VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:28 am Post subject: Credit Cards

I find it somewhat interesting that in all the time I've been a voiceoverist, the only clients that have inquired as to whether I accept credit cards have been Fortune 500 companies, not one-man operations as I might have expected. Recently, one of these big corporations has informed me that credit cards will be their only method of payment, so I must now make arrangements to accept those payments.

In searching the VO-BB archives I have come up with the names of a couple of outfits that I can use for these transactions: squareup.com and merchantwarehouse.com. Before I choose one of those or see what kind of hoops my bank will make me go through, I'm wondering if: a.) anyone can give me a reason to choose one of the above options vs. the other, or b.) someone has another suggestion to add to the mix.

Thanks.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
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bobsouer · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:48 am Post subject:

Lee,

I've been using PayPal to do all of my credit card payments for several years without a hitch. That includes big corporations.
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
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todd ellis · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:57 am Post subject:

paypal works - i have starting using Square it's an intuit product.

there are some horror stories on-line about them holding money too long, but i have never experienced any of that. their t&c say they can hold payments "as much as 30 days" - but, again - it's never happened to me.
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Ed Gambill · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:36 am Post subject:

Amazon has a new service that accepts Credit Cards
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:56 am Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:08 am Post subject:

whoops! it pays to think WHILE you type! square is the twitter guys. some friends of mine use the intuit device/service - it's about the same - i think the square interface is cleaner though - the "swiping" device is smaller & cooler too.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Bruce · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:29 pm Post subject:

Another vote for PayPal. The payer does not have to belong to PayPal, but the path around having to become a member is a tiny little link on the email invoice they send on your behalf. If they click that anyone can pay you with a card.

B
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:39 pm Post subject:

I also use PayPal but this particular client has specified "no PayPal."

Will I have to sign up for Twitter in order to use the Square service?

I don't really need the little dongle because I don't expect to be in a position to physically have a client's credit card; the info will just be keyed in. And that raises another question: is there a service with which I can just e-mail a form, or better yet, a secure link, to the client to plug in his or her own card information rather than requiring them to convey that info to me?
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject:

have you looked into google checkout? it's called "wallet" now, i think.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Bruce · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:38 pm Post subject:

Leslie Humble · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:52 pm Post subject:

I agree Bruce. I see no reason for them to say no PayPal. You can use your regular Visa or Mastercard or others to do it. It may be a warning bell....or it may indeed mean they don't understand. I would suggest an E Mail saying...

"Since you can use your Visa or Mastercards for this, and PayPal is trusted, may I ask why that won't work? We'll definately work it out. Thanks for the job"
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There are rules to the Universe. Learn them and prosper. www.HumbleVoiceover.com

bobsouer · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject:

Lee,

If you have a business account with PayPal, you can get a service from them that allows you to key in the numbers. I've not needed it, but I do remember looking at the information a while back.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

Lee Gordon · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:10 am Post subject:

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

Lee,

That's most likely just an accounting policy that they have.

Many large corporations have gone to a system of whittling down the number of vendors they use, and forcing new vendors (and the sponsoring client employee) to step through a ton of paperwork and requirements to be accepted into the system. For smaller purchases, they often prefer to pay via corporate card or corporate purchase card (usually a VIsa that can only be used for certain categories of purchases). The buyer then just puts it on his/her expense report to account for it. And the corporation only cuts one check to, say, Amex.
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Bob Ransom
"I really need a pithy quote here."

Velfin · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:48 pm Post subject:

I have recently started using Square - you are able to type in card numbers rather than swipe, though you are charged a higher % fee if you do. Square charges 2.75% at the moment for swipes, 3.5% + 0.15 for type-ins.

Intuit's swiper is called GoPayment, and the new PayPal swiper is called /credit-card-reader" target="_blank" class="postlink">PayPal Here.

The catch for Square for me was how little information was saved with the transaction - only the last 4 digits of the credit card, and the first letter and domain of the email address to which you send the receipt (e.g. "a***@gmail.com"). You do have the ability to customize the purchase, so I usually put the company name in the "item description" - but that looks a little odd on the client end.
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