This weekend, thousands of customers of giant banks moved their accounts to smaller banks as part of “Bank Transfer Day.”

A record number of 659 members joined Boeing Employees’ Credit Union in Seattle on Saturday. Similarly, Texas credit union saw many new customers join.

These credit unions can’t sell stocks and don’t have to pay taxes unlike giant banks.

There is still no specific number of how many people actually moved their bank accounts on Bank Transfer Day. This might have been a loosely coordinated event but due to recent events such as major banks (especially Bank of America) charging their customers a fee to use their debit cards, the move has harnessed a lot of attention.

You might expect the big banks to get worried over this but that’s not the case? Why? Because generally the people that move to credit unions are not profitable customers. They have small balances and buy very few products from the bank.

Credit card processing, like many other things, is now mobile.  With a variety of companies coming out with sleek savvy devices to process credit cards I decided to see what the buzz was about. I did research online, as well as asked friends who have firsthand experience with some of the devices.  The processor I chose to use in this review is Pay Anywhere.  I will highlight some of the pros and cons to the device.

Pros

First, the device itself looks cool and you obviously can accept credit cards anywhere.  The interface on the phone is easy to navigate and just as easy to pick up on.  The card reader, which was shipped free of charge, securely attaches to the phone and works on the first try.  It took a few business days for the reader to arrive, but I was able to accept credit cards by manually entering the card number through the application, which is also free to download.  Being able to begin accepting credit cards before the reader arrives is a huge plus.  It has reliable hardware and the phone (iPhone in this case) can charge and sync while the reader is attached.  The receipts are e-mailed to the customer instead of being printed out saving money on the cost of paper and allowing you to advertise your business as taking steps to “go green.”  Finally, the fees associated with Pay Anywhere are not as costly as traditional credit card terminals. The fees were manageable at 2.69 percent plus $0.19 for cards that are swiped, and 3.49 percent plus $0.19 if you manually enter the card data.  The difference in fees is because manually entering a card is less secure than physically swiping the card.

Cons

The biggest con with this device is the length it takes for the funds to get into your account.  It takes about three days.  That isn’t bad if you’re a big business who doesn’t need to see that money right away, but if you are a small business or start up business this can be an issue.  The next con is the processing fees.  Above I mentioned that it was a pro but there are some cases that the fees are also a con.  Let’s say you are using the device at a bake sale and you are selling your pastries for a dollar each.  If someone buys one pastry you are paying a fourth of that (about $0.22) in fees.  Again, this is also a pro because the fees are lower or the same as the majority of its competitors.

Overall I would suggest Pay Anywhere to anyone interested in mobile credit card processing.  It is a cost and energy efficient way to accept credit cards.  It is ideal for anyone who receives business away from the businesses home office and is backed with 24/7 customer support.

Toyota, the Japanese auto manufacturer, reported that it expects its annual profit to drop by 31%. The reason provided for this massive drop was the recent powerful earthquake which cost Toyota approximately $4 billion.

Toyota stated that it does not expect to have any profits in the first half of the fiscal year but plans to cover half of the costs in the second half.

Other manufacturers in Japan have also been reporting similar results due to the earth quake that damaged a lot of property in Japan, including a nuclear power plant.

Toyota, which is currently the no. 1 biggest automaker in the world, will probably lose its ranking due to the loses from the earthquake.

A close friend of mine came to me few days ago asking about merchant accounts. His dad is starting a new apparel store in Long Island. While initially, it’s going to be a small store but my friend’s dad does hope to expand it soon. This is why he is already thinking of the possibility of accepting credit cards from his future customers. This prompted me to do some research and investigate merchant accounts in detail.

For those of you know who are not quite familiar with merchant accounts, they are accounts especially targeted towards small businesses who wish to provide their customers with the option of credit/debit card payments. In today’s digital world, millions of transactions are conducted every day through credit/debit cards. In the last few years, getting a credit card has been so easy that almost everyone has one. After all, it is easier and safer to carry a small card than to carry large sums of money with you all the time. Due to this boom in credit card users, it has become almost mandatory for new businesses to accept credit cards for customers’ convenience. North American Bancard offers exceptional merchant services and has been doing so for many years. But it’s wise to analyze all your options thoroughly before settling down with anyone provider.

In the rest of this article, I discuss the numerous advantages and disadvantages of getting a merchant account.

Advantages

• Customer convenience – As I mentioned before, most customers don’t carry much cash with them these days. Though, you can always find several credit cards in their wallet. Moreover, the competition among retailers is extremely high these days. So if customers can’t use their cards at your store, they will just move on to another store down the block which does accept cards.
• Take your business online – Customers don’t just like to use their cards in stores but also in online stores. So, if you have a store then you should consider taking it online to make it easier for your customers to place orders. And once you do that, you can use your merchant account to accept payments online.
• Faster transactions – Merchant accounts are not only convenient but also fast. If your business accepts a lot of checks then you know that it can take quite some time to cash them. Instead, you can simply accept payment through cards so that transactions take only few seconds.

While there are several advantages of getting a merchant account, I will only discuss the main ones. Now, if there are advantages, they will most certainly be disadvantages. It’s your duty to carefully examine each advantage and disadvantage, weigh all the options and decide whether getting a merchant account for your business will be a smart move.

Disadvantages

• Security – As soon as one starts talking about digital methods, there are always security issues involved. When a customer uses a credit card terminal to swipe his/her card, the information from the credit card (i.e. card number, customer’s name etc) gets stored in the retailer’s database. Thus, it is retailer’s responsibility to keep that information safe.
• Frauds – I am sure you have heard of fraud cases regarding credit cards. This consists of a person using a credit card that belongs to someone else. These kinds of frauds can be avoided by verifying the customer’s identity before accepting the card.
• Fees – Getting a merchant account and providing your customers with a convenient way to pay don’t come free. How much retailers are charged depends on several factors? It is extremely important for small business owners who are thinking of getting a new merchant account to find out about the fees that they are going to be charged.

I hope you learnt something from this post. Merchant accounts are extremely important for businesses to dwell in today’s world. And companies such as North American Bancard are at the forefront of satisfying small business needs. However, one needs to be extremely careful before getting one.

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Schmidt steps down, Page the new CEO

Google took the world by shock when it announced that Larry page will be the CEO of the firm starting April. Page will be replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO. This is a very interesting move by Google which has raised multiple questions given when Google is facing competition from Facebook and Twitter.

This is similar to Steve Jobs, founder Apple, coming back to run Apple when the firm was facing serious issues. Though, in Google’s case there is no such urgency as Google dominated the search market last year as well and generated 29 billion dollars in revenue last year. Popularity of Facebook, Twitter etc. which aren’t in search business but nevertheless are eating into Google’s revenues are a concern for the search giant.

Major goal of Page who co-founded Google with Sergey Brin will be to run day to day operations and also to get Google back to top in Web
development. Page is also expected to speed up decision making while Schmidt will look into deals and government outreach as executive chairman.

Most believe that Page would need a strong shoulder at Google who can look at operational chores for him while he can focus on making Google capable of competing against Facebook and Twitter.

You probably know that Dow Jones had been going down for five consecutive days until today. The streak was finally ended due to positive results reported by retail giants Wal-mart and Home Depot. Dow Jones Industrial Average incremented 103.84 points to 10405.85.

Impressive quarterly results led to 93 cents rise in Home Depot and 63 cents rise in Walmart. Walmart’s earnings rose 3.6% in the latest quarter while Home Depot’s earning rose by 6.8%.

The economy is still struggling because of the recession. The consumers are, once again, trying to spend less and less which is plunging the economy into a deeper hole.

A credit card processing company based out of Troy, MI, North American Bancard has grown significantly over the past couple of years. They have topped off the tremendous growth with the acquisition of two companies this spring.

The company handles many different types of merchant accounts. From wireless merchant accounts to setting up payment gateways for your website, they are flexible and customer focused. You can look at the North American Bancard Blog if you want to see the other services that they offer. The blog also connects to the corporate website, so if the articles peak your interest, then you can click right over to the actual products.

The North American Bancard Wikipedia page gives some of the achievements of the company. As you can see the company is surging forward while many businesses still have their belts tight. With the planning and courage to take a risk, any business can play their cards right during a recession.

To conclude, I will leave you with another link that you might find useful for your research on this company, and that it is the North American Bancard Linkedin page. Maybe you can network with some people that work there.

Setting your business up to accept credit cards is a great way to reach out to new customers and encourage your existing customers to spend more. Nowadays, most businesses that process credit/debit cards do so via a merchant account. Merchant accounts essentially serve as a credit/debit card processing agreement between a business, a merchant bank and/or a third-party processor.

The following are a couple of tips that both current and prospective merchant account users can benefit from:

Buy Non-Proprietary Hardware

Credit card payments are processed via a POS terminal when customer credit cards are either swiped or manually keyed-in. With so many POS terminals available on the market, it is often times hard to choose between them. When looking at terminal you want to weigh it’s accessibility, flexibility, operating speed, cost, functionality and reliability. You’ll also want to consider whether or not a terminal is non-propriety. Non-Proprietary essentially means that the terminal’s hardware and software are independent of each and thus can be bought separately. Non-Proprietary terminals can pretty much be reprogrammed by any processor, making them a much more open and accommodating option than the alternative- a proprietary system. With a proprietary POS, terminal hardware and software are packaged together, sold, and supported all by the same company. This makes them very vendor specific and severely limits the options that are available to the user. In my opinion you should never buy proprietary hardware or hardware that you can’t take with you to another processor.

Conduct Due Dilligence

This may seem like a no-brainer, but there are a lot of dishonest credit card processing companies out there, and you’d be surprised by how many business owners are duped by them due to lack of research. I cannot stress enough how vitally important it is that you conduct due diligence and fully investigate a credit card processing company prior to signing a contract.

Don’t assume that because a company is large or has been in business for a long time that it makes them a legit or worthy partner. A lot of companies try to hide their less-than-honest practices and shady pasts from consumers by selling out to a bigger vendor or bank. Reading online reviews and ratings in my opinion simply isn’t enough to protect your business from these types of wily providers. The best way to ascertain the legitimacy, trustworthiness and reliability of a potential provider is through performing a background check. Contact the Better Business Bureau where the company is headquartered to get a reliability report or simply conduct an online search through there website here.

Also, don’t solely rely on internet and email when in communication with these types of companies. Talk with someone in customer service via phone or live chat and be sure that you get and later verify their credentials.”

Build a Secure Network

For those looking to acquire an internet merchant account, having a secure network is the first and best line of defense against the many types of online fraud- identity theft, hackers, etc. It is absolutely important that you install and maintain a firewall configuration that sufficiently protects your customer’s cardholder data. This will enable communications and transactions across your network while simultaneously preventing attacks and unauthorized access. Also, never use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters. Vendors themselves can be hacked, and passwords given to clients can be compromised.

With merchant accounts, comparison shopping is absolutely vital. Be sure to look at a number of processors to find the best contract because the costs can vary greatly.For more information and reviews on merchant accounts and merchant services take a look at the information presented on businessknowhow.com, nabancard.com or credit-card-processing-review.toptenreviews.com

After Greece, Now it is Hungary’s economy that is in trouble. There has been a fear in the market that Hungary is facing a debt crisis and hence its currency has devalued considerably against euro. According to spokesman of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister, the earlier government of Hungary falsified the data. Apparently, Hungary’s currency, the Forint, has devalued by 5.6% against the Euro.

Hungary is in great needs of funds but now it will be much more difficult for the country to borrow money. The biggest problem is that due to the recession of 2008, Hungary has already borrowed a lot of money. In 2008, Hungary was forced to ask for 25 billion dollar package from IMF and EU. The new government still says that it can manage big tax cuts which it promised to the Hungarians during the April election campaign.

Another issue is the fact that many Hungarians have taken mortgages in Swiss Franc since the interest rate is low in Franc. Hence with the devaluation of the Forint, homeowners will have to pay lot more mortgages. Experts are scared as the Forint devalues more, a banking crisis may emerge in Hungary.

Presenting false data by a nation is becoming quite a problem as the examples of Greece and Hungary emerge.