Card Processing, Explained
How fees, approvals and disputes actually work, and how to get paid faster. Written for the people who run the money in a business: owners, controllers, office managers and the ISOs who support them. No jargon without a definition, and no claims we cannot back up.
Fees and how card processing works
What you pay, who gets it, and how to check it.
Reading your merchant statement
Interchange, assessments and markup explained line by line, with a worked example and a checklist of fees to challenge.
PCI compliance, explained
Which SAQ applies to you, how hosted pages and tokenization cut the questionnaire from hundreds of questions to a few dozen, and the payment-page rules added in v4.
Surcharging and cash discounts
Surcharge caps, notice and disclosure rules, the difference between a cash discount and a disguised surcharge, convenience and service fees, and the state-by-state picture.
ACH vs cards
Nacha rules, SEC codes and authorization, settlement and same-day windows, every return code that matters, the return-rate thresholds, and a decision table for ACH versus cards.
Approvals, declines and disputes
Why cards fail, what to retry, and how to keep the money you collect.
Decline codes explained
What each response code means, which are hard and which are soft, when to retry, and the network limits on reattempts.
Chargebacks explained
The full dispute lifecycle, Visa and Mastercard reason codes, response deadlines, the evidence that wins, and Ethoca, CDRN and RDR compared.
Stored credentials and MITs
The transaction types, the required first CIT, the indicators and transaction IDs every follow-on charge must carry, the subscription disclosure rules, and retries.
3-D Secure 2, explained
The frictionless and challenge flows, ECI values and liability shift, what it does not protect against, PSD2 exemptions, and a policy for which transactions to authenticate.
Chargebacks in travel
The reason codes travel and membership businesses see, the clocks behind them, the evidence each needs, and the receipts, cancellation flow and alerts that keep the ratio down.
CIT vs MIT: why it matters
Customer-initiated and merchant-initiated transactions, and why the distinction changes approval rates.
Getting paid
Invoices, reminders and payment links that actually get opened and paid.
Invoice email design
Table-based layout that survives Outlook and Gmail, dark mode, deliverability, a bulletproof pay button, and a copy-paste template.
Text-to-pay compliance
The TCPA, carrier 10DLC registration, CTIA rules and state laws, with consent scripts, opt-out handling, a record-keeping checklist, and the extra frameworks that apply at community banks and credit unions.
Reconciling payments in QuickBooks
Why deposits differ from invoices, the clearing-account method, how to record fees, refunds, chargebacks and ACH returns, and a month-end checklist.
Payment reminder sequences
The schedule, the email-versus-text choice, wording for every stage from pre-due to final notice, the failed-card sequence, late fees, and the metrics that show it working.
Payment plans that collect themselves
Down payments, schedules and term limits, the e-signed agreement, autopay on card or ACH, the four-installment rule, missed-payment handling and the metrics.
How text to pay works
What text to pay is, what the customer sees, what it costs, when it beats email and phone, and a one-week setup plan for a small business.
SMS consent and opt-in policy
The consent script and checkbox language FloPay uses before sending a payment link by text.
Payments for your industry
How the same platform is set up for specific businesses.
Home Services
Deposits, text to pay at the job, installment plans and QuickBooks sync for contractors.
Legal Practices
Retainers by link, ACH for large bills, installment plans and separate operating and trust deposit profiles.
Medical & Dental
Copays and balances by text, treatment plans on installments, card on file and reminders for practices.
Auto Repair
Deposits before parts, text to pay at pickup, installment plans and fleet ACH for repair shops.
Property Management
Rent on ACH autopay, fees by link, reminders, per-owner profiles and QuickBooks sync for property managers.
Travel Clubs & Membership Travel
Membership dues on autopay, renewal recovery, chargeback alerts and a portable card vault for travel clubs.
Direct Sales & MLM
Autoship subscriptions, enrollment checkout, renewal recovery and chargeback alerts for direct sales and MLM companies.
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