Has Anyone Used Dialpay For Credit Card Processing

While I am not yet making a lot of dollars selling at Art Fairs I have been doing more and more. The need to accept credit cards is becoming more apparent. Most times there is no electricity or phone line available.

I have researched a company called "Merchant Accounts Express" who has a product called "Dialpay". This is a system where any digital cell phone can be used to call an 800 number, enter the card info and get paid after authorization which is immediate just like any other credit card transaction. The set up fee is $75 and a 2.33% + $0.79 transaction fee. There are no monthly charges or expensive equipment to buy.

So, have any of you out there used this service? Is it as user friendly as advertised? The transaction charges are higher than some, but since there is no monthly charge and no expensive equipment to buy it seems like a wash.

What do you think??

Thanks,
Ed

Hi Ed, I am going to be no help but I am looking to do the same thing starting next year. I have researched some companys and the numbers you are looking at are pretty good. I looked at one that was almost 3 o/o + 35 cents per charge but you had to buy a machine for
$ 695.00 and pay 20 plus dollars a month for service. what you have there looks pretty good to me anyway. Let us know what you find out from others but that is the best I have heard of.
J Lee

Thanks for resopnding J Lee. I will certainly pass any info I get along. I am going out of town for a short while and will not be able to do anything for a few weeks. However, If I don't hear anything negative I will give them a try. All other options had fees like you found. There is just not enough buwiness to justify those costs.

Those are good #'s Ed. We're paying 3% without a transaction fee, but with a monthly. And yes, we have one of those expensive machines rather than stopping each customer transaction to do the dialup things. In a studio setting I think the machine is a good idea, but we still need something like the cellphone hookup you describe. Lots of money can be at stake at locations away from your office phone lines, and you're taking a chance every time you compleat a transaction without a phone hookup. Then there's the issue of sitting down and punching in all those #s by hand once you return from a remote location with lots of sales. My wife does large events with 300 or more transactions in a day several times a year, and you should hear her mutter.... er.... cuss.... the next day when she has to spend several hours getting all the transactions filed.

Her birthday is coming up and I bet I'd make mucho browny points if one of her gifts was a hookup with Dialpay or something similar. Keep us posted. I'm always running a little short on browny points.

BTW- Another very good reason to get a credit card setup. If you do any photo work for corporations, and especially for the US government, payment is instantaneous by credit card, but can take months via the age-old invoice/check routine.

You might want to look at their rates page:

http://www.merchantexpress.com/rates_phone.htm

There is a $9.95 monthly "statement fee" aka (PROFIT)

I just got a response back from them concerning "rewards" cards. If someone uses Int'l cards, Corporate, Business, some rewards, and Government Issued cards, you can add an additional 1.99% to the base rate which is waaaay more than most companies charge. In my experience, a majority of the cards I get are either business or airline rewards cards.

The best deals I've found in the past 9 years are at Costco - http://www.novainfo.com/costco/index.asp or the company I currently use - http://jacksonmerchantspecialists.com/

Thanks for asll the input. Tony, I missed the fees page as I waited to hear here what the experience was. I guess it was too good to be true! It does especially bother me that most companies charge more for "rewards" cards. I'll keep looking. I just don't do enough to encur monthly charges or minimums.

I'll have to do a little name research for you but the company I use I was also referred to and I got the discover Card first and then they set it up for me to be able to use Visa and M/C.... I only had to get a hand crank machine and I just use my cell phone to call in the charge and they give me an Auth# to put on the form/receipt that the Customer signs. Because I got it thru Discover I get cheaper rate but it also depends on how much you sell...
I really dislike vendors that ONLY take Visa & M/C..so this lets me take a 3rd.....and unless you are in the boonies
and can't get a signal I usually just use my FREE weekend cell minutes, except on Friday. The machine was a relatively small one time fee and I think my monthly rate is not that much...but those are all relative terms....Actually.....
Mine IS the old DialPay program..LOL... I had their number in my cell phone so thanks...I'll have to give them a call and update things Thanks...
but I DO like being able to take 3 cards and they sane me all the logo placards card to advertise in my booth
that I took the cards...

Are there any companies that offer like a pay as you go with manual card swips and call in to get a authorization? I am going to guess this isn't the case but what is out there to be able to take credit cards and only do 3 or 5 shows a year and not get stuck with a monthly bill or 1 year or more commitment. Thanks
Dennis