Hi everyone,

I know that SuperINN provides a web-based guest management system.  My question is what kind of credit card processing system is best to use? Merchant services will be a whole new area that I have not directly dealt with before and really don't know what to look for and what to avoid. How many credit cards do B&B's typically accept? Are the fees really high? HELP!

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SuzyQ

Again, I must mention that I am seeking a position with a B&B and my experience is in retail ownership and management.  However, look for the lowest rates and keep in mind per card fees, per percentage fees, and monthly fees.  I used to have a $10 minimum, which is technically against the rules.  Discover called me on that and I told them I'd quit taking their card if they had a problem with it.  No big deal - they give great incentives to their customers (Dad certainly made out with cash back on my college tuition and his last car), but it comes at a price to the merchant.  AmEX is just as bad.  I have actually never encountered a single person with one of those cards who did not also have at least a debit with Visa or MC logo. It's a choice and you're by no means obligated to work with a company that doesn't work for you. Final bit of advice?  Look for a local contractor that will be there when your system goes down.  Not only am I big on supporting locally owned business, but you want to know that the guy (or woman) will be there and will care if you need tech support.  Ok, one more bit of advice - buy the machine.  Rental rates are insane and you can get a nice processing machine with warranty for well under $500.

Be sure to check out RezOvation -- we have a deal with QuickBooks Merchant Account (expiring December, 2008) -- you get great rates on cc processing, free signup, free RezOvation GT, and and FREE QuickBooks Pro 2008.  You can save $700!  Details here.

Sandy

 

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Sandy Soule
BedandBreakfast.com
Sandy@BedandBreakfast.com

SuzyQ,

We're a small sized B&B and after extensive research we chose to use an online system named Securepay. The interface is simple, the bank funding and reconciliation has been flawless. Security has been top notch and we can quickly and simply print a guest reciept off of our computer for our guest upon check out.

While the security and encryption measures of most e-commerce systems is very advanced, we recommend that if you go with an online system, you get a separate computer from any you offer to guests with a good firewall and not have an open wireless environment in your inn that doesn't require a password for guests using their laptops. It would be a real shame to offer free wireless in your rooms or a common area computer only to have some savvy hacker come in and spend the weekend trying to break into your financial system.

Not that I think that is very likely as there are much easier targets than a B&B, but better safe than sorry.

The rates and fees are what our research has confirmed as highly competitive and if one deducts the cost or lease of a processing machine that is irrelevant due to us getting the card number in advance when the guest reserves the room, further lowers the ultimate cost of processing credit cards.

We can check the validity of the card in advance and pre-authorize the total amount of the stay for free. This gives us peace of mind, but also allows us to give the guest the option to pay with some other form or different credit card once here and yet we know that we have the first card they reserved with as security and the deposit to fall back on.

The monthly statements are very comprehensive, transactions reports, etc... are archived and available any time for review.

I can only speak for our B&B, but credit  card payments account for nearly 100% of our billings.

The minute your B&B is awarded its business license and you join a few directory sites like this one, be ready to be bombarded with offers of the lowest rates as these companies are very aggressive in mining data from whatever sources they can to find new sales leads.

Sincerely,

Tim Bauman/Emily Chapman - Innkeepers
27 County Road 84D
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87506
Toll-Free: 1.866.455.2197
In State: 505.455.2197
www.haciendalasbarrancas.com

I went with CellCharge. They allow me to get my authorizations toll free via the telephone, rather than requiring the purchase or lease of expensive equipment.  They charge 4% per transaction plus a $9.95 per month service fee.

I’ve been approached by tons of banks and other merchant account providers who all assure me that they can beat whatever deal I’m getting.  One of these was my brother-in-law, who worked for a large bank and assured me he could get us the best deal going.

None of them can; they may offer a lower percentage rate, but require monthly fees and equipment costs and usually a per-transaction fee of up to .50 each.

When comparing merchant accounts, I use the following formula: 15 charges x $200.00 each for a total of $3,000 a month.  I use a spreadsheet to keep track of who charges what; include monthly gateway fees, percentage (discount) rate, equipment fees and transaction fees to find their “per-transaction“ cost.  Many providers offer a low teaser percentage rate for “swiped” card transactions…the majority of the time you will NOT have the card in hand; be certain to get quoted for “non-swiped” transactions.

Even my brother-in-law couldn't beat CellCharge!  This might be good also for an Inn that has a slow dial-up connection that takes forever to load.

Wendy Keene
Applesauce Inn
Bellaire, MI

Securepay and other online credit cad processors require you to have your own merchant account. This can be very costly. Fees quickly add up, and you need to submit credit and bank applications for a merchant account. You pay reporting fees on a per transaction basis as well as monthly administrative fees. Then, you need to deal with any fraud and credit card disputes, and pay fees for any chargebacks. If you take a charge from a guest that later disputes that charge, you don't get your money back for the transaction fees you've already paid.

An alternative solution, allowing bed and breakfasts to accept credit cards without a merchant account, has just been introduced by Instant World Booking. Here's the page that tells more about their service, called IWB Payments:

http://www.instantworldbooking.com/payments-systems.php