Go Shorty, It’s Your Birthday! Merchant Maverick Turns 1!

That's right people! Merchant Maverick is now a toddler.

Today is the 1-year anniversary of the launch of this blog, and I can't even begin to tell you how fast it has all gone by. I still remember buying the domain name like it was just yesterday. It's amazing how time flies when you're writing about the always exciting topic of merchant accounts and credit card processing.

I was thinking of having some sort of giveaway for this celebration, but I realized that I'm pretty much giving everything away already (free reviews). There isn't much else to give out...right? I guess I can give out some thank you's.

Seriously though, I want to thank you all for embracing this site, and gaining value from it. That has been my main goal from the very start. It makes my day to read emails from you about how my reviews have helped steer you in the right direction. So long as I continue delivering on my end, then I think we'll be good.

When I originally started this blog, I was very "pro-merchant" and "anti-provider", but since then, I've come to land somewhere in between.

I've realized that just as much as the providers have a responsibility to act professionally and ethically when dealing with us; we as merchants have an equal responsibility to act like rational human beings when we publicly air out our complaints about those same providers.

My aim is to avoid the belligerent attitude that you see on so many other review and complaint sites, and that's why I created my user review and comment policy. It's a work in progress, but I think together we can make it work.

Speaking of working together, I'm always open to your suggestions. I understand that my reviews aren't perfect, and that your outside opinion can do wonders for making the whole process better, so don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts. Either by contacting me directly, or by leaving your comments down below. If you have any general requests, feel free to hit me up about them too.

Want to know more about e-Commerce?
Want to know about PCI Compliance?
How about some help with your online marketing?
Don't be shy...let me know.

Ok...that about covers it.

Here's to another year of processing credit cards! Cheers!

Amad Ebrahimi
Founder - Merchant Maverick
Connect w/ Me: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

Review Updates and New Features

Just wanted to give you a heads up about some new things that are going on here at Merchant Maverick this month.

Review Updates
I'm almost finished updating all of the merchant service provider reviews. They should all be updated by the end of the month, so stay tuned!

Live Chat and Toll-Free Number
I went ahead and added both a live chat feature and a toll-free number, so feel free to contact me through either channel. You'll notice the live chat button docked at the bottom right side of this page, and the toll-free number is 888-400-4068.

New Services
I also added a "Services" tab that showcases some services that I'm offering now, like payment gateway integration, merchant fee reduction consulting and merchant account setup consulting. If you have any questions about any of these new services, feel free to contact me.

That's about it for now, more updates coming soon. Do you have any suggestions for Merchant Maverick? Leave your comments below.

Bankcard Empire Raided By The Fed

Last week Bankcard Empire was raided by federal authorities for allegedly running a get rich quick scheme....Big surprise!

If you had done any of your research on Bankcard Empire, you would have seen the countless consumer complaints both on the Better Business Bureau and RipOffReport.com. I reviewed them back in November 09', and hopefully you all listened to my advice.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are plenty more outfits just like Bankcard Empire that operate the same way, selling the same garbage to innocent merchants. Pay attention folks, do your research.

New “User Review and Comment” Policy

In an effort to avoid the user review and complaint pollution that some of these other ratings sites face, I've decided to enforce a strict commenting policy. I think it's for the greater good of our community on both sides of the fence.

You can read the policy in its entirety here.

You'll notice a new blurb on each blog post that looks like the highlighted section below:
There are already quite a few user reviews, complaints and comments on the site right now, but I'll be going through them in the next day or so to clean them up based on this new policy.

That about does it. If you have some thoughts or suggestions feel free to let me know.

New “Questions & Answers” Page

I decided to create a Q&A page where you can ask merchant account related questions that you'd like me to answer. Check it out here.

Merchant Service Providers Recognize Merchant Maverick Ratings

I'm happy to see that merchant account providers are beginning to take Merchant Maverick's ratings seriously. I think that as I refine and better my reviews, that trend will continue.

Up until now, TopTenReviews and the BBB have been the only two review and mediation platforms by which to judge an MSP, and from what I've seen, neither of them are a complete online reputation solution. Although I use the BBB as part of my reviewing process, I think that as stand-alone services, both TTR and the BBB have their flaws. I'm hoping that I can solve those problems with my site.

I'm not saying that Merchant Maverick is perfect by any means, but by solely focusing on the payment processing industry, I have a much better chance at painting the whole picture.

With that said, I encourage other merchant service providers to embrace Merchant Maverick as another, better, online reputation management channel. I've already noticed a couple ISO/MSPs that have proudly displayed their 5 star ratings, including:

• Gotmerchant.com.
• Frontline Processing.
• Dharma Merchant Services.

More to come. I'll add them here, as I find them.

What You Need to Know About the IRS’s New Reporting Requirements for Merchants

I remember back in October of 2009, a friend of mine who had recently opened a business of his own, asked me; "How does the IRS know how much I process in credit card transactions?" My short answer was; "They don't." The long answer is, that the IRS doesn't keep track of credit card transactions the way they do, say independent contractor income (1099), but that's all about to change.

While most of us were prepping for the holidays, the IRS was quietly passing a new regulation that may affect you as a merchant.

As part of section 6050W of the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008, gross transaction amounts of payment card and third-party network transactions must be filed with the IRS by banks and other merchant service providers.

Under new section 6050W, any payment settlement entity making payment to a participating payee in settlement of reportable payment transactions must make a return for each calendar year to be filed with the Service, and furnish a statement to the participating payee, setting forth the gross amount of such reportable payment transactions, as well as the name, address, and taxpayer identification number (TIN) of the participating payees.

The system will work almost exactly like 1099 reporting for independent contractors, as a matter of fact, the form that the IRS has drafted up for reporting is called form 1099-K.

What does this mean to you?

It means that starting in 2011, if your credit card sales exceed $20,000, and your transactions exceed 200, then you'll be sent a 1099-K by your merchant account provider that shows the gross amount of transactions that you processed for that year. That's about it! So long as you're honest on your tax returns, you have nothing to worry about.

And remember, anyone with less than $20,000 in credit card sales, and less than 200 transactions will not receive a 1099-K.

New Merchant Account Comparison Chart

I just wanted to let everyone know that I added a comparison chart for all the MSP's (merchant service provider's) that I've reviewed thus far.

Merchant Account Comparison Chart

It's all pretty straightforward...nothing too fancy. Let me know if you have any suggestions for making it better.

Cynergy Data Files Chapter 11…Ouch!!

I was surprised to see this one coming. Probably because they appeared more profitable than they actually were.

In an affidavit, Moore, a senior managing director of CM&D Management Services LLC, said he was hired after Cynergy discovered accounting errors in March 2009. He said these errors misstated revenue and expenses for 2007 and 2008, leading to a substantial drop in earnings following a restatement.

Makes me wonder if it was a real mistake.

Anyway, looks like the private investment firm ComVest will be taking over from here. ComVest owns controlling interests in a few other Bankcard companies like; Pipeline Data, CardAccept and SecurePay to name a few. They're obviously not newbies in this arena.

For those of you that are merchant's of Cynergy, don't sweat it, they'll be conducting business as usual. And once the deal goes through, which it probably will, ComVest will continue like nothing happened.

However, I would look into this whole "accounting mistake" if I was you. If they intentionally fixed the books to show higher gains, then we're dealing with a big problem here.