Charge.com Frees Illinois Merchants from Bad Credit Card Processing

At first glance, Illinois seems like a sleepy state – dozing under the warm sun in the Midwest. This is an illusion, however – Illinois is quite busy entertaining millions of guests who have come to take in the fascinating sights of the Prairie State. Its biggest city, Chicago, sits on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan, and is the third largest metropolis in the United States. It has been called home by many notable figures including actor Harrison Ford, rapper Kanye West, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, and current Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama. Illinois is also the home state of the Great Emancipator, President Abraham Lincoln, and has numerous memorials erected in his honor. Visitors come from all over the US to tour other Illinoisan wonders, too, like the Cahokia Mounds and Starved Rock State Park. This tourism brings millions and millions of dollars into the state’s economy each year, and merchants stand to take in most of that cash. If they do not have good credit card processing services, however, that money may vanish right in front of them – leaving them with accounts as empty as Al Capone’s vault.

Merchants that see a lot of business from the tourism trade need to be able to accept credit cards, because the vast majority of tourists only carry use credit cards in order to deter theft and fraud. In order to manage the credit card payments, the businesses have to obtain merchant accounts and processing services from credit card processors, but this is not always easy. Many processors charge outrageous fees for their card services, or do not give out individual accounts. For example, if a business applies for a private merchant account, a processor is likely to deny the application, but will allow the business to share the processor’s own merchant account as a third party. The processor then has complete control of the funds in the account, and can make the business wait for weeks before getting its money. The processor may also deduct hidden fees from the funds while they sit in the account, so when the business finally does see some cash flow, there is far less than anticipated.

For the merchants, this is not a good situation. They can either forego accepting credit cards, or they can take credit card payments but lose money on the processing. Luckily, Charge.com is here to help. This processor offers free and easy-to-complete applications for private merchant accounts to interested businesses. Response time is quick – applicants can hear back in a matter of days instead of weeks – and once approved, a business can begin using its account within 24-48 hours to process payments in real-time with no third-party holds to worry about. Charge.com also has some of the lowest rates in the industry. Clients pay as low as 0.25% for credit card processing, and only $0.15 per payment transaction. Best of all, there are no hidden charges – so the money that is in the account is always the expected sum. This is good news for Illinoisan businesses that want to forget about money woes, and focus on what they know best – hospitality for their guests.