[M.Acorn]

Is it still possible to get these ? You put a slip on top of the card your wanting payment off then roll the top over it,proper old school.I need to set up so i can take payments off Visa cards,was hoping it was possible to get an imprint machine,as opposed to paying to hire a card reader thing,min contract 36 months !!  Plus around 5% of what i take,and will also need to set up a merchant account,up to £300 for that !!
Would it be possible for the Visa card holder to put funds into my normal account if i gave them my sort code and bank account details ?
Had a meeting with the bank today,and between us we decided it`s not financially viable,have never been asked to take payment on one in the 7 years i have been running,and the bank said i need to be putting through between 10 and 15 grand on it ,so in real terms i won`t be making enough wedge from it to give the bank a fat slice 

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Hi mark

They arre still around, usually tucked away in drawers and used for back-up purposes.

Therre would be nothing to gain from using it as even back in those far-off days of imprint machines if the value of a transaction wa over a certain amount the supplier of goods/services still had to ring though to get authorisation for the transaction. So today's on-line systems simply automate what happened in the past.

Turning to your next point, I am encouraging many of my regulars to pay direct to my bank account by giving them my account number and sort code. Firstly the transaction shouldn't generate any bank charges (depending upon what tariff you are on-but in any case an electronic tranaction will always be cheaper than paying in a cheque) and it'll give you cleared funds immediately.

I also believe that it helps strengthen the bonds between you and your client as they tend to start thinking in terms of "I've got my cc's details in my On-Line Banking system, so there is no point going to another carpet cleaner".

Rog

[M.Acorn]

Turning to your next point, I am encouraging many of my regulars to pay direct to my bank account by giving them my account number and sort code. Firstly the transaction shouldn't generate any bank charges (depending upon what tariff you are on-but in any case an electronic transaction will always be cheaper than paying in a cheque) and it'll give you cleared funds immediately.

Yes so do i ,even the commercial jobs pay Bacs now 
So am i right in assuming i can revive payment payment from a Visa,if i give them my sort and ac #,i think i have taken payment possibly once like this,i still only use my Halifax current account,for my business,shut my Barclay's business account,as was sick of being charged to pay money in !!
They could always do it by Pay pal 

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

You won't be able to take VISA (debit or credit) (or presumably MASTERCARD) directly unless you go down the route of using a machine as we discussed earlier.

Clients however may have their own mechanism whereby they take money from their credit/ debit card and then send it to you possibly via an intermediary like Paypal. or they may issue a cheque drawn on their credit card-but I know that isn't what you meant.

Rog

[Simon@arenaclean]

You might find this interesting http://www.axcessms.com/vt_moto.php?gclid=CPj5pY2Q4KUCFc5g4wodhV2r2g Have not gone into this myself but might be worth a read. A lot of my customers now pay with Bacs even domestic so much easier.

[Jamie Pearson]

You can take card payments by smartphone iPhone or iPad.

Some info here:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=145856

[M.Acorn]

Been doing a bit more research into this situ,i think i may be able to set up an app on my mobile phone,so i can take payments from Visa,looks more or less the same as the iphone thing,but my paypal account acts as a merchant account type thing..

[Steve_Knight]

Hi Guys
Try www.adelante.co.uk

Cheers

Steve