Debit/Check Card Processing

Debit card processing is another good additional processing solution to credit cards. It is also the fastest growing way to pay for orders, surpassing credit cards. Any business, no matter what industry they may be in can benefit from accepting debit cards. The convenience of not having to write out a check is something that can really draw people to use their debit card to make purchases. Retail merchants can save themselves a lot of money each month by investing in a low-cost PIN pad to connect to their swipe terminal for debit card processing. 

Charge Card Systems debit card processing service is "direct" or "online" debit, which prompts for and requires a personal identification number (PIN) for authorization. Charge Card Systems offers the best debit card processing service available in terms of network coverage, routing and availability.

Drawing on its depth of experience in on-line electronic bank networks and ATM processing, Charge Card Systems provides the best on-line point-of-sale debit applications and has incorporated this functionality into all of our terminal applications, consistent with our goal of providing true single source service. 

The process for accepting debit cards works just like accepting credit cards, except when you enter in the customers debit card information the amount to cover the purchase is deducted from the customers' bank account.

Make sure when you connect to accept debit cards that a verification service is included. The verification service will check a negative database of bad check writers. This will drastically reduce the number of bad checks you might receive.

If you are a retail merchant, you can save big on merchant processing costs by accepting debit cards with the addition of a PIN Pad. Unless the swipe terminal you're using includes an internal PIN pad, you will want to invest in an external Pin Pad.

Processing debit cards and check cards as a regular credit card transaction can mean paying twice the amount for processing. By using a PIN pad for debit card transactions you only pay a per transaction fee, no discount rate of any kind. Also, it should be noted that in order to ONLY incur a per transaction fee the customer MUST input their 4-digit PIN number into the PIN pad or your processing terminal (if the unit has an internal PIN pad). If the customer doesn't enter their PIN number, the typical per transaction and discount rate will be charged to those using debit cards with Visa or MasterCard logos on them (also called check cards).

True debit cards like Star, MAC, Honer, NYCE, Pulse, Interlink, and Maestro will only incur a per transaction fee because the customer must input their PIN number in order to use the card -- it's optional for Check Card customers, but it will save you money so encourage them to enter their PIN number, if they know it. This is ONLY available for retail merchant accounts.

If you're an Internet merchant you will still incur the same charges for debit card processing as you do with credit card processing.  Although, you can save money by using an electronic checks (eChecks) service for your website.

Start saving today on debit card processing with Charge Card Systems:

The pinned debit option can be a surprising money-saver. "Debit," as promoted by Visa^® and MasterCard^® (i.e., the Visa "Check" card) is actually a credit transaction with a corresponding discount rate, like standard credit card transactions.

Because most of these "off-line" cards are also ATM cards with personal identification numbers, and because Charge Card Systems has integrated both credit and on-line (or "Pinned") debit into its terminal applications, a Charge Card Systems terminal presented with a check card can be programmed to process the transaction on a lower-cost on-line basis.

Charge Card Systems can offer one or all of the following card types directly on a single terminal:

• AFFN
• STAR
• MAC
• Interlink
• Maestro
• Mpact
• NYCE
• Pulse
• Quest EBT
• Cash Station
• Instant Teller
• Shazam
• The Exchange