Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  What financial institutions work with Merchant Charge Plus?
A:  Any institution that can process with First Data.

Q:  I heard that manually entering a credit card number costs more to process.  How can I avoid the higher rates?
A:  Manually entered transactions do cost more to process.  You can purchase a Magnetic Stripe Reader and you will receive the same rates as a credit card machine.

Q:  I heard a lot about Address Verification (AVS) and how AVS rates are lower.  How does it work?
A:  AVS is used to obtain favorable rates for manually keyed transactions.  AVS verifies the billing street address and zip code entered on the AVS screen with the cardholders actual billing address.  AVS also helps prevent fraudulent charges for mail order companies.

Q:  Do I need to purchase a special printer?
A:  No, Merchant Charge Plus can print on any printer.  Although a receipt printer looks more professional, it is not required.

Q:  Do I need to purchase the Tele-Check option?
A:  If your business does not process with Tele-Check, you do not need to purchase it.  If you do process with Tele-Check, it is more cost effective to process directly with Tele-Check than through First Data.

Q:  Can I get a Merchant Account from Merchant Software Plus?
A:  Although we cannot provide Merchant Accounts at this time, we can refer you to several institutions.

Q:  I need to purchase a modem.  Do you have any suggestions?
A:  We have had very good luck with 3-Com (US Robotics) Sportster modems.

Q:  Do you have an Internet version of Merchant Charge Plus?
A:  Although Merchant Charge Plus is Internet Certified, we are still developing the Internet Interface.

Q:  Will Merchant Charge Plus run on the Mac?
A:  We have not tested Merchant Charge Plus on a Mac, although it may work with the Mac-PC emulation software.

Q:  Will Merchant Charge Plus run under Unix/Linux?
A:  At this time Merchant Charge Plus will not run on a Unix based Operating System.