Credit cards. Debit cards. Plastic. More and more, cash is a thing of the past. At best, businesses that say, “I’m sorry; we don’t accept credit cards,” risk losing another customer out the door.
Faced with meeting their clients’ requests, independent agents find themselves caught between steep fees from credit companies and a patchwork of state regulations, which often forbid passing along this expense.
PIA has partnered with payment industry innovator Simply Easier Payments to offer members an affordable way to accept credit and debit cards from their clients and prospects.
Easy as 1 … 2 … 3 …
- Offer your customers a credit/debit payment option through a custom, secure link on the Simply Easier Payments website
- Your customer (or you on phone sales) enters the payment information and checks the “Accept Security and Delivery Fee” check box.
- The card is charged in real time; the sale is made.
Looking for more information?
Sign up to start offering credit payments!
The law is on your side
There are 11 states that currently have laws on the books addressing you—the actual merchant—charging a surcharge based on method of payment. However, every state allows certain third parties to charge a fee for the service the third party provides in the safe and secure delivery of the payment data into and out of the card payment network.
We understand the key to our service in these states is that our payment is from the person making the payment - the same way Federal Express charges the person sending the package, and our business relationship is with the person making the payment when they agree to pay and accept our fee.
Frequently asked questions
Q. When do you get the money?
A. All money is handled by our banking partner Moneris.
- After closing, on the day the payment is made, the bank that issued the card funds the money into Moneris’ account.
- The next business day Moneris forwards a request through the Federal Reserve to transfer the funds into your specified depository account.
- That funding is typically done on the second day after the payment is made.
NOTE: If you have your depository account with either RBC Centura or Harris Bank, sister companies of Moneris, you will get your funding one day earlier—next business day.
Q. Can I take payments in my office?
A. Yes. You should always have your client enter the payment information and card information into our web pages themselves. You can provide Internet access to our site from a computer physically located on your premises for this purpose.
Q. Can I take payments over the phone?
A. Yes. But you need to be absolutely certain that you inform your client of the Convenience Fee and have them agree to the fee.
Q. What cards are accepted?
A. Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
Q. What about debit cards?
A. You can accept any Visa, MasterCard or Discover branded card.
Q. What is the percentage rate of the fee Simply Easier Payments charges?
A. We actually charge a flat dollar fee based on your agencies average payments which is unique to each agency.
Q. Why do I have to complete the paper work for a merchant account?
A. This is a legal banking agreement between you just like any other banking relationship you have. Without this relationship we have no legal way of transferring the payments into the bank account of your choice.
Q. How long does it take for the merchant account to be set up after I send the paperwork in?
A. Usually four to five business days.
Q. How long after the paper work is approved does it take for my account to be active so I can take payments?
A. Typically the next business day.
