A First Data contract can be hard to cancel right away. The main problem is that it has an early termination fee (ETF), which could get pretty hefty if you cancel at the wrong time. To pay less of the ETF, you might have to wait a few months. But there are other obstacles as well. In this article, we’ll explain how the cancellation process typically works. You’ll still have to read some of that contract, but we’ll help you find the relevant parts more quickly for quick lookups.

If you’re ever curious about what card networks, card associations, or card brands are, and what these entities actually do (other than make you pay fees of various sorts), you’re at the right place. We’ll explain what card networks are, give you a little history about each, and provide a general framework for understanding how they fit into the business of credit card processing.

We’ve all done it–scrolled to the bottom of a user’s agreement and clicked I Agree or signed a paper contract without looking through the many pages of small print. We know it’s wrong, but we’re busy and the print is so small…and we are thankfully often protected by consumer protection laws that work quietly in […]

A digital wallet is an electronic method for securely storing various types of sensitive information, including credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, electronic cash, tickets, and IDs. Not every wallet stores every type of payment information. While terms such as digital wallet, mobile wallet, and e-wallet all mean roughly the same thing, they technically cover slightly different services.

Credit card associations, like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, charge fees for their services every time a credit card is used. If you take credit cards, then card association fees are a necessary evil, since these fees comprise a part of wholesale fees you have to pay in order to take credit card payments. Here’s everything small businesses need to know about card brand fees.