Common Questions About Merchant Accounts

1. Should I start the merchant account application process by going to Authorize.net?
   
   - No, you should find a merchant account reseller that provides a merchant account.  For example if you want to use Moolah, start the application process https://www.moolah.cc/partners/wodtogether/
   
   
2. Which merchant account company should I use?
   
   - That is a complex question.  Here is an article that talks about the issues a bit click here
   
   
3. I just received my approval email from my merchant account, now what?
   
   - In a day or so, you should receive an email directly from authorize.net with a temporary password for you to setup that account.
   
   
4. I have my Authorize.net account configured, how do I link this to my WODTogether account?
   
   - Login to Authorize.net and find your API Login ID and Transaction Key (see how to find these here).  While logged into authorize.net, take your account OUT of test mode.  Merchant accounts are fully debugged, you do NOT need to be in test mode.  In fact if you keep your account in test mode, it can lead to some very strange errors when trying to sell items in WODTogether. Log into WODTogether and click here:  http://app.wodtogether.com/coach/gym_settings/payment_gateways.php.  Enter your API Login ID and Transaction key as well as the cards your gym and merchant account accepts.  When selecting cards that you accept, only check the boxes of cards that you opted into when setting up your merchant account.  If you select AmEx for instance and your merchant account doesn't support AmEx, WODTogether will allow user to enter AmEx data but those charges WILL NOT SUCCEED.
   
   
5. I just bought a small item from my shop to test the new system out.  The transaction succeeded and I see the transaction in the completed payments report, but where is the money?
   
   - With merchant transactions, all the charges run in a given day will settle later in the day (the exact time can be configured in your authorize.net account).  Only after the charge settles will the money automatically be transferred to your linked bank account which could take another day or so to finally show up on your bank statement or website.  
   Authorize.net uses wire transfers to move money into your bank account.  These wire transfers are begun the day after receiving the settlement email, but will not be started on weekends or holidays.  So for any charges run on Friday, Sat or Sun, the wire will not begin until Monday resulting in funds being deposited on Tuesday or later (depending on your bank's size and speed of processing wire transfers).
   
   
6. How long before I see the money shows up in my bank account?
   
   - It depends on the size of the bank that you use.  If you use a major bank (BofA, Wells Fargo, etc) it will most likely be a day after the transfer is initiated (see #5).  Smaller banks could take an extra day or two longer.
   
   
7. Do recurring payments need to be configured in my authorize.net account?
   
   - You most likely do not need to configure these types of settings in your authorize.net account, they should already be properly configured by your merchant retailer before you log into your account for the first time.
   
   
8. Can I see a list of my unsettled payments?
   
   - Yes, if you log into your authorize.net account there is a report to show you all unsettled charges.
   
   
9. I noticed the full amount of the transaction was deposited in my account, when do I pay the credit card fees?
   
   - You will get a statement on the 1st of every month from merchant account and the fees will automatically be deducted from my bank account on that day.  Make sure that you keep enough funds in your bank account for the previous month's of credit card fees.
   
   
10. I'm all setup with the merchant account system, where did Amazon go?
    
    - Since Amazon is being phased out, we removed the option for any new Amazon purchases.  All new sales will need to use the new system.  Any failed Amazon people will fix up their payments with the new system.  Slowly your gym will migrate off of Amazon.  Regular, non failed Amazon members can edit their pending payment, input their card info and then they'll be migrated over to the new system too.  Don't worry, Amazon recurring payments will continue to process until June 1, 2015 so don't wait too long to get your members migrated over.
    
    
11. How do I migrate existing Amazon members?
    
    - Here is an article that talks about how users can enter their credit card info and update their pending payment.  See the 2nd half of this document
    
    or you can have users follow these steps:
    - log into the full WODTogether site
    - click here
    - click the pencil to edit their pending payment
    - click Select Another Payment Method
    - Add New Payment Method from the drop down list
    - Add Credit Card
    - Enter their info, including the card's billing address
    - When they are returned to the pending payment screen, select the newly entered card and click Select Card
    Here's a video showing the process: http://youtu.be/UN6j2uw4jBE
    
    
12. How do I add ACH or AmEx support?
    
    - You start by contacting your merchant account retailer.  They will help you add support for the new method.  Once your merchant account is good to go, email [e-mail] with the changes and we'll update your gym's settings so that users can input their card info for the new method options.
    To add ACH support, most merchants have you start inside your authorize.net account.  It is called e-check in authorize.net terms and you'll need to fill out some additional forms to enable it.  Once you are set with authorize.net, email [e-mail] and we can enable bank account entry inside of WT.  A word of caution, we've heard of there being a $10/mo charge from authorize.net to add e-check, this might wipe out all savings you'd see from the lower transaction fees unless a large number of clients pay by ACH at your gym.
    
    
13. How do I see the people who still need to migrate to the new merchant system?
    
    - You can use the pending payment report, set the date range to ALL and then search the results for Amazon.  This will filter the list to all of the pending payments that are still set to use Amazon.  As people edit their pending payment to their credit cards, this list will shrink.
    
    
14. I've heard that I can add a card swiper to my computer or chromebook?
    
    - Yes, this cheap USB card reader is easy to use and will save you the hassle of typing in credit card numbers.  You simply plugin the device and when on the payment method screen where you'd usually type the card info, just swipe the users card and everything about the card will be auto filled into the appropriate fields (you'll still have to type the security code as that is not on the magnetic strip).  You can use other models if you want, but this is the model that multiple people have used and it is really cheap.  Check it out here
    
    
15. Do I still need a privacy policy on my website?
    
    - Yes, your site must have a "Privacy Policy", "Terms and Conditions", and "Refund Policy" listed.  If you had one under Amazon, you'll need to make a few changes for your new merchant account. It can be basic, see Ruination CrossFit for an example: http://ruinationcrossfit.com/privacy-policy/ 
    
    
16. I'm seeing quite a few failed payments where the status reads "Street address and postal code do not match" but the card has worked before and the client says that the card is good.
    
    - You need to loosen up the Address Verification Service (AVS) settings in your authorize.net account.  Log into your authorize.net account, click Settings, click Address Verification Service settings under the Security Settings section, you can uncheck many of the settings and save.  Here is a photo of what my gym's settings now look like:
    
    I was able to retry a couple of my recent failures with the above listed failure code and the charges went through.  Moolah turned me onto this technique. For most of us, we deal with people that we know and trust (our members) and we don't need to worry about some of the same issues that general retailers have to worry about.
    
    I've also heard that the screen could look like this:
    
    
    
17. I'm trying to use an existing authorize.net account or one that I got from a merchant provider who doesn't know anything about WODTogether.  I'm seeing errors when I link to this account, what do I do?
    
    - You need to configure your authorize.net account for Card Not Present.  Here is a screenshot from a properly configured account:
    
18. VERY IMPORTANT!  There is a new online security setting that authorize.net has implemented and needs to be disabled for WODTogether to properly process all your recurring billing.  It is called Daily Velocity Filter (get to it by clicking settings -> Daily Velocity Setting):
    
    Once on the settings page, MAKE SURE YOU UNCHECK THE ENABLE FILTER FLAG.