, paving the way for arguably the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.
His contact info is
Marc Rosenberg
Settlement Recovery Group, LLC
199 Water Street, 26th Floor, New York NY 10038-3560
T 1 201 222 4306 C 1 917 957 2082 F 1 866 519 2861
Marc.Rosenberg@srgllc.com
www.srgllc.com/

January 27, 2013 Ruling “allowing” merchants to charge 4% to credit card holders

Probably not practical as it would take a lot of bookkeeping to figure out each individual assessment and most likely just drive the cardholder away to one of your competitors.

Until recently, merchants have been prohibited from passing along the costs of
interchange fees to customers who use credit cards by charging them higher prices
(although some merchants have skirted the concept by offering discounts to customers
who pay in cash). However, due to a recent court case on November 2012, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that beginning on January 27 2013 merchants in many states will be allowed to pass along the cost of those interchange fees to their customers through the imposition of a checkout fee. It isn’t true, however, that every customer who uses a VISA or MasterCard credit card will be now paying an extra 4% at the cash register for every purchase. The passing along of interchange fees to customers isn’t automatic; it’s up to each merchant to decide whether or not to charge a checkout fee. Also, merchants will only be allowed to charge a fee that is equivalent to what they must pay for accepting a credit card, which as noted above is typically between 1.5% and 3% of the total transaction amount. The 4% figure is the maximum checkout fee merchants may charge, even if their interchange fees are greater than that. There are some other restrictions on checkout fees: they are permitted only on credit and charge cards, not debit cards; merchants must provide customers with “clear disclosure” notices (at store entrances, at the point of checkout, and on receipts) of any checkout fees, and checkout fees may not be assessed in the ten states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas) that prohibit them.

SCAM ALERT-IF YOU GET THIS READ BELOW Re: Steve has sent you an ecard from AmericanGreetings.com

This is a pretty good hoax. I got this today but when I clicked on the link it took me to a zip file instead of an eCard at Americangreetings. I hate to think what happens if you open the zip file. I have already verifed its a hoax with americangreetings. If you get similar you can send to security@americangreetings.com

Whatever you do don’t open the folder!

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Ecard from AmericanGreetings.com wrote:

Dear Bill Hoidas,

Steve has sent you an ecard from AmericanGreetings.com

To view your ecard, just click the link below:
http://www.americangreetings.com/ecards/view.pd?i=2343515831&m=2694&rr=y&source=ag999

For your security, if you’d prefer not to click on links within this email:
1. Type http://www.americangreetings.com/?source=ag999&rr=y into your web browser
2. Locate the ecard pickup link in the upper right-hand corner of the page
3. Enter the following code –> 23435158312694

Please do not reply to this email. To help resolve your issue or question, go to:
http://www.americangreetings.com/help/index.pd?source=ag999

To read about email protection, type
http://www.americangreetings.com/emailprotection into your web browser.

Your Friends at AmericanGreetings.com