Best Credit Card for Small Business?

[appalachianarbo]

I was wondering if any of you have a good credit card company that you deal with for your tree related expenses. I have always paid cash for my expenses, but was thinking that I could build my companies' credit by using a credit card for purchases. I would still pay the balance monthly like I do with my personal credit cards, except with a major purchase (which I do not really expect - I'd like to stay small).

Any good or bad cards out there that you have experience with? I'm not really looking for any cards with fancy bonus miles, rewards, etc., but just a good card company with a good rate.

Thanks

 

[kennertree]

Be careful, all credit cards are bad.

 

[masterarbor]

slightly off subject. i'm looking into getting a credit card payment account set up. i don't have many customers that ask to pay by card, but it would be nice to offer it.

 

[reachtreeservi]

The bank can set you up with the taking credit cards thing...
But if you want to go a different route, Check this out, masterarbor

https://epay.propay.com/

My Friends wife uses it for her business, she's pretty happy with it.

 

[masterarbor]

thanks, reach. i checked it out. the basic plan is $35.00 per year and .35 per transaction, which sounds great. but then they want 3.5% of every purchase! i think that's a whole lot. i really appreciate the link, but it did give me some sticker shock.:jawdrop:








i wonder if that is average or if it is higher than normal.

cheers, kevin

 

[lxt]

Get a fuel card, I have prepayed creditcards.....reason being I have guys who have my biz cards & have used them for personal use...a big no,no!

So now I set the limit at a certain $$$ amount through my online bank svc, this may be a little more work than the "whats in your pocket" type cards, but no overlimit fee & cant purchase any more than whats on the card.

A pre set credit limit I think is the best thing, I know alot of biz in my area who rely on their Credit cards & the $10,000 credit limit on them!!!!

Nice thing is I can deactivate any card & not affect the entire acct, kinda like a cell phone minutes card, I had 2 bad exp. that prompted this, 1- was an employee who was buying GAS for his peronal car....he would tell me & I would deduct from his pay..but was a PITA, second was ID theft & someone racked my card upto $20k with online purchases It was taken care of but still an un-easy feeling!!!!

Credit Card Machines:

As far as the credit card machines.........Not so good for tree work, atleast in my area, I had one Novus was the supplier, Deposit on the machine $300+, pay an online fee, transfer fee, taxes, surcharge fee, monthly lease fee & the 2% of the gross fee...............If you bid $400 you with this system will want to bid $450 to offset fees & the pita paperwork to follow!!! your will need to bid higher to make the same...........Good luck on that!


LXT...............

 

[masterarbor]

what a nightmare!

 

[lxt]

At first Yes, But once you get it going its not bad!! I actually like it better having the pre set cards.....then I know whos spending how much, instead of a credit card being used by the crews(they shared it) now thats a nightmare!!


LXT.............

 

[reachtreeservi]

thanks, reach. i checked it out. the basic plan is $35.00 per year and .35 per transaction, which sounds great. but then they want 3.5% of every purchase! i think that's a whole lot. i really appreciate the link, but it did give me some sticker shock.:jawdrop:








i wonder if that is average or if it is higher than normal.

cheers, kevin

The basic plan wont work for tree work. The monthly transaction amounts aren't high enough. You would have to go with the Platinum plan. 300 a year, plus 2.69 (VISA / MasterCard) to 3.19 (DISCOVER) percent per transaction.

I think that's about average. When I buy a saw from my Stihl dealer he always asks me to write a check instead of using my debit card because of the transaction fees he has to pay.

The good thing about Propay is you can check the customer's card from your cell phone to know if the card is good for the transaction and there's no equipment to buy. And no fees other than the yearly and transaction ones.
When you price the job to the customer, just say the price is X for cash or check and Y for credit cards. Let them pay for the convenience if they want to put it on the card. Offering credit card payments should increase the rate of Estimate acceptance enough to pay for the yearly fees. Especially for storm damage work.

If you get 4 or 5 jobs a year that you wouldn't get if you didn't offer acceptting credit card , then it should be worth it. And it makes you look more professional.

I'm not set up to accept credit cards yet. But I want to get on board this year. I'll talk to my banker next week and see what kind of deal they offer.
And show him the Propay and ask how that compares to what the bank offers. I'll tell you what happens.



I agree with LXT also, if I was going to put a credit card in my crews hands, I'd definitely go with the prepayed type.

 

[mckeetree]

thanks, reach. i checked it out. the basic plan is $35.00 per year and .35 per transaction, which sounds great. but then they want 3.5% of every purchase! i think that's a whole lot. i really appreciate the link, but it did give me some sticker shock.:jawdrop:








i wonder if that is average or if it is higher than normal.

cheers, kevin

We have accepted credit cards for years and one thing I can tell you is that customers do not want to hear about a higher charge because they pay with a credit card. And second, if you decide to take cards get ready to give up some money in the discount rate part of it. That just goes with the territory. My company paid over $10,000 in credit card fees in 2007. I helped another tree service in my area get set up for cards year before last but he could not psychologically handle the fees so he stopped taking them.

 

[reachtreeservi]

Thanks for the advice Mckee !

How do you handle the card transactions when you are out in the field ?
Use a machine in the truck, call the office with the transaction or what ?

Also, what do you think is the size of tree business that it starts to pay to accept credit cards ? 25,000 a year, 50,000, 100,000 a year ?

 

[masterarbor]

We have accepted credit cards for years and one thing I can tell you is that customers do not want to hear about a higher charge because they pay with a credit card. And second, if you decide to take cards get ready to give up some money in the discount rate part of it. That just goes with the territory. My company paid over $10,000 in credit card fees in 2007. I helped another tree service in my area get set up for cards year before last but he could not psychologically handle the fees so he stopped taking them.

goodness gracious... :jawdrop:

 

[lxt]

goodness gracious... :jawdrop:

Yep, expensive but the nice thing is the money is in the bank!! I honestly would only go back to using the hand held credit card machine when prices are back to normal, seems right now everone is bidding low.

Reach, Id want to be in the 200k plus range for it to be an asset instead of an incumbrance!! not many folks in my area even wanted to use credit cards for tree work..........but grass & landscape they`ll use em to the limit!!

$10,000 in credit card fees........you making a good yearly gross to pay that out!! glad someone is.

LXT..........

 

[appalachianarbo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yeah, I know credit cards are evil, but I've never carried a balance or paid a cent of interest to those leeches. I just thought I'd build the credit of the business, as well as allow the money in the bank to keep earning as long as it can.

lxt - I'd be the only one using the account, and I'm really careful with spending, so the preset limit would be a bit of overkill and also a hassle. Good idea to give them to the crew, though. No way my guys would be buying their own gas on my card! That's a fireable offense in my book.

As far as I can see, demand for credit card payment in this area is low, but who knows, maybe it's actually a service people would use if they knew about it. Not for me, though. I'll take a check or cash, thank you!

 

[mckeetree]

Thanks for the advice Mckee !

How do you handle the card transactions when you are out in the field ?
Use a machine in the truck, call the office with the transaction or what ?

Also, what do you think is the size of tree business that it starts to pay to accept credit cards ? 25,000 a year, 50,000, 100,000 a year ?

I don't have a mobile unit for cards, lots of folks do, but I don't. We call everything in to the office or bring it in to the office. Also sometimes get the number when we check to see why someone has not paid. Mention something like "would you like to put that on your card" just trying to get paid. I think it can pay pay to take credit cards if you gross $50,000 or more.

 

[mckeetree]

Yep, expensive but the nice thing is the money is in the bank!! I honestly would only go back to using the hand held credit card machine when prices are back to normal, seems right now everone is bidding low.

Reach, Id want to be in the 200k plus range for it to be an asset instead of an incumbrance!! not many folks in my area even wanted to use credit cards for tree work..........but grass & landscape they`ll use em to the limit!!

$10,000 in credit card fees........you making a good yearly gross to pay that out!! glad someone is.

LXT..........

Remember, it's not what you gross, it's what you keep. And in 2007 I didn't get to keep a heck of a lot. I made some money in this business in the early and middle 1990's guess that's why I am still in it.

 

[John464]

I dont accept them, unless I have to. If I am told I will not get the job unless they can use a CC. I do not advert I accept them and tell customers payment is by check. If you advertise the use of of CC, customers will use them even if they have the money to cut you a check, convenience factor. Last resort only. The man already takes too much of my money.

As for company credit cards. My sales team and foremen all get a card, Its a Shell gas rebate card Mastercard and account balance is alwways paid 100% every month to avoid any interest charges. We average $150 a month in gas rebates, which is 5% of the gas bill(rebates not eligible for diesel)

 

[arbor pro]

Though riskier than offering credit card, I will finance work at 18% annual interest (1.5% monthly) if the customer sets up a payment plan with me prior to doing the work. For anyone who hasn't set up a payment plan, accounts are due upon receipt of services with finance charges starting at 30 days. In the case where no payment has been attempted at all, I have also thought about implementing a late fee to accompany the monthly finance charge - basically the same $35 late fee that most credit card companies issue if you miss a monthly minimum payment.

So far, applying monthly interest charges (along with an occasional phone call as a reminder) has been effective in getting accounts paid within 90 days. Seldom do I have to follow up on accounts over 90 days. However, I am thinking that having a late fee charge in addition to monthly interest may prompt folks to at least make sure they pay something on their accounts monthly and not just ignore them - especially when the interest charge is relatively small (my minimum is $5).

When I was full-time, I offered payment by credit card; however, I don't do enough business now as a part-timer to justify offering it. For those of you offering in-house financing, do you apply late fees along with finance (interest) charges? If so, what legal authority did you research when establishing the dollar amount that you are allowed to charge within your particular region?

 

[lxt]

Arbor, I do offer an in house pay plan!! but I charge extra for such.

I get their SS#, Drivers License# & Date of birth!! Ive only used this a hand full of times....but it has always worked out good & the word of mouth for working with people helps too!!


LXT...........

 

[mckeetree]

In the words of my longtime buddy (and distant cousin) Virgil Zatarain of Virgil's Tree Service "I ain't doin no financin".