21. VISA/MASTERCARD QUARTERLY INTERCHANGE UPDATE

As we notified you on your February statement, Visa/MasterCard have implemented changes in interchange fees, effective April 1, 2008. These changes affect all processors and, ultimately, all merchants nationwide. However, since only certain interchange categories are affected, your merchant account may or may not see an increase to your processing costs on your April 2008 merchant statement. Because of this increase potentially affecting your business, EMG thought it pertinent to help our merchants understand how to get the best rates when processing all types of transactions.

Steps for getting the best rates:

1) Swipe the credit cards you accept whenever possible. Swiping transactions will guarantee the lowest rate a merchant is charged for processing a credit card. If the magnetic strip isn’t working or the card number needs to be key-entered for some other reason, make an imprint of the card to avoid the potential of having the transaction charged back.

2) Key in all the information your terminal requests during the transaction. The AVS or Address Verification Service and CVC or CVV2 (3- or 4-digit security number on the back of the card in the signature panel) prompts are very important in getting the best rate for your transaction, but are not required for transaction approval. Entering address information when prompted (both the street number and the zip code where the credit card statement is mailed) can improve the qualification of Visa/MasterCard/Discover transactions. The information is also very important in preventing fraudulent activity on all card types.

3) Be sure your transactions are settled each day. Settling/batching allows you to be paid for your credit card sales. If your transactions are not settled within 24 hours, transactions are typically charged a higher rate. Most merchants settle each night at the close of business. If you do not process transactions every day, remember to settle the terminal each day you run transactions.